Global trade in chocolate, worth more than $1tn a year, is leading to widespread deforestation in Ivory Coast and Ghana
The world’s hunger for chocolate is a major cause of the destruction of protected forests in west Africa, scientists have said.
Satellite maps of Ivory Coast and Ghana showed swathes of formerly dense forest had become cocoa plantations since 2000, according to a study.
Continue reading...Exclusive: New documents also reveal federal government admitted Australia did not have policies to ensure project would meet key recommendation in full
New documents reveal the Northern Territory government knew it could not meet a key recommendation to reduce the climate risk of its planned massive expansion of gas production, and asked the Albanese government for help.
Federal climate change officials in turn admitted Australia did not have any existing policies that would meet the recommendation in full.
Continue reading...Three of the 20 big cats brought from Africa have died as critics of the plan say their new habitat is unsuitable
A programme to reintroduce cheetahs in India after 75 years has been called into question after three of the animals died in recent weeks and concerns were raised that their new habitat was unsuitable.
Since October, 20 cheetahs – which became extinct in the country in 1952 – have been brought over from South Africa and Namibia as part of a much-lauded government programme to house them in Kuno national park, Madhya Pradesh state.
Continue reading...Typhoon projected to affect US territory of Guam as early as Tuesday. Elsewhere, Europe is heating up
Over the weekend, a rapidly intensifying region of thunderstorms in the western Pacific culminated in the formation of Typhoon Mawar.
The movement of this storm is projected to affect the Mariana Islands, including the US territory of Guam, as early as Tuesday. There is a risk of wind speeds above 75mph, with torrential rain.
Continue reading...Asset managers told they have key role to play on climate crisis in open letter before Shell’s annual meeting
A coalition of university investment funds has called on institutional investors to rebel against the boards of fossil fuel companies and their backers.
As Shell prepares for its annual shareholder meeting this week, representatives from the Universities of Newcastle, Sussex, Bristol and from Trinity College, Cambridge, have written an open letter to the asset management industry urging “bold action” to stop new fossil fuel projects.
Continue reading...Up to 50,000 whales expected to pass Australia’s east coast during annual migration from Antartica to Great Barrier Reef
Carrie Davis describes seeing her first adult humpback whale of the season launching out of the water off the coast of Sydney last week as magical.
“It’s just this feeling of awe to see this fat whale of that size get all that body out of the water,” said Davis of Go Whale Watching in Sydney. “No matter how many times you see it, it always takes your breath away.”
Continue reading...With cost of cleanup to be passed on to bill payers, analysis shows they will also pay £624 more by 2030 to fund investor payouts
Water companies will pay an estimated £14.7bn in dividends by the end of this decade, while making customers pay for new investment to stem the tide of sewage pollution in seas and rivers, analysis for the Observer has revealed.
Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron denounced the billions going to shareholders as “absolutely scandalous” while families struggling with the cost of living would be facing increases in bills to pay for the sewage cleanup.
Continue reading...Wildlife and environment groups condemn plan promising renewable energy for 600,000 homes
Plans for a renewable energy tidal barrier linking Norfolk and Lincolnshire have sparked fierce debate between scientists, wildlife charities and a port company CEO who is leading the project.
Entrepreneur James Sutcliffe, who has managed and advised port companies in Sierra Leone and Bangladesh, has now set his sights on the Wash, which is the sea, mudflats and salt marsh between the two counties.
Continue reading...Torrential rain, coming on top of the country’s worst drought in four decades, has forced 250,000 people to leave their homes
Jamal Ali Abdi has seen flooding in Beledweyne before but never on the scale witnessed earlier this month when the Shabelle River burst its banks, causing devastation to the central Somali town and displacing almost the entire population.
As water gushed through the streets, Ali’s home was soon surrounded by murky brown flood water.
Continue reading...Staffers raise concerns about inclusivity and accountability after US environmental organization says it needs to cut costs
The Sierra Club, one of the US’s oldest and largest environmental advocacy groups, is going through a turbulent restructuring, which a union has issued two formal complaints about and warned could lead to more than 100 job losses.
Some staff also raised questions about how the changes might affect its recent efforts to improve workplace culture following allegations of misconduct, and boost inclusivity in the aftermath of scrutiny over the racial views of its founder, the conservationist John Muir.
Continue reading...This week’s floods are latest weather disaster to hit country, as policymakers finally begin to respond to crescendo
This week, parts of northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region received half their average annual rainfall in just 36 hours. Rivers burst their banks and thousands of acres of farmland lie submerged. By Thursday evening, an estimated 20,000 people had been left homeless and 13 were confirmed dead.
It is just the latest weather disaster to hit the country. Six months ago, 12 people died on the southern island of Ischia in a landslide triggered by torrential rain. Eleven more were killed last September by flash floods in the central region of Marche.
Continue reading...Limits on numbers at Paris summit mean some of those ‘most needing to be heard’ will not be in attendance
Scientists and NGOs have accused the UN’s environment programme (Unep) of locking out those “most needing to be heard” from upcoming negotiations in Paris aimed at halting plastic waste.
Last-minute restrictions to the numbers of NGOs attending what the head of Unep described as the “most important multilateral environmental deal” in a decade will exclude people from communities in developing countries harmed by dumping and burning of plastic waste as well as marginalised waste pickers, who are crucial to recycling, from fully participating, they said.
Continue reading...Older and disabled people trapped in homes as rescuers battle harsh conditions in Emilia-Romagna region
Older and disabled people were trapped in their homes as rescuers worked under pounding rain throughout the night to save people in the most catastrophic flooding to affect Italy in 100 years.
The floods in the northern Emilia-Romagna region have claimed 13 lives as of Thursday evening. An estimated 20,000 have been left homeless in a disaster that caused 23 rivers to burst their banks and 280 landslides, engulfing 41 cities and towns.
Continue reading...Climate crisis a key factor in flash flooding of Beledweyne as rains end drought and Shabelle River breaks its banks
Floods have caused almost a quarter of a million people to flee their homes after the Shabelle River in central Somalia broke its banks and submerged the town of Beledweyne, even as the country faces its most severe drought in four decades, according to the government.
Aid agencies and scientists have warned that the climate crisis is among the most significant factors accelerating humanitarian emergencies, while those affected are some of the least responsible for CO2 emissions.
Continue reading...Temperatures up to 45C recorded in April in parts of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos
A searing heatwave in parts of southern Asia in April was made at least 30 times more likely by climate breakdown, according to a study by international scientists.
Unusually high temperatures of up to 45C (113F) were recorded last month in monitoring stations in parts of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos.
Continue reading...Ruling requiring ‘unlimited guarantee’ from oil firms to cover costs of spills could change offshore drilling throughout region
A ruling from Guyana’s high court could change the face of offshore oil drilling throughout the Caribbean, according to financial and legal analysts.
The ruling ordered the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require an independent liability insurance policy from Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and an “unlimited guarantee” from its parent company, ExxonMobil, in the case of any damage caused by the company’s oil and gas development in the country.
Continue reading...Twenty-one rivers burst their banks after heavy storms across country cause landslides and submerge villages
Nine people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes after heavy storms wreaked havoc in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, causing severe flooding and landslides.
People sought refuge on the rooftops of their homes after 21 rivers broke their banks, submerging entire towns.
Continue reading...Campaigners say development of huge Rosebank field in North Sea would drive climate breakdown
The Norwegian government is facing growing pressure to scale back its huge global fossil fuel expansion plans – including the development of a controversial new oilfield in the North Sea.
Climate activists from around the world descended on Stavanger in Norway last week to attend the AGM of the state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor. They warned that its plans to develop the huge Rosebank field in the North Sea, as well as other mega-projects in Canada, Brazil and Suriname, would drive climate breakdown with devastating consequences for humanity.
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Quad still a priority, White House says
Despite the postponement of Joe Biden’s visit, the White House says that partnerships like the Quad remain a priority.
Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President. This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.
I think he will obviously be working very hard for this not to happen. We’ve danced this dance before, as the phrase goes …
I think we’ll get to a good place and I think that’s why he’s wanting to stay there, to focus on just that.
Continue reading...Ten of 16 management plans for multibillion-dollar pumped hydro project overdue by up to 31 months, says National Parks Association
Snowy Hydro’s giant pumped hydro project is in breach of its conditions of approval, with many of its management plans overdue and no progress on its threatened fish and biosecurity programs, the National Parks Association has said.
The multibillion-dollar Snowy 2.0 project, already delayed until possibly 2029 with one of its tunnel borers stuck for months, was found to be non-compliant in 15 instances by the third independent audit, completed last year. It also cited 11 additional “opportunities for improvement”.
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