Category Archives: Environment

EU in row over inclusion of gas and nuclear in sustainability guidance

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Activists including Greta Thunberg criticise ‘fake climate action’ in response to planned investment taxonomy

The European Commission is facing a backlash from Greta Thunberg and fellow climate activists over plans to include gas and nuclear energy in a “green” investment guidebook.

Both energy sources are expected to feature in the next part of the EU’s “taxonomy for sustainable activities”, which is expected at the end of the year, following a period of intense political bargaining between the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen; the French president, Emmanuel Macron; and Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

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How Shein beat Amazon at its own game – and reinvented fast fashion

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By connecting China’s garment factories with western gen-Z customers, Shein ushered in a new era of ‘ultra-fast’ shopping

Last year, Julia King, a 20-year-old art student and influencer from Texas, noticed that a particular kind of sweater vest was taking over the internet. Celebrities including Bella Hadid had been photographed wearing shrunken, argyle-patterned styles, channelling classic 1990s movies like Clueless during a wave of millennium-era nostalgia. Soon, King found the perfect example in a secondhand shop: a child-sized pink-and-red knitted vest that fit tightly and cropped on an adult. Using herself as a model, King paired it with jeans and a Dior bag, snapped a picture, and listed it for $22 on Depop, an eBay-like resellers’ app favoured by gen Z.

The vest sold instantly, and she quickly forgot about it. But a month or so later, King received a message from one of her Instagram followers. They alerted her to the fact that an obscure, now defunct Chinese shopping site called Preguy was using her photo to sell its own cheap reproduction of the thrift-store vest. “Seeing the pictures of me up on some random fast-fashion website I’d never heard of before made me really upset,” King said.

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‘Boofhead’ the crocodile eats shark on fisher’s line in north Queensland

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Dan Johnson was surprised to see he had hooked a shark while fishing from the Proserpine riverbank, then the region’s resident croc made his move

When Dan Johnson first heard the commotion coming from the Proserpine riverbank in north Queensland, he thought he had just snagged a really good fish.

It wasn’t until he took a closer look that he realised he had hooked a shark, and local celebrity “Boofhead” – a four-metre crocodile – was coming for his catch.

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Contact with nature in cities reduces loneliness, study shows

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Loneliness is significant mental health concern and can raise risk of death by 45%, say scientists

Contact with nature in cities significantly reduces feelings of loneliness, according to a team of scientists.

Loneliness is a major public health concern, their research shows, and can raise a person’s risk of death by 45% – more than air pollution, obesity or alcohol abuse.

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Earthquake-proof steel cask carrying 2t of radioactive waste to arrive in Sydney next year

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Nuclear waste has been reprocessed in the UK and will be stored at Lucas Heights until Napandee facility is ready

A monolithic steel cask designed to withstand an earthquake and a jet strike will arrive in Sydney next year, carrying two tonnes of radioactive waste.

For security reasons authorities won’t say when the hulking capsule – containing four 500kg canisters of “intermediate-level material” – will arrive from the UK.

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New head of Unesco world heritage centre wants to put Africa on the map

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Lazare Eloundou Assomo wants to address imbalance that benefits rich nations and protect sites threatened by climate crisis and war

It covers 9 million sq miles (24m sq km) from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and from the Sahara in the north to Cape Point in the south. And in between lie some of the world’s most ancient cultural sites and precious natural wonders.

However, despite its vast size, sub-Saharan Africa has never been proportionately represented on Unesco’s world heritage list, its 98 sites dwarfed by Europe, North America and Asia.

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Running around Waimapihi Reserve in the dark my headtorch revealed hidden treasures | Ashleigh Young

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At first I was full of dread but as I pressed on I noticed things I had never seen in daylight

  • Guardian writers and readers describe their favourite place in New Zealand’s wilderness and why it’s special to them

I’m scared of getting lost in the bush. This is unusual for an essayist. Most of us like to go for a walk in disorienting landscapes and get completely lost so that we can write about it.

Rebecca Solnit wrote that getting lost is “a voluptuous surrender” but this sounds to me like walking in increasingly frantic circles, getting cold and hungry as night closes in, until you have no option but to dig yourself a little hole and cover yourself in leaves.

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Remote, beautiful, lacking in plumbing: New Zealand’s beloved loos with views

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Aotearoa’s wild landscapes are world-famous but spectacular views are not confined to the walking trails – long-drop toilets also boast incredible panoramas

Be it the crest of an icy mountain peak, the depths of the dense native bush, or the slopes of sleeping volcanoes, New Zealand’s wild and remote landscapes are coveted by outdoor enthusiasts the world over. But what really sets the country’s nature apart from the rest is what is at one’s disposal when nature calls – spectacular loos with views.

These scenic spots – small, remote, and lacking in plumbing – are a curious quirk in New Zealand’s landscape, and offer up some of the best panoramas in the country.

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Scientists watch giant ‘doomsday’ glacier in Antarctica with concern

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Cracks and fissures stoke fears of breakup that could lead to half-metre rise in global sea levels – or more

Twenty years ago, an area of ice thought to weigh almost 500bn tonnes dramatically broke off the Antarctic continent and shattered into thousands of icebergs into the Weddell Sea.

The 1,255-sq-mile (3,250-sq-km) Larsen B ice shelf was known to be melting fast but no one had predicted that it would take just one month for the 200-metre-thick behemoth to completely disintegrate.

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Guardian and Observer forced to cancel charity appeal telethon amid Omicron outbreak

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Readers are encouraged to donate via other means after annual phone calls to journalists are hit by rise in Covid cases

The annual telethon for the Guardian and Observer’s charity appeal has been cancelled due to the rise in Omicron cases and renewed advice from the government to work from home.

The 2021 charity appeal is focused on the fight for climate justice, supporting four charities that fight to protect the rights and livelihoods of communities hit by extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency.

Donations can be made online by credit card, debit card or PayPal, or by phone on 0151 284 1126. We are unable to accept cheques.

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PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ constantly cycle through ground, air and water, study finds

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The Stockholm University study highlights the chemicals’ mobility, which has been found in penguin eggs and polar bears

Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in the ocean are transported from seawater to air when waves hit the beach and that phenomenon represents a significant source of air pollution, a new study from Stockholm University has found.

The findings, published in Environmental Science & Technology, also partly explain how PFAS get into the atmosphere and eventually precipitation. The study, which collected samples from two Norwegian sites, also concludes that the pollution “may impact large areas of inland Europe and other continents, in addition to coastal areas”.

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Deforestation making outdoor work unsafe for millions, says study

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Rise in temperatures and humidity linked to forest loss has reduced safe hours for working in the tropics

Deforestation has made outdoor work unsafe for millions of people in the tropics over the past 15 years, a study has found.

The rise in temperatures and humidity caused by tree loss has reduced the number of safe hours in the day for people to work, especially for those performing heavy labour.

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‘All I can think about is the children’s future’: drought devastates Kenya

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Nomads’ herds are dying along with rare wildlife as the longest dry spell in memory edges pastoralists ever nearer starvation

Dahabley smells of rotting flesh. Bodies of starved cows lie in various stages of decomposition, after being dragged to the outskirts of the village in Wajir county, north-east Kenya. They are added to on a near-daily basis and fester in the heat amid multiplying flies.

North-east Kenya is well used to spells of drought, but it is experiencing the worst in living memory. As the region’s short rainy season, which starts in October, draws to an end, parts of Wajir have only seen small showers and other areas have had no rain at all for more than a year.

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First evidence that leopard seals feed on sharks, researchers say

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The unusual discovery in New Zealand waters is based on the remains of scat and scars on seal’s bodies

In a world first, New Zealand leopard seals have been found to feed on sharks, making them part of a tiny and exclusive club of marine predators that do so.

The study, led by Krista van der Linde of leopardseals.org, found shark remains in the scat of leopard seals, and visible signs of struggle with sharks on seals’ bodies, indicating the marine mammals predate on sharks, rather than scavenge their remains.

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Global demand for coal could hit all-time high in 2022

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Electricity from coal plants has risen by 9% this year to fuel economic recovery from Covid, says watchdog

Coal power is on track to hit a new global record this year after an economic rebound that could drive worldwide coal demand to an all-time high in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.

The amount of electricity generated from coal power plants has soared by 9% this year after a surge in fossil fuel demand to fuel the recovery from Covid lockdowns, a report by the watchdog says.

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Rhino deaths in South Africa from poaching reach 24 in December

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Carcasses found in four provinces, including one pregnant female, with nine arrests made

Poachers have killed 24 rhinos in South Africa during the first two weeks of December after a lull in killings during the Covid pandemic.

On Tuesday, the South African environment ministry said carcasses had been discovered in four provinces across the country since the beginning of the month, with seven rhinos found dead in Kruger national park, six in KwaZulu-Natal and seven in Mpumalanga. Four, including a pregnant female, were shot dead by poachers at a game reserve in the Western Cape last week while a fifth is being treated for gunshot wounds.

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What burns beneath: the deadly threat of underground coal fires to children in Zimbabwe

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Alisha was eight when she died after being badly burned near a coal mine in Hwange. Families who live in fear of the ground opening up under their children’s feet say more must be done


Alisha Muzvite was out playing when she was caught short and went behind a bush to go to the toilet. But as the eight-year-old crouched down, the ground beneath her shifted, pulling her into one of the underground fires which burn all around her home in Hwange in north-west Zimbabwe.

An aunt pulled her to safety, but Alisha’s legs were so badly burned that they had to be amputated. More than a month after the accident, the little girl died of her injuries.

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Six dead giraffes: Kenya drought horror captured in single picture

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Aerial shot shows devastating effect of drought that has left people and animals without water

Six dead giraffes lie in a spiral on the dry earth, their bodies emaciated and interwoven. The aerial shot, taken by the photojournalist Ed Ram, shows the devastation of Kenya’s drought, which has left people and animals struggling for food and water.

Already weak, the animals had died after they got stuck in the mud, according to Getty Images. They were trying to reach a nearby reservoir, although it had almost dried up, the agency reported.

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