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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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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Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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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Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ‘Inner green deal’ courses are part of new wave of mindfulness that applies practice to hard politics
Brussels bureaucrats are being trained to meditate to help them tackle the climate crisis as part of a new wave of “applied mindfulness” that seeks to take the Buddhism-inspired practice “off the cushion” and into hard politics.
EU officials working on the 27-country bloc’s green deal climate policy are attending “inner green deal” courses intended to foster a deeper connection among decision-makers and negotiators tasked with tackling the crisis. The courses incorporate woodland walks near Brussels and meditation sessions, including one that invites participants to feel empathy for trees and animals to boost “environmental compassion”.
Continue reading...Fossil fuel interest groups are telling New Mexicans: let us keep drilling or the state’s education system will collapse
The oil and gas industry wants to play a word-and-picture association game with you. Think of four images: a brightly-colored backpack stuffed with pencils, a smiling teacher with a tablet tucked under her arm, a pair of glasses resting on a stack of pastel notebooks, and a gleaming school bus welcoming a young student aboard.
“What do all of these have in common?” an April 6 Facebook post by the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA), asked. “They are powered by oil and natural gas!”
Continue reading...Bear had wandered hundreds of kilometres south of species’ territory in incident experts say could become more common
Canadian police have shot and killed a polar bear that wandered into a Quebec community hundreds of kilometres south of the species’ normal territory, in an incident that experts warn could become more common as sea ice coverage becomes more unpredictable thanks to global heating.
The Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police service, warned residents this weekend that a polar bear had been spotted near the town of Madeleine-Centre – the first time the Arctic’s apex predator had been spotted in the community.
Continue reading...Water levels at the Nevada reservoir have depleted to such a level that officials predict more grim finds in the future
A body inside a barrel was found over the weekend on the the newly exposed bottom of Nevada’s Lake Mead as drought depletes one of the largest US reservoirs – and officials predicted the discovery could be just the first of more grim finds.
“I would say there is a very good chance as the water level drops that we are going to find additional human remains,” Las Vegas police Lt Ray Spencer told KLAS-TV on Monday.
Continue reading...April temperatures at unprecedented levels have led to critical water and electricity shortages
For the past few weeks, Nazeer Ahmed has been living in one of the hottest places on Earth. As a brutal heatwave has swept across India and Pakistan, his home in Turbat, in Pakistan’s Balochistan region, has been suffering through weeks of temperatures that have repeatedly hit almost 50C (122F), unprecedented for this time of year. Locals have been driven into their homes, unable to work except during the cooler night hours, and are facing critical shortages of water and power.
Ahmed fears that things are only about to get worse. It was here, in 2021, that the world’s highest temperature for May was recorded, a staggering 54C. This year, he said, feels even hotter. “Last week was insanely hot in Turbat. It did not feel like April,” he said.
Continue reading...Thinktank says following Chile’s example would give ministers greater incentive to meet targets
Rishi Sunak is being urged to issue a new generation of green bonds that would offer higher returns to investors if the UK government fails to hit its climate change targets.
The Social Market Foundation (SMF) said its plan for sustainability-linked bonds would provide ministers with a greater incentive to meet carbon-reduction goals and would help boost the UK’s prospects of being a global financial hub for green finance.
Continue reading...AGL says it’s determined to go ahead with the merger despite the purchase, which has made Cannon-Brookes the company’s largest single shareholder
AGL Energy, Australia’s biggest electricity generator, says it remains determined to pursue its plan to split despite a bid for a blocking stake by technology billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.
In a second tilt at the company in three months, Cannon-Brookes bought 11.28% of the AGL shares through his family’s Grok Ventures firm, making him the largest single shareholder.
Continue reading...Liberal Democrats condemn ‘environment scandal’ as party releases figures compiled from Environment Agency data
Untreated sewage was discharged into England’s coastal bathing waters for more than 160,000 hours last year, according to figures collated by the Liberal Democrats to mark the start of the summer sea-swimming season.
Data compiled by the party using Environment Agency figures on 2021 discharges shows that water companies released raw sewage 25,000 times into designated bathing waters off the English coast.
Continue reading...Opposition leader also vows to make gender equity an objective of the Fair Work Act if ALP wins federal election on 21 May
Labor has promised to reduce the cost of medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, roll out new charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and focus on improving pay equity for women if Anthony Albanese defeats Scott Morrison on 21 May.
The Labor leader used the party’s official election campaign launch in Perth on Sunday to unveil a promise to reduce the cost of drugs on the PBS by $12.50. Albanese told the party faithful gathered at Optus Stadium that meant the maximum price for medicines for millions of Australians would be $30.
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Continue reading...With hunger across Horn of Africa and 600,000 children out of school, ‘desperate’ parents push more girls into early marriage
Drought-afflicted areas of Ethiopia are seeing “dramatic” increases in child marriage as the worst climate-induced emergency for 40 years pushes people to the brink, the head of Unicef has said.
Three consecutive failed rainy seasons have brought hunger, malnutrition and mass displacement to millions of people in the Horn of Africa, including parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti.
Continue reading...Protesters charged with causing criminal damage of more than £5,000, Surrey Police said
Four climate activists have been charged after protests at two motorway service stations in Surrey.
Nathan McGovern, 22, Amber Alexander, 18, Louis Hawkins, 22, and Rosa Sharkey, 22, have been charged with causing criminal damage of more than £5,000, Surrey police said.
Continue reading...Staff raise concerns after incoming chief executive Andrew McConville emphasises agricultural outcomes in introductory letter
The new chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Andrew McConville, has caused consternation after sending an all-staff memo outlining his approach to the job which failed to mention the regulator’s environmental role.
A former chief executive of the Australian Petroleum Producers & Exporters Association (APPEA), McConville was appointed to the top job at the MDBA by the Morrison government just days before the federal election was called.
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