Category Archives: Environment

Vanuatu’s push for legal protection from climate change wins crucial support

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1,500 civil society groups from 130 countries back Vanuatu’s move to seek protection from the international court of justice

Vanuatu’s push for the international court of justice to protect vulnerable nations from climate change has received the backing of 1,500 civil society organisations from more than 130 countries, as it heads toward a crucial vote at the UN General Assembly later this year.

In 2021 Vanuatu announced its intention to seek an advisory opinion by the international court of justice on the rights of present and future generations to be protected from climate change.

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John Kerry warns a long Ukraine war would threaten climate efforts

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Exclusive: US presidential envoy says limiting global heating to 1.5C could be made harder by conflict

The longer the war in Ukraine carries on, the worse the consequences will be for the climate, the US presidential envoy John Kerry has warned.

Many countries are struggling with an energy crisis while also urgently needing to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit global heating to 1.5C, he said.

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Just one of 50 aviation industry climate targets met, study finds

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Charity’s report says nearly all targets set since 2000 have been missed, revised or quietly ignored

The international aviation industry has failed to meet all but one of 50 of its own climate targets in the past two decades, environment campaigners say.

A report commissioned by the climate charity Possible assessed every target set by the industry since 2000 and found that nearly all had been missed, revised or quietly ignored. The charity says the findings undermine a UK government plan to leave airlines to reduce their emissions through self-regulation.

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‘People laugh but think twice’: Belgian cartoonist takes on plastic pollution

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Pieter De Poortere is putting his best-known character, Dickie, to work to help galvanise opposition to a giant plastics plant in Antwerp

Belgian cartoonist Pieter De Poortere was trying to do his bit for the environment: eating less meat and diligently sorting his rubbish – glass, paper, plastics. He realised it wasn’t enough. “I thought if we all sort out our trash, then everything will be recycled, everything will be OK, then we are doing great. But actually that is not true,” he said pointing to the problems of the global waste industry, where wealthy countries’ plastic may be dumped, or burned on open fires in poorer countries.

So he put his best-known character to work, as part of an international art project that launched in April, aiming to draw attention to the problem of plastic production.

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‘Access is vital’: picnicking protesters target Duke of Somerset’s woods

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Group of 200 Totnes residents trespass and eat sandwiches and Victoria sponge to highlight lack of right to roam

On a beautiful Sunday in May a spot under the trees in an ancient woodland would seem like an idyllic location for a picnic for residents of the Devon town of Totnes.

But when a group of 200 people settled down on the grass to enjoy sandwiches and slices of Victoria sponge next to the publicly funded woodland, they were actually breaking the law.

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‘Forever chemicals’ may have polluted 20m acres of US cropland, study says

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PFAS-tainted sewage sludge is used as fertilizer in fields and report finds that about 20m acres of cropland could be contaminated

About 20m acres of cropland in the United States may be contaminated from PFAS-tainted sewage sludge that has been used as fertilizer, a new report estimates.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 9,000 compounds used to make products heat-, water- or stain-resistant. Known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally break down, they have been linked to cancer, thyroid disruption, liver problems, birth defects, immunosuppression and more.

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UN leads £65m plan to stop huge oil spill off Yemen during first ceasefire in six years

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Decrepit tanker used for storage at risk of creating a disaster worse than Exxon Valdez in 1989

The UN is to stage a rare donor conference on Wednesday in a bid to raise the $80m (£65m) necessary to prevent an ageing oil tanker off the west coast of Yemen exploding and causing an environmental disaster potentially four times worse than the Exxon Valdez spill near Alaska in 1989.

The money is needed to offload more than 1.14m barrels of oil that have been sitting in the decrepit cargo ship, Safer, for more than six years because of an impasse between Houthi groups and the Saudi-backed government over ownership and responsibility.

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Endangered tree seedlings planted in secret locations on NSW north coast

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Seeds from nightcap oak trees were collected and propagated after black summer bushfires destroyed or damaged 20% of the population

Seedlings of an endangered tree are being planted in secret locations on the New South Wales north coast in an attempt to save the species after devastating bushfires.

The critically endangered nightcap oak trees date back to the Gondwana supercontinent era and can grow up to 40 metres tall, but are only found in northern NSW.

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Climate hunger striker expresses shock at being ignored by ministers

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Angus Rose starved himself for more than five weeks outside parliament until Green MP Caroline Lucas arranged compromise

The climate hunger striker who starved himself for more than five weeks outside parliament has said he did not expect ministers would ignore his demands and potentially let him die.

Angus Rose had said he would not eat until Greg Hands, the energy minister, arranged for Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientist, to give politicians and, via broadcast, the public, the climate change briefing he gave to Boris Johnson before the Cop26 climate summit.

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‘Forever chemicals’ found in nearly 60% of children’s ‘waterproof’ or ‘stain-resistant’ textiles

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A study found PFAS substances in clothing, pillow protectors, bedding and furniture, some labeled ‘environmentally friendly’

Nearly 60% of children’s textiles labeled “waterproof”, “stain-resistant”, or “environmentally friendly” that were tested as part of a new study contained toxic PFAS substances known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment.

Among products checked were clothing, pillow protectors, bedding and furniture.

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From India’s highs to Thailand’s lows, Asia’s weather is hitting extremes

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Analysis: As the heatwave in India and Pakistan starts to intensify again, Thailand and China are recording strangely cold May days

The final days of April saw further unbearable temperatures recorded in India and Pakistan. Temperatures peaked at 49C in Jacobabad, Pakistan on 30 April, with a high of 47.2C observed in Banda, India. The Indian Meteorological Department confirmed that average temperatures in April were the highest for northern and central parts of the country since records began over 100 years ago.

Heatwaves are a common occurrence at this time of year in India and Pakistan, but scientists believe the intensity, duration and arrival time of the conditions witnessed so far this year are caused by rising global temperatures. Despite a slight respite in the extreme heat over the past few days, temperatures are set to intensify once more this weekend and into next week with maximum temperatures expected to approach 50C in parts of north-west India and Pakistan.

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‘Record after record’: Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits April high, nearly double previous peak

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Climate analysts are astounded by such a high reading during the rainy season, and is the third monthly record this year

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon surged to record levels for the month of April, nearly doubling the area of forest removed in that month last year – the previous April record – preliminary government data has shown, alarming environmental campaigners.

In the first 29 days of April, deforestation in the region totalled 1,012.5 square km (390 square miles), according to data from national space research agency Inpe on Friday. The agency, which has compiled the monthly data series since 2015/2016, will report data for the final day of April next week.

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Ukraine’s wheat harvest may fall by 35%, raising fears of global shortage

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Satellite imagery ‘illustrates spectre of rising food prices and hunger’ due to invasion of world’s sixth-largest wheat exporter

Wheat production in Ukraine is likely to be at least a third lower than in normal years, according to analysis of satellite images of the country.

Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat, but the war is taking a toll on the country’s agriculture and food supplies, sparking fears of shortages or higher prices around the world.

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Filipino inquiry finds big polluters ‘morally and legally liable’ for climate damage

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Report on effects of Typhoon Haiyan says fossil and cement firms engaged in ‘wilful obfuscation’ of science

The world’s most polluting companies have a moral and legal obligation to address the harms of climate change because of their role in spreading misinformation, according to an inquiry brought about by Filipino typhoon survivors.

Experts say the long-awaited report published on Friday, which concludes that coal, oil, mining and cement firms engaged in “wilful obfuscation” of climate science and obstructed efforts towards a global transition to clean energy, could add fuel to climate lawsuits around the world.

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Independents slam ‘dirty tactic’, reporting fake campaign signs; 30 Covid deaths – as it happened

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Independents report ‘misleading and unauthorised’ campaign signs; Scott Morrison won’t say if he will resign in case of hung parliament; Anthony Albanese backs royal commission into the pandemic; trans rights ‘debate’ ‘hugely regrettable’, Liberal senator says; at least 30 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

How does Andrew Bragg think Dave Sharma and Trent Zimmerman are feeling, given their seats are under threat:

As I say, I don’t agree with the analysis. I think the Liberal party has been a strong party of government because we have been able to represent a whole lot of different people across our country and we are doing that right now through things like strong climate policies, but also a social liberal agenda which protects minority groups such as the LGBTI community which I addressed last night at the Equality Forum.

Well, people are entitled to their opinions. I don’t always agree with everything you say and I don’t always agree with what my colleagues say. We are entitled to have our own views and cross the floor and make our own statements known where it is appropriate.

I mean, I’m not a commentator on these things. People are entitled to their own views. I think I have been very clear we have a strong voice for people in the cities and people should absolutely vote for Dave Sharma and Trent because they’ve done a great job in standing up for their communities.

I don’t agree with Mr Turnbull’s analysis. We have done important work for people who live in the inner cities on things like achieving the net zero 2050 commitment, and also developed economic policies which favour the inner city on things like fintech and cryptocurrency and we have made important commitments, as I spoke about last night to the equality forum, on HIV, listing Prep on the PBS.

The idea we are a party only for the bush or for the bushes is not true, or for the burbs is not true. We govern for all Australians.

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Vaquita porpoise could survive … but only if illegal fishing stops immediately

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DNA study finds rarest cetacean, only found in Gulf of California, has enough genetic diversity to recover – if gillnet ban is enforced


Scientists studying the DNA of the world’s smallest cetacean and rarest marine mammal, the vaquita porpoise, have made a surprising and bittersweet discovery.

With a tiny population of fewer than 10 individuals left, the mammal was assumed by conservationists to be at a similar risk of harmful mutations and inbreeding as other species with small gene pools.

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Keeping coal-fired power plants running is a ‘dangerous game’ for Queensland Labor, expert says

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Political scientist says state’s decision to rule out closing power stations shows major parties are ‘wedged’ on climate change

Queensland’s Labor government is playing “a dangerous game” with coal that could hurt the party’s chances in inner-city Brisbane in the federal election, according a political expert.

On Wednesday, the state energy minister, Mick de Brenni, ruled out closing any of Queensland’s eight coal-fired power plants, despite plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

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Hundreds of Iraqis hospitalised as thick sandstorm blankets country

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Flights suspended and authorities urge people to stay indoors as fifth sandstorm in a month hits Iraq

Hundreds of Iraqis have been taken to hospitals with breathing problems and Baghdad airport suspended flights for several hours as a thick sandstorm blanketed the country, the fifth to engulf Iraq within a month.

Iraqi state media said most of the patients suffered respiratory issues as clinics across the country’s north and west struggled to keep up with the influx. Authorities urged citizens to stay indoors.

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Greens and animal welfare groups push for Labor to give timeline for live export ban

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Opposition says it will recommit to phasing out live sheep exports from Western Australia but has not indicated when it will do so

The Greens and animal welfare groups have called on Labor to commit to a timeline for phasing out live sheep exports, after the opposition said it still intended to ban the trade.

Labor told the Alliance for Animals that it will recommit to its policy of phasing out the live sheep export trade, which it announced in 2018 in response to whistleblower videos of a deadly voyage in which 2,400 sheep died.

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Climate sceptic thinktank received funding from fossil fuel interests

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Exclusive: Global Warming Policy Foundation has led the backlash against UK government’s net zero policy

An influential thinktank that has led the backlash against the government’s net zero policy has received funding from groups with oil and gas interests, according to tax documents seen by the Guardian and OpenDemocracy.

Though the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) has always said it is independent of the fossil fuel industry, the revelations about its funding will raise questions over its campaigning.

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