Former PM will take seat in House of Lords; former Treasury minister moves to health; Braverman replaced as home secretary by James Cleverly
ITV’s Paul Brand says he has had a text with the word “Rejoice” from a Tory MP celebrating the sacking of Suella Braverman.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, has been seen going into No 10, PA Media reports.
Continue reading...Regulator aims to reduce backlog as some wind and solar schemes wait up to 15 years to get hooked up
The energy regulator is to introduce rules designed to kick out “zombie” wind and solar farms from the lengthy queue to connect to Great Britain’s electricity grid.
Ofgem hopes to speed up the process of hooking up new energy projects to the electricity network in the face of a backlog that is deterring investment and Britain’s attempts to switch to clean energy.
Continue reading...Delegates in Nairobi for talks in what experts say could be most important multilateral treaty since Paris accord
• The godfather of microplastics on how to stop them
Government delegations will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out details of what could be the first global treaty to tackle the plastic pollution crisis.
A key focus for the discussions on Monday will be whether targets to restrict plastic production should be decided unilaterally or whether states should choose their own targets; this is, say environmentalists, the “centre of gravity” for the treaty’s ambition.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Australian scientific agency rejects ‘ghostwriting’ claims made by US law firm representing victims of Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Greens have warned that fossil fuel companies must not be allowed to “gag scientists” after lawyers representing victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill claimed to have uncovered evidence of the Australian government’s independent science agency collaborating with BP on academic studies.
The Downs Law Group has said documents it received as part of litigation against BP reveal the oil company’s lawyers reviewed and gave corporate approval to nine scientific studies by CSIRO employees, raising questions about the studies’ impartiality.
“[W]e do not have a revised final with CSIRO authors”
“Planned for December. Approved?”
“Appear to be other papers that CSIRO is drafting and I will need confirmation they are indeed under way so I can track them and make sure they go through the review process”
“CSIRO paper from last year which made it through the review process and was approved”
Continue reading...Animal welfare groups urge retailers to switch to slow-growing birds in face of record deaths last year
More than 80 million chickens died before reaching slaughter weight in the UK last year, with mortality rates the highest for at least a decade, reveal official figures.
Animal welfare organisations say the fast-growing chicken breeds that dominate production have higher mortality rates, lameness and muscle disease than slower-growing breeds. They are calling on retailers to switch to slower-growing breeds and provide more space for the birds.
Continue reading...Fears grow that Rishi Sunak’s anti-green policy shift is driving investment in renewable energy abroad
The government has received no new applications for onshore wind farms in England since cabinet ministers eased planning rules earlier this year – in a further sign that Rishi Sunak’s anti-green policy shift is driving investment abroad.
So far this year, only one new project, with a single turbine, has become fully operational in England, with many more being built in the EU – and in Scotland and Wales, where planning rules are less burdensome. This is despite renewables being seen as the cleanest and safest form of power, and having wide public support.
Continue reading...Move is bad news for local environmental groups, whose motion to halt construction will be heard on 15 November
A federal agency that monitors water quality says it stopped measuring sediment pollution levels in a creek that runs alongside the controversial police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” months ago due to safety concerns.
The issue is particularly important as a local environmental group’s motion to stop construction of the project will get its day in federal court on 15 November.
Continue reading...Hottest US city, buffeted by extreme temperatures, sees 579 heat-related in 2023, with large proportion among unhoused people
Heat deaths surged by 50% in Phoenix in 2023 – the deadliest year on record after extreme temperatures pummeled America’s hottest city, official figures show.
At least 579 people lost their lives to heat this year, with senior citizens accounting for one in three deaths, according to the year’s final heat surveillance report by the medical examiner’s office in Maricopa county, where Phoenix is located. Another 56 suspected heat deaths are still under investigation.
Continue reading...Developers say higher prices across their supply chains mean costs have climbed by about 40%
The government is poised to offer higher subsidies for new offshore windfarms to avoid missing its green energy targets as developers grapple with a rise in supply chain costs.
Ministers are expected to set out within the next week a new starting price for the next subsidy auction, which is likely to offer higher levels of support to offshore wind developers.
Continue reading...Legislation will set targets to restore 20% of EU land and seas by 2030, and 90% of degraded habitats by 2050
EU lawmakers and member states have struck a deal on a landmark law to protect nature after watering down rules that critics argued would trouble farmers.
The nature restoration law, a hotly contested pillar of the European green deal, will force EU countries to restore at least 20% of the bloc’s land and seas by the end of the decade. It contains binding targets to restore at least 30% of degraded habitats by then, rising to 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese announces immigration plan with special visa category for people affected by rising sea levels in the vulnerable Pacific island nation
Australia will offer residency to people affected by climate change in the low-lying Pacific nation of Tuvalu, as part of a sweeping new treaty that also locks the two countries into close security ties.
At a time when many Pacific leaders are pressing Australia to take stronger action against its fossil fuel sector, the treaty explicitly recognises the vulnerability of Tuvalu to rising sea levels.
Continue reading...National Sea Country Alliance Summit told that the agendas of environmental groups do not always align with First Nations priorities
An alliance formed by traditional owners to fight for their “sea-country” rights after court wins against Santos’s $5bn Barossa offshore gas project is set to sideline environmental groups, critics say.
More than 100 First Nations people met in Darwin for a two-day summit this week so traditional owner groups with responsibility for sea-country – particularly country that intersects with proposed offshore oil and gas projects – could discuss their rights and responsibilities “in the face of increased offshore energy proposals”.
Continue reading...Opposition climate and energy spokesperson had pointed to SMRs as a solution to Australia’s energy needs, but experts raise questions over price tag
The only small modular nuclear power plant approved in the US – cited by the Australian opposition as evidence of a “burgeoning” global nuclear industry – has been cancelled due to rising costs.
NuScale Power announced on Wednesday that it had dropped plans to build a long-promised “carbon free power project” in Idaho. It blamed the decision on a lack of subscribers for the plant’s electricity.
Continue reading...Government’s Energy Company Obligation has managed to upgrade only 65,000 homes since April 2022, figures show
Labour has attacked the Conservatives over the speed of government efforts to upgrade Britain’s draughty housing stock, as analysis showed a leading household energy efficiency initiative was proceeding at what the party called a “glacial pace”.
Just 65,000 homes have been upgraded under the government’s Energy Company Obligation (Eco) scheme since it was relaunched in April last year, according to analysis of statistics released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Continue reading...Indigenous people’s parliament says action required including lower speed limits and more fences
Sweden’s Sámi parliament is calling for more protection for reindeer after more than 10,000 were killed by motorists in the last five years, turning roadsides into “animal graveyards”.
According to police, between October 2018 and October 2023 there were more than 10,000 road accidents in northern Sweden involving at least one reindeer, meaning the number killed is likely to be far higher.
Continue reading...Campaigners call Graham Stuart’s comments ‘laughable’ and say Conservatives are weaponising climate action
Oil and gas are “not the problem” for the climate, but the carbon emissions arising from them are, the UK’s net zero minister has told MPs.
In words that suggested the UK could place yet more emphasis on technologies to capture and store carbon, Graham Stuart said fossil fuel production was not driving climate change, but demand for fossil fuels was.
Continue reading...Human rights groups demand Kenyan government halt forced evictions of Ogiek community from Mau forest
Human rights groups are calling for the Kenyan government to halt forced evictions of the Indigenous Ogiek community from their ancestral land in the Rift Valley.
“We are calling for an immediate cessation of ongoing demolitions and the evictions,” said Cyrus Maweu, deputy director of Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).
Continue reading...Predicted 116m tonnes of waste annually by 2060 is six times higher than in 2019, driven by demand in sub-Saharan Africa
Plastic waste is “spiralling out of control” across Africa, where it is growing faster than any other region, new analysis has shown.
At current levels, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, according to the charity Tearfund.
Continue reading...Two countries may soon break ground on a new climate agreement ahead of a presidential meeting next week and the UN’s climate conference, Cop28
China has published a long-awaited methane reduction plan, in a sign that the country is moving closer towards a new climate agreement with the US.
Beijing first committed to reducing its methane output at Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021, as part of a joint agreement with the US. But for two years the reduction plan failed to materialise. Its publication on Tuesday, as the US and Chinese climate envoys wrapped up four days of talks in Sunnylands, California, signalled that the two countries may soon break ground on a new climate agreement ahead of a presidential meeting next week and the UN’s climate conference, COP28, at the end of this month.
Continue reading...Auditor general says key measures to cut emissions by 40-45% to meet Paris accord commitment delayed or not prioritized
Canada’s emissions reduction plan is insufficient to meet its target to cut emissions by 40% to 45% below the 2005 level by 2030, according to a new a report released by the country’s auditor general.
The audit found the government’s plan insufficient because key measures needed to meet the 2030 target were delayed or not prioritized, according to a statement from the office of the auditor general on Tuesday.
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