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’

• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

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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Seals practise social distancing, aerial survey of North Sea shows

Research suggests behaviour may reflect evolutionary response to previous outbreaks of disease

Aerial surveys of the North Sea have revealed that seals practise social distancing – and the discovery may have profound implications for the spread of disease among the marine mammals.

In a paper published today by the Royal Society, researchers conducting censuses of grey and harbour seals detail new evidence that the two species not only maintain distances between their own kind (unlike walruses, for instance, who cluster close together) but also that this behaviour may “reflect an evolutionary response to viral susceptibility”.

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Public could receive hundreds of millions as water firms face sewage lawsuit

Class action legal claim on behalf of 20 million householders in England and Wales could top £800m in compensation

The public could receive hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation in the first class action against water companies which are alleged to have failed to reveal the true scale of raw sewage discharges, and abused their position as privatised monopolies.

A collective case against six water companies alleges they have failed to properly report sewage spills and pollution of rivers and seas to the Environment Agency and Ofwat, the regulator for England and Wales. The first of six parallel claims is against Severn Trent Water on behalf of its 8 million customers. Claims against Thames Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water are being brought in the coming months.

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Brazilian president Lula pledges ‘new Amazon dream’ at rainforest summit

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sets out ambitious programme to repair damage done by Bolsonaro and tackle environmental crime

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has vowed to haul the Amazon out of centuries of violence, economic “plundering” and environmental devastation and into “a new Amazon dream”, at the start of a major regional summit on the world’s largest rainforest.

Addressing South American leaders gathered in the Brazilian city of Belém, Lula offered a bold blueprint for the future of the Amazon, a 6.7m sq km region that is home to nearly 50 million people spread across eight countries and one territory.

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Leaders of Amazon nations gather in Brazil for summit on rainforest’s future

Conclave represents handbrake turn in Brazilian government policy since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took power

The leaders of Amazon nations including Brazil, Colombia and Peru have gathered in the Brazilian city of Belém for a rare conclave about the future of the world’s largest rainforest amid growing concern over the global climate emergency.

The environmental summit – convened by Brazil’s leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – represents a handbrake turn in Brazilian government policy after four years of Amazon destruction and international isolation under the country’s previous leader, Jair Bolsonaro.

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Storm Hans causes havoc in Norway with heaviest rain in 25 years forecast

Landslides, a stranded town and two deaths so far reported as extreme weather sweeps across south of the country

A powerful storm has brought destruction to Norway, causing landslides and leaving an entire town stranded, as meteorologists warned of the strongest rainfall in a quarter of a century.

The storm – named Storm Hans – has killed two people, ripped off roofs and caused widespread disruption across northern Europe in a summer that started with wildfires across much of the region.

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