‘An utter disgrace’: 90% of England’s most precious river habitats blighted by raw sewage and farming pollution

Observer investigation reveals the shocking state of the country’s protected freshwater sites of special scientific interest

More than 90% of freshwater habitats on England’s most precious rivers are in unfavourable condition, blighted by farming pollution, raw sewage and water abstraction, an Observer investigation reveals.

None of the approximately 40 rivers with protected habitats in England are in overall good health, according to an analysis of government inspection reports. These include the River Avon in Hampshire, the Wensum in Norfolk and the Eden in Cumbria.

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Hawaii congresswoman says state underestimated lethality of wildfires

Jill Tokuda says Hawaii ‘did not learn lesson’ from previous hurricane as death toll from devastating fires reaches 80

The Hawaii congresswoman Jill Tokuda told CNN on Saturday morning that she believes state officials underestimated the quickness and lethality of a wildfire that as of Saturday morning had killed at least 80 people there.

“It’s not like hurricane force winds are unknown to Hawaii, or dry brush, or red flag conditions,” Tokuda said on CNN when asked to address the wildfires in her home state, which were exacerbated by winds associated with a category four Hurricane Dora as it passed far to the south-west.

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Shell accused of eco-destruction in push to demolish old HQ

Plan to knock down former offices in Aberdeen will release ‘vast amount of carbon emissions in atmosphere’ warn experts

Aberdeen is arguably best known for two things: granite – found in nearby quarries and used to construct almost all of the coastal city’s buildings – and oil. After the discovery of a significant reserve in the North Sea in the 1970s, Aberdeen became known as Europe’s oil capital and a thriving oil and gas industry sprang up in Scotland’s north-east.

At the centre of the boom was the multinational company Shell, which built a five-storey modernist headquarters in the city’s Tullos area, from where it operated for half a century, before moving last year. Now the building has become the subject of a bitter row after Shell announced its intention to demolish rather than upgrade and repurpose it.

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Yemen: UN removes 1m barrels of oil from ageing tanker to avert environmental catastrophe

Tanker contained four times as much oil as was spilled in 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska

The transfer of more than 1 million barrels of oil from an ageing tanker moored off the coast of war-torn Yemen has been completed, avoiding an environmental disaster, the UN has said.

In a statement on Friday, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for UN secretary general António Guterres, said the operation had prevented a “monumental environmental and humanitarian catastrophe”.

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Global heating likely to hit world food supply before 1.5C, says UN expert

Water scarcity threatening agriculture faster than expected, warns Cop15 desertification president

The world is likely to face major disruption to food supplies well before temperatures rise by the 1.5C target, the president of the UN’s desertification conference has warned, as the impacts of the climate crisis combine with water scarcity and poor farming practices to threaten global agriculture.

Alain-Richard Donwahi, a former Ivory Coast defence minister who led last year’s UN Cop15 summit on desertification, said the effects of drought were taking hold more rapidly than expected.

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NSW Labor accused of ‘fundamental breach of trust’ over logging in promised koala national park

Tensions are escalating in state forests near Bellingen, where a protesters’ camp is locked in a standoff with a heavy police presence

The New South Wales government has been accused of stalling on a promise to create a national park to protect koalas as tension mounts over logging in the state’s northern forests.

Protesters and police have been engaged in a standoff, with both groups setting up forest camps, as logging takes place in the Newry state forest near the town of Bellingen, on the mid-north coast.

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‘Huge’ coral bleaching unfolding across the Americas prompts fears of global tragedy

Scientists stunned by unprecedented heat-stress event say they can only hope it ‘motivates and unites people’

Corals across several countries are bleaching and dying en masse from unprecedented levels of heat stress, prompting fears that an unfolding tragedy in Central America, North America and the Caribbean could become a global event.

US government scientists have confirmed reefs in Panama, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico and six countries in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas and Cuba, are suffering significant bleaching, alongside corals in Florida that began turning white almost a month ago.

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Theresa Villiers had £70,000 in Shell shares while environment secretary

MP failed to reveal shares in oil company for more than five years despite disclosure rules

A former environment secretary has revealed she has shares worth more than £70,000 in Shell that she did not disclose as required for more than five years.

Theresa Villiers was the secretary for environment, food and rural affairs from July 2019 until February 2020, but only this week disclosed she has had investments worth more than £70,000 each in Shell and the drinks company Diageo since February 2018. Villiers also disclosed shares worth more than £70,000 in Experian, held since July 2019, and in an investment trust, RIT Capital Partners.

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Cancelling Greenpeace contradicts Tory free-speech pledge but suits anti-Labour campaign

Cutting ties with green charity is part of culture war campaign to associate Labour with ‘lefty lawyers’ and ‘eco mobs’

Sunak will go down in history as failing UK on climate, Greenpeace says
‘You have adopted a bunker mentality’: Greenpeace letter to Sunak

Scaling Rishi Sunak’s empty home to drape it in black fabric in protest at oil drilling is not the first time Greenpeace has targeted the home of senior politicians.

The environmental group surrounded David Cameron’s Cotswolds cottage in 2014 to campaign against his support for fracking, and mounted the roof of John Prescott’s home in 2005 in a demonstration against the government’s slowness on climate targets. It has also previously carried out stunts at Sunak’s North Yorkshire mansion.

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Sunak government will go down in history as failing UK on climate, Greenpeace says

Exclusive: Joint chiefs of charity accuse ministers of pursuing culture wars as extreme weather becomes the norm

‘You have adopted a bunker mentality’: letter to Sunak
Cancelling Greenpeace contradicts Tory free-speech pledge

Rishi Sunak’s government will “go down in history” as the administration that failed the UK on the climate crisis while ministers pursued a dangerous culture war, the heads of Greenpeace have said.

The charity’s joint executive directors described government briefings against the organisation in the wake of its oil protest at the prime minister’s Yorkshire home as “really dark stuff”, which revealed a worrying trend towards exploiting environmental protests as a wedge issue.

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Sweden criticised over plan to build at least 10 new nuclear reactors

Environmental experts say proposals are too expensive and will come too late to meet energy needs

Environmental experts have criticised the Swedish government’s plan to build at least 10 nuclear reactors in the next 20 years, more than doubling the current number, saying it will be too expensive and will come too late to meet energy needs.

The climate minister, Romina Pourmokhtari, announced on Wednesday that in order to meet its climate goals Sweden needed to double electricity production in the next two decades.

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WA activist charged over Woodside protest says police pointed gun at him day before

Emil Davey says officer pulled over his car, pointed a gun and shouted at him but after his vehicle was searched he was released without charge

A Western Australian police officer drew his firearm while pulling over the vehicle of an environmental activist in Perth last month.

Emil Davey, 19, was driving in the suburb of City Beach on 31 July when he says an unmarked van overtook his car and then stopped suddenly in front of him.

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Future uncertain for key Tasmania to mainland power transmission link after $2bn cost blowout

Federal government in discussion with states after cost of Marinus Link nearly doubles, putting decarbonisation and energy goals at risk

Tasmania is optimistic the Albanese government will lift funding for a key new transmission link to the mainland after projected costs blew out by at least $2bn.

The Marinus Link was originally priced at $3bn in 2021 for its two-stage construction of separate cables across the Bass Strait, each with 750 megawatt capacity.

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African penguins could be extinct by 2035, campaigners say

Population has declined dramatically due to overfishing and environmental changes in the Indian Ocean

African penguins are on track for extinction by 2035 if measures are not taken to ensure their survival, campaigners have said.

The population of African penguins has declined dramatically over the past 100 years. In the early 20th century, it is thought that there were probably several million breeding pairs: today, fewer than 11,000 breeding pairs remain, and the population continues to fall sharply.

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Thursday briefing: Inside South America’s summit to save the Amazon

In today’s newsletter: After years of rampant exploitation under a far-right government, Brazil has brought together leaders to help secure the future of the world’s biggest rainforest – and create ‘a just ecological transition’

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Good morning. “I think the world needs to see this meeting in Belém as the most important landmark ever … when it comes to discussing the climate question.” For once you can forgive the hyperbole of Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, when he spoke about this week’s Amazon summit.

Leaders from the eight South American countries that share the river basin have been meeting this week in the Brazilian city to discuss an issue that, by any measure, is a global emergency: how to protect the vast rainforest and safeguard its critical role in regulating the planetary climate.

Education | Rising costs and family needs could force one in three students starting university this year to opt to live at home, according to new research. While some of the “Covid generation” of school-leavers said they planned to live at home because their preferred university was nearby, most said they could not afford to live away from home.

Northern Ireland | The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has launched an investigation into an unprecedented data breach that disclosed details of more than 10,000 police officers and staff in Northern Ireland. The agency, which regulates data privacy laws, is working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland to establish the level of risk amid warnings that the leak may compel officers to leave the force or move their home address.

Hawaii | Six people were killed after unprecedented wildfires tore through the Hawaiian island of Maui. The fires, fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora, destroyed businesses in the historic town of Lahaina, and left at least two dozen people injured.

Ecuador | Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead at a campaign rally on Wednesday. The country’s president, Guillermo Lasso, said he was “outraged and shocked by the assassination” and would convene a meeting of his security cabinet.

Media | Employees at ITV’s This Morning were allegedly subjected to “bullying, discrimination and harassment”, according to staff members who have spoken out after Phillip Schofield’s departure from the programme. Some workers claim they attempted to raise concerns about the programme only to face “further bullying and discrimination” by bosses for speaking out.

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Six dead, dozens injured in Hawaiian blazes – as it happened

This liveblog is now closed. You can read our full story on the wildfires below:

Hawaii Governor Josh Green, is expected to be back in Hawaii on Wednesday evening, after returning home from a scheduled trip.

Green has been in contact with the White House, and is preparing to request emergency federal assistance sometime in the next two days, once he has a better idea of the damage, his office said in a news release.

Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in the wildfires in Maui, and our prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses, and communities destroyed. We are grateful to the brave firefighters and first responders who continue to run toward danger, putting themselves in harm’s way to save lives.

I have ordered all available Federal assets on the Islands to help with response. The Hawaiian National Guard has mobilised Chinook Helicopters to help with fire suppression and search and rescue on the Island of Maui. The US Coast Guard and Navy Third Fleets are supporting response and rescue efforts. The US Marines are providing Black Hawk Helicopters to fight the fires on the Big Island. The Department of Transportation is working with commercial airlines to evacuate tourists from Maui, and the Department of the Interior and the United States Department of Agriculture stand ready to support post fire recovery efforts.

I urge all residents to continue to follow evacuation orders, listen to the instructions of first responders and officials, and stay alert.

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Fury as Alberta cuts renewables during Canada’s worst fire season ever

Critics of the policy expressed concern that decision will weaken investor confidence in solar and wind energy in the region

A decision by Canada’s largest oil and gas-producing province to halt new wind and solar projects has prompted disbelief among environmental groups and economists. The move comes as the country struggles with its worst wildfire season on record, a situation that experts agree is worsened by the climate crisis and a reliance on fossil fuels.

Alberta last week announced a six-month moratorium on large solar and wind projects so it can review policies surrounding the projects’ construction and impact on the power grid, as well as rules for their eventual decommissioning.

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‘Nature needs money’: Lula tells rich countries to pay up and protect world’s rainforests

Brazilian president says developed nations that over centuries have pumped emissions into the atmosphere must ‘pay their bit’

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has told developed countries to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to protecting the world’s remaining tropical forests, as major rainforest nations demanded hundreds of billions of dollars of climate financing and a greater role in how those resources are spent.

“It’s not Brazil that needs money. It’s not Colombia that needs money. It’s not Venezuela. It’s nature,” Lula told journalists on the second day of a major environmental summit in the Amazon city of Belém.

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Amazon leaders fail to commit to end deforestation by 2030

Eight South American presidents including Brazil’s Lula say rich countries need to pledge more resources to help protect rainforest

Amazon leaders have called on rich countries to help them develop a Marshall-style plan to protect the world’s largest rainforest – but stopped short of committing to zero deforestation across the biome by 2030 amid divisions over oil extraction.

In a joint declaration at the end of a two-day summit in the Brazilian city of Belém on Wednesday, the eight South American countries that are home to the Amazon rainforest said ensuring its survival could not be solely up to them, as resources from the forest were consumed globally.

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Darling-Baaka River at Menindee faces more fish kills as temperatures rise

Exclusive: Dead fish are again appearing in the stressed Darling-Baaka at Menindee, as a fisheries department report reveals the river’s poor state

The Darling-Baaka River at Menindee is on the brink of another environmental catastrophe, with dead fish already appearing along 30km of the river compromised by the last fish kill in March, according to experts.

The office of the chief scientist is due to report by 31 August on the causes of the March disaster, which killed millions of bony herring (also known as bony bream) and thousands of other native fish and carp.

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