Category Archives: Environment

Australia’s wholesale power prices fall by almost half as carbon emissions drop

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Grid faces fresh strains as heatwave roasting inland Queensland and NSW extends to Sydney

Wholesale power prices across Australia’s main electricity market almost halved at the end of 2023 compared with a year earlier, stoking hopes households may soon see smaller bills.

Spot prices in the National Electricity Market (Nem) that serves the eastern and southern states fell to an average of $48 a megawatt-hour in the December quarter, down 48% on the previous year, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) said in a report released on Thursday. Carbon emissions also dropped to record lows.

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Just two northern white rhinos remain. An IVF breakthrough could save them from extinction

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The first successful embryo transfer in a southern white rhino paves the way for the technique to save their rarer northern cousins

The critically endangered northern white rhino could be saved from the brink of extinction after scientists performed the first successful embryo transfer in white rhinos.

After the last male northern white rhino, Sudan, died in 2018, the disappearance of the species looked imminent. Just two infertile female northern white rhinos – Fatu and Najin – remain, and are under 24-hour armed protection at a conservation reservation in Kenya. But a new scientific advancement means the mother and daughter may not be the last of their kind.

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Asbestos found in mulch at new sites across Sydney following earlier Rozelle parklands discovery

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Hazardous material found in mulch at railway substations in Dulwich Hill, Canterbury and Campsie and alongside Prospect Highway, authorities say

Asbestos has been found in garden mulch at new locations in Sydney’s inner-west and west after the discovery of contamination at the Rozelle parklands earlier this month prompted wider testing.

The Transport for NSW (TfNSW) secretary, Josh Murray, confirmed on Wednesday that asbestos had been detected in recycled mulch used at three railway electricity substations as well as in landscaping works along a highway.

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EY Oceania accused of potential conflict of interest over government contracts on climate policy

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Exclusive: Consultancy firm supported oil and gas industry lobbying while being paid for independent advice on Albanese’s signature climate policy

Consultancy firm EY Oceania was supporting the oil and gas industry’s lobbying efforts while being paid by the federal government for independent advice on its signature climate policy and gas emissions.

The firm, which is a member of the oil and gas lobby and audits Santos, insists there was no conflict of interest between its work for industry and government. But a bipartisan group of politicians and transparency advocates is not convinced and has demanded more information.

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Louisiana court upholds air permits for petrochemical complex in Cancer Alley

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Decision helps clear path for Formosa Plastics to build US’s largest petrochemical complex of its time

A Louisiana appellate court has upheld air permits for a giant proposed petrochemical complex in a region known as Cancer Alley, enraging local advocates.

The decision, issued on Friday, will help clear a path for Formosa Plastics to build the nation’s largest petrochemical complex of its kind. The project has long faced staunch opposition from local and national environmental justice groups.

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Alok Sharma condemns government’s oil and gas bill as vote passes first hurdle

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Former Cop26 president abstains from vote saying bill breaks UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels

Alok Sharma has said the government’s oil and gas bill going through the Commons will not cut household energy costs or create jobs and instead will break the UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels.

The government’s offshore petroleum licensing bill passed its second reading on Monday night with 293 votes to 211 against. No Conservative MPs voted against it, and Sharma – the former business secretary who served as president of the Cop26 climate talks – abstained. The legislation would place the North Sea Transition Authority under a duty to run annual applications for new offshore oil and gas licences.

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UK needs ambitious green plan to keep up with allies, says Labour frontbencher

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Jonathan Reynolds calls for version of US Inflation Reduction Act amid row over future of Labour policy

Britain needs its own ambitious green investment plan to keep up with its allies, a Labour frontbencher has said, amid an increasingly bitter row over whether Keir Starmer should stick to his £28bn pledge.

Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, said the UK should come up with a version of Joe Biden’s $369bn (£290bn) Inflation Reduction Act, which has provided support to a range of technologies including electric cars and renewable power.

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New Brexit checks ‘pose existential threat’ to UK fruit and flower growers

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Exclusive: NFU warns blanket import checks from April could fuel long delays and damage future crops

The UK’s fruit and flower growers face an “existential threat” from new post-Brexit border checks that could damage business and affect next year’s crops, the country’s biggest farming body has said.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned that changes to import rules in April, which will impose checks at the border for nearly all young plants coming into the country, could cause long delays and result in plants being damaged or destroyed.

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Albanese government secures further gas supply before meeting on cost-of-living relief

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Deal aimed at keeping energy bills affordable will see 260 petajoules supplied to gas-fired power stations in Australia’s south-east coast until 2033

Australia’s south-east coast will be further guaranteed gas supply in an effort to keep lights on and energy bills affordable before predicted supply shortages at the decade’s end.

It comes as the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has called Labor MPs and senators to Canberra on Wednesday for a snap caucus to discuss further cost-of-living relief measures put forward by Treasury.

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Australia not prepared for how Antarctic ice changes will hit economy, scientist warns

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Exclusive: Prof Matt King says accelerated melting could transform country and affect viability of some agricultural industries

A leading Antarctic scientist has urged the Albanese government to pay closer attention to abrupt changes under way in the southern continent, warning they will affect Australians in ways that are little understood and research into them is drastically underfunded.

The head of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Prof Matt King, said he found it embarrassing how little was known about the local and global ramifications of changes including a historic drop in floating sea ice cover, the accelerating melting of giant ice sheets and the slowing of a deep ocean current known as the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.

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UK ‘used to be a leader on climate’, lament European lawmakers

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MEPs react to ‘tragic’ findings revealing UK falling behind EU in key environmental policies since Brexit

European lawmakers have lamented the UK’s decision to weaken environmental rules since leaving the EU, after the Guardian revealed it is falling behind in almost every policy area.

One Green group MEP said the findings were “tragic” while a centre-right MEP said the divergences were “particularly bad” for companies that want to do business on both sides of the Channel.

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Fire ants detected south of Byron Bay after gardener raises alarm

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NSW authorities are working to determine how long the pest has been in the area and how they arrived

Invasive fire ants are continuing their march south, prompting a plea for vigilance, after a nest was detected at Wardell, south of Byron Bay, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries says.

A gardener raised the alarm on Friday after disturbing the nest and being bitten, suffering what was described as blistering pain.

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Brexit divergence from EU destroying UK’s vital environmental protections

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Exclusive: Britain is falling behind the bloc on almost every area of green regulation, analysis reveals

Vital legal protections for the environment and human health are being destroyed in post-Brexit departures from European legislation, a detailed analysis by the Guardian reveals.

The UK is falling behind the EU on almost every area of environmental regulation, as the bloc strengthens its legislation while the UK weakens it. In some cases, ministers are removing EU-derived environmental protections from the statute book entirely.

Water in the UK will be dirtier than in the EU.

There will be more pesticides in Britain’s soil.

Companies will be allowed to produce products containing chemicals that the EU has restricted for being dangerous.

EU-derived air pollution laws that will be removed under the retained EU law bill.

Dozens of chemicals banned in the EU are still available for use in the UK.

Thirty-six pesticides banned in the EU have not been outlawed in the UK.

The UK is falling behind on reducing carbon emissions as the EU implements carbon pricing.

The EU is compensating those who are struggling to afford the costs of the green transition, while the UK is not.

The EU is implementing stricter regulations on battery recycling, while the UK is not.

Deforestation is being removed from the EU supply chain, while the UK’s proposed scheme is more lax and does not come in until a year later.

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Northern Ireland ‘dirty corner of Europe’ due to lack of governance, say experts

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Campaigners say keeping higher EU standards post-Brexit will have little impact as existing rules are already being flouted

Northern Ireland’s environment is unlikely to benefit from higher EU standards because the country already flouts the existing rules, leaving it in a “grossly degraded” state, experts have said.

The region may escape a post-Brexit erosion of UK environmental law but still suffer grave environmental damage because of governance failures, they warned.

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Women added to Cop29 climate summit committee after backlash

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Panel was originally composed of 28 men, a move condemned as ‘regressive’ and ‘shocking’

The president of Azerbaijan has added 12 women to the previously all-male organising committee for the Cop29 global climate summit, which the country will host in December.

The move follows a backlash after the Guardian reported the initial 28-man composition of the committee, which was called “regressive” by the She Changes Climate campaign group. “Climate change affects the whole world, not half of it,” the group said.

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Cop28 deal will fail unless rich countries quit fossil fuels, says climate negotiator

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G77 president Pedro Pedroso warns deal risks failing if polluters like UK, US and Canada don’t rethink plans to expand oil and gas

The credibility of the Cop28 agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels rides on the world’s biggest historical polluters like the US, UK and Canada rethinking current plans to expand oil and gas production, according to the climate negotiator representing 135 developing countries.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Pedro Pedroso, the outgoing president of the G77 plus China bloc of developing countries, warned that the landmark deal made at last year’s climate talks in Dubai risked failing.

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‘It’s about living on what you have’: Four shepherds seek sustainable life in Spain

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The four inhabitants of Morillo de Sampietro, an abandoned village in the Pyrenees, live a simple life

The tiny hamlet of Morillo de Sampietro stands high above a steep, wooded valley in the Spanish Pyrenees. Below is the glint of the Rio Yesa, beyond are the snow-capped peaks of Monte Perdido.

In 1860 Morillo had 76 inhabitants; by 1995 only two remained. Now there are four.

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Social enterprise offers young people paid opportunity to protect UK oceans

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Sea Ranger Service will offer the chance to carry out maintenance work and climate research on sailing vessels

A social enterprise has launched offering people between the ages of 18 and 29 the chance to protect the seas around the UK while getting paid.

The Sea Ranger Service (SRS) will offer young people the chance to sail out to sea and undertake vital work to conserve Britain’s oceans.

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‘The pigs have disappeared’: swine fever threatens food source for millions as disease hits wild herds

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Scientists call for urgent intervention, as bearded pig populations are devastated by the deadly virus on islands such as Borneo

Populations of wild pigs are crashing due to the spread of African swine fever (ASF), threatening the livelihoods of millions who depend on them for food, researchers warn.

With a fatality rate of almost 100%, ASF has swept across Asia, Europe and Africa, devastating domestic and wild pig populations over the past 10 to 20 years. The impacts are especially significant in Borneo, in south-east Asia, where bearded pig numbers have declined by between 90% and 100% since it arrived on the island in 2021, researchers said.

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Climate crisis to increase cancer risk for tens of millions of people in Bangladesh

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Scientists say sea level rises, flooding and extreme weather will accelerate release of arsenic into water supply

Climate breakdown will put tens of millions of people in Bangladesh at heightened risk of cancer from contaminated well water, according to research.

Sea level rises, unpredictable flooding and extreme weather caused by the climate heating up will accelerate the release of dangerous levels of arsenic into the country’s drinking water, say scientists.

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