Category Archives: Environment

NSW protest bill leaves Labor wedged between a roadblock and a hard place

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Sydney media’s reactionary momentum machine can help explain crackdown on climate activists

On Wednesday night, as the New South Wales parliament debated a bill that makes blocking roads in the state a jail-worthy offence, the independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, asked, rhetorically, what had prompted the government’s urgency to pass the legislation.

The bill had been introduced into the parliament late on Wednesday afternoon, with the Coalition providing a one-page brief and no forewarning to the crossbench.

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‘The knowledge of our elders’: India’s living root bridges submitted to Unesco

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Meghalaya state hopes for world heritage status for unique bridges, which can take decades to create

India’s famous living bridges – the roots of trees coaxed and stretched into the form of a suspension bridge over a river – have been submitted to Unesco’s tentative list for the coveted world heritage site status.

The mountainous state of Meghalaya in the north-east has more than 100 such bridges in 70 villages, unique structures created by a combination of nature and human ingenuity.

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Environmental protesters block oil terminals across UK

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Activists climb on tankers and glue themselves to roads around London, Birmingham and Southampton

Hundreds of environmental protesters have blocked seven oil terminals across the country as part of a campaign to paralyse the UK’s fossil fuel infrastructure.

Early on Friday, supporters of Just Stop Oil began blockades at oil refineries around London, Birmingham and Southampton by climbing on top of tankers and gluing themselves to road surfaces.

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Labor helps pass NSW bill targeting road-blocking protesters despite union opposition

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New law, which brings in fines of up to $22,000 and up to two years in jail, passes on extra sitting day of parliament

The New South Wales Labor party has helped pass a bill that could see protesters who block roads, ports or rail in the state spend up to two years in jail, despite outrage from unions and environmental groups.

After being forced to call an extra sitting day, thanks to the Greens mounting a filibuster attempt, the government was able to pass the bill into law with Labor’s backing on Friday, just two days after it first introduced the legislation into parliament.

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Seabed regulator accused of deciding deep sea’s future ‘behind closed doors’

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The ISA, obliged to frame industry rules by 2023, drops reporting service and is accused of lacking transparency in plans for mining
• Podcast: The race to mine the deep sea

The UN-affiliated organisation that oversees deep-sea mining, a controversial new industry, has been accused of failings of transparency after an independent body responsible for reporting on negotiations was kicked out.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is meeting this week at its council headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, to develop regulations for the fledgling industry. But it emerged this week that Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), a division of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), which has covered previous ISA negotiations, had not had its contract renewed.

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IAEA investigates claim Russians fled Chernobyl with radiation sickness

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As occupiers abandon site and IAEA moves back in, power company says soldiers were exposed by digging trenches in radioactive zone

The UN atomic watchdog is investigating Ukrainian claims that Russian soldiers occupying Chernobyl nuclear power station left after receiving high doses of radiation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it could not confirm the claims by Ukrainian state power company Energoatom and was seeking an independent assessment.

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Protect Indigenous people’s rights or Paris climate goals will fail, says report

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Rainforests looked after by communities absorb twice as much carbon as other lands, analysis shows

Paris climate agreement goals will fail unless the rights of Indigenous people who protect rainforests are honoured, according to a new report.

Forest lands stewarded by Indigenous people and communities in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru sequester about twice as much carbon as other lands, according to the analysis.

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Coal seam gas company Arrow Energy fined $1m for breaching Queensland’s land access rules

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Investigation began after discovery of ‘deviated’ wells drilled from neighbouring properties

The Queensland government has fined coal seam gas company Arrow Energy $1m for breaches of land access rules over four years, after an investigation into allegations the company drilled diagonally beneath farmland without notifying the landholders.

The fine is among the most significant non-compliance penalties ever issued to a resources company in Queensland. Groups that have raised concerns against the rapid spread of the coal seam gas wells in Queensland’s farming communities say the penalty is a “small start”, but that landholders’ rights to object to gas drilling must now be strengthened.

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Britain hands billions to projects linked to labour abuse and climate damage

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UK Export Finance used £5.24bn of taxpayer money to fund overseas energy and infrastructure ventures – despite its own review raising concerns

The British government has provided more than £5bn in the past three years to overseas energy and infrastructure projects linked to labour abuses and environmental damage, according to documents and interviews with workers.

The funding – a combination of loans and guarantees – comes from the government’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), a government department to help UK companies access business contracts overseas.

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Flood evacuation orders issued for Lismore after man and dogs die in Queensland

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Severe weather warnings issued for parts of eastern Australia still recovering from recent floods, with heavy rain forecast

Towns in northern New South Wales are bracing for another bout of possibly life-threatening flash floods, with the State Emergency Service ordering parts of flood-hit Lismore to move out of harm’s way.

The NSW SES on Monday issued an evacuation order about 7.30pm for North Lismore stating “residents must evacuate by 9pm”. Residents of South Lismore were ordered to leave by 10pm.

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Property developers fight NSW bid to make houses more energy-efficient and climate-resilient

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Environmentalists call changes ‘everything you could ever dream about’ but industry says they ‘undermine the economics of delivering housing’

Property developers in New South Wales are fighting against the introduction of a wide-ranging planning policy aimed at ensuring houses are more energy-efficient and climate-resilient, which one environment group described as “everything you could ever dream about”.

Public comment closed last month on the draft Design and Place state environmental planning policy, hailed late last year by the then planning minister Rob Stokes as “NSW’s first comprehensive design policy”. It would offer “an important opportunity to reshape the look and feel of the places we live in”.

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‘A striking work of nature’: the search for a rare flower in the Philippines jungle

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Chris Thorogood had to venture deep into the Luzon rainforest to set eyes on the extraordinary Rafflesia banaoana

It was after travelling 6,600 miles and battling through the tropical assault course of the Luzon rainforest that Chris Thorogood set his eyes upon the rare and extraordinary flower that ignited his childhood imagination 30 years ago.

Thorogood, 38, last month became the first westerner to see the Rafflesia banaoana – an otherworldly-looking red spotted species that spans half a metre across – in an experience that reduced him to tears.

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Australia live news update: man drowns at Sydney beach; Labor’s Katy Gallagher says ‘mean girls’ label ‘diminishes women’; 11 Covid deaths

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Man drowns on Sydney’s northern beaches; Labor senator Katy Gallagher says she had no ‘difficult arguments’ with Kimberley Kitching beyond what was normal in politics; Victoria records five Covid deaths and 7,466 new cases; NSW records one death and 17,450 new cases; Queensland records 7,738 new cases and one death; Western Australia records 7,197 new cases, four deaths. Follow developments live

The NSW Labor opposition has outlined a plan for the state to rebuild and recover from the devastating floods that have left about 1,500 people in emergency accommodation and damaged or destroyed about 95,000 homes, AAP reports.

The federal and New South Wales governments were too slow to act in the immediate response and have been too slow in their support, NSW Labor has said in a statement today.

The difference is, David, we’re looking for maximum community benefit and economic benefit while the government’s looking for maximum political benefit.

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Rollercoasters v water voles: ‘Disney-on-Thames’ plan could devastate wildlife

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Proposed theme park the size of 136 Wembleys will threaten protected species and local jobs, say campaigners

It promises to be one of Britain’s most unusual planning battles. On one side is an array of endangered wildlife that includes a species of jumping spider. On the other are backers of a theme park that they claim will rival Disneyland in its size and ambition.

The park, called the London Resort, would be built on the Swanscombe peninsula on the Thames, near Gravesend, where it would cover land equivalent to 136 Wembley stadiums and would include themed rides, a water park, conference venues, hotels and a shopping centre.

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Future of popular NSW walking track through sacred site in doubt after floods

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Wollumbin track reopening delayed after floods, while hikers asked to reconsider climb out of respect for Indigenous sacred place

The fate of one of northern New South Wales’s most popular walking tracks remains uncertain after authorities chose to delay a controversial decision regarding its future for the fourth time.

Situated near the flood-hit town of Murwillumbah, Wollumbin national park previously attracted more than 100,000 visitors a year, and its summit is renowned as the first place in Australia to catch the sunrise.

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US plan to provide 15bn cubic meters of natural gas to EU alarms climate groups

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The deal is intended to decrease reliance on Russia but will entrench reliance on fossil fuels, environmentalists say

A major deal that will see the US ramp up its supply of gas to Europe in an attempt to shift away from Russian fossil fuel imports risks “disaster” for the climate crisis, environmental groups have warned.

Under the agreement, unveiled on Friday, the US will provide an extra 15bn cubic meters of liquified natural gas (LNG) to the European Union this year. This represents about a tenth of the gas the EU now gets from Russia, which provides 40% of the bloc’s total gas supply.

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Woman poisoned by chlorine gas leak at London’s Olympic park plans to sue

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Tess Riley has been left fraught with anxiety over any potential impact the gas has had on her pregnancy

A pregnant woman injured by a high quantity of poisonous gas that was accidentally released at the aquatics centre at London’s Olympic park is planning to sue the company that runs the pool.

Tess Riley, 37, who fled the pool with her husband, Thom, and their two-year-old daughter Ruby, said they “vomited our guts out” after the incident, which took place moments after a parent and toddler session in the centre’s training pool on Wednesday morning.

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Great Barrier Reef authority confirms unprecedented sixth mass coral bleaching event

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Aerial surveys show almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat, prompting scientists to call for urgent action on climate crisis

The Great Barrier Reef has been hit with a sixth mass coral bleaching event, the marine park’s authority has confirmed, with aerial surveys showing almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat.

The Guardian understands a United Nations mission currently under way to check the health and management of the reef will be briefed on the initial findings of the surveys as early as Friday in Townsville.

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UK government vows 10-fold increase in electric car chargers by 2030

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New target comes after criticism of infrastructure rollout for failing to match surging vehicle sales

The UK government has set a new target to increase the number of electric car chargers more than ten times to 300,000 by 2030 after heavy criticism that the rollout of public infrastructure is too slow to match rapid growth in sales.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it would invest an extra £450m to do so, alongside hefty sums of private capital. Sales of new cars and vans with petrol and diesel engines will be banned from 2030.

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‘Climate smart’ policies could increase southern Africa’s crops by up to 500%

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Researchers outline urgent steps to improve food security in the face of increasing natural disasters caused by the climate crisis

The climate crisis is threatening food stocks in sub-Saharan Africa, but a comprehensive approach to food, farming and resources could increase crop production by more than 500% in some countries in the region, according to new research by more than 200 experts.

There is no single technological fix to the threat posed by the barrage of natural disasters striking the region, they said, but significant improvements could be achieved with new approaches, based on modelling done by the network of researchers in Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia.

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