Category Archives: Environment

Cop26: We have to change behaviour if we’re going to cut emissions, say health chiefs – day eight live

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• Climate crisis is driving up deadly combination of temperature and humidity, says study released at Cop26
• Tuvalu minister gives Cop26 speech while standing in the sea – video

India’s indigenous Adivasi people have denounced Narendra Modi for hypocrisy, saying he proclaimed his green credentials at Cop26 while planning to massively expand coal mining on their lands.

The India prime minister’s plan to open 55 new coal mines, expand 193 existing ones and produce 1 billion tonnes of coal a year would destroy the land and livelihood of many Adivasi people, they said, noting that 80% of the new mines will be on Adivasi land.

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Cop26: Obama criticises China and Russia for ‘dangerous absence of urgency’ – day eight live

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Day eight at the Glasgow summit focuses on loss, adaptation and damage

The fossil fuel industry has hundreds of people accredited to the key climate talks in Glasgow - giving the sector a bigger delegation than any country, campaigners have claimed.

Analysis of the UN’s provisional list of named attendees suggests 503 delegates at Cop26 who are either directly affiliated with fossil fuel companies or are part of country delegations but are affiliated to oil, gas or coal firms, PA reports.

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Hit $100bn target or poor countries face climate disaster, the Gambia tells Cop26

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West African nation’s environment minister says richer countries must finally honour funding commitment made at Cop15 in 2009

Rich countries must hit their $100bn climate finance target in the last week of Cop26 or it will be catastrophic for the poorest nations suffering the most from the climate crisis, the Gambian environment minister has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian as he prepared to leave for Glasgow, Lamin B Dibba urged developed countries to finally honour the annual funding commitment that was made 12 years ago at the Copenhagen climate summit (Cop15) – but which has never been achieved.

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Environmental photographer of the year 2021 – in pictures

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The winners have been announced in the environmental photographer of the year competition, organised by environmental and water management charity CIWEM and WaterBear, a free streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet. The awards celebrate humanity’s ability to survive and innovate, and showcase thought-provoking images that highlight our impact and inspire us to live sustainably

  • Vote for the people’s choice award here
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French couple wins legal fight over wind ‘turbine syndrome’

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Christel and Luc Fockaert awarded €110,000 after experiencing windfarm-related health problems

A French court has recognised “turbine syndrome” after a couple complained their health was damaged by living near a windfarm.

In what is believed to be the first judgment of its kind in France, Belgians Christel and Luc Fockaert were awarded more than €100,000 in compensation by the judge in Toulouse.

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Gardens of Eden: the church forests of Ethiopia – a photo essay

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Seen by their guardians as sacred, Ethiopia’s church forests are protected and cared for by their priests and their communities. Photographer Kieran Dodds has brought together his images of these oases and the story of the country’s spiritually driven conservation movement in a new book, The Church Forests of Ethiopia

South of the Sahara, and just north of the Great Rift Valley in landlocked Ethiopia, the Blue Nile flows from Lake Tana, the largest lake in the country. Radiating out from the sacred source is a scattering of forest islands, strewn across the dry highlands like a handful of emeralds. At the heart of each circle of forest, hunkered down under the ancient canopy and wrapped in lush vegetation, are saucer-shaped churches – otherworldly structures that almost seem to emit a life force. And in a sense they do.

Ethiopia is one of the fastest expanding economies in the world today and the second most populous country in Africa. The vast majority of people live in rural areas, where the expansion of settlements and agriculture is slowly thinning the forest edge by cattle and plough.

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Australia’s commitment to coal is directly responsible for climate crisis in the Pacific | Anote Tong

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Constant change in the climate policies of Australia and New Zealand has been a huge disappointment to Pacific island nations

When I came into office as president of Kiribati in 2003, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had released its third assessment report and, like my predecessors, I believed the report’s projected rise in sea levels posed a real threat to the survival for those of us on the frontline. Accordingly, in my first address at the UN General Assembly in 2004 I drew attention to the dangers posed by climate change, especially to small island nations like Kiribati and other Pacific island countries.

The fact that no other leader made any reference to it in their statement worried me and I wondered whether I might be making a fool of myself, especially when the focus of international attention at the time was on more real and present threats like terrorism. Thankfully by the next assembly, in 2005, other Pacific island leaders had joined the call for action. This has gathered great momentum in the years since.

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Few willing to change lifestyle to save the planet, climate survey finds

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Exclusive: poll of 10 countries including US, UK, France and Germany finds people prioritising measures that are already habits

Citizens are alarmed by the climate crisis, but most believe they are already doing more to preserve the planet than anyone else, including their government, and few are willing to make significant lifestyle changes, an international survey has found.

“The widespread awareness of the importance of the climate crisis illustrated in this study has yet to be coupled with a proportionate willingness to act,” the survey of 10 countries including the US, UK, France and Germany, observed.

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‘No power to stop it’: optimism turns to frustration over east Africa pipeline

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Promised an income, those affected by $20bn oil project are losing their land and resources instead

A bumpy, mud-spattered road leads deep into Kakumiro district in western Uganda, where the longest heated oil pipeline in the world will pass through its homes, farms and wetlands.

The villagers in the Kijungu settlements welcomed the project when the route was announced in 2017, hoping that the government and companies involved would buy their land and change their lives for good. Their optimism has since given way to frustration.

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‘The time for change is now’: demonstrators around the world demand action on climate crisis

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Up to 100,000, including Kahnawake Mohawk delegates, brave Glasgow rain as 22 arrested after scientists blockade bridge

People on almost every continent were gathering for marches and rallies on Saturday to mark a Global Day for Climate Justice, halfway through the Glasgow climate change summit.

Activists in the Philippines, eight hours ahead of the UK, had already finished their rally as protesters gathered in Scotland. There were also rallies in South Korea, Indonesia, the Netherlands and France. The Belgian arm of Extinction Rebellion occupied a street in Brussels.

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Activists from across the globe rally for Fridays for Future at Cop26 – video

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Youth climate activists appeared sceptical about how genuine the political will to change is when they spoke at the Fridays for Future protest in Glasgow discussing youth empowerment.

 Campaigners and pressure groups have been underwhelmed by the commitments made by governments during the Cop26 conference's first week, many of which are voluntary or set deadlines decades away

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Kenya’s water crisis leaves villagers at risk of violence and disease – in pictures

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As rivers run dry, the desperate search for water has led to a rise in domestic abuse, conflict and illness

All photos by Cyril Zannettacci/Agence Vu for Action Against Hunger

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Bothy culture: a tour of the Highlands’ sustainable sanctuaries

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Scotland’s newly reopened mountain bothies are shining examples of sustainable tourism. Our photographer takes us on a guided tour

The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) charity has reopened its 105 mountain huts, shelters and howffs after more than a year of closure due to Covid. The overwhelming majority of these are in Scotland and they reopened in August for what the MBA described as “responsible use”, pointing out that Covid has not gone away. The bothies are all sorts of shapes and sizes in varied locations – many are extremely remote and operated with the agreement of owners and estates and maintained by MBA volunteers since the late 60s and early 70s.

Above,Allt nam Fang, approaching Meanach Bothy; right, Meanach Bothy, renovated in 1977, is approximately 1,000ft above sea level

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Indonesia says Cop26 zero-deforestation pledge it signed ‘unfair’

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Environment minister of country home to world’s third-biggest rainforest says deforestation pledge must not halt development

Indonesia has questioned the terms of a Cop26 deal to end deforestation by 2030, days after joining more than 100 countries in signing up to it.

The nations agreed on the multi-billion-dollar plan at the climate conference in Glasgow this week to stop cutting down trees on an industrial scale in under a decade.

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More than 40 countries agree to phase out coal-fired power

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Critics say pledge to end use of dirtiest fuel source in 2030s and 40s does not go far enough

More than 40 countries have agreed to phase out their use of coal-fired power, the dirtiest fuel source, in a boost to UK hopes of a deal to “keep 1.5C alive”, from the Cop26 climate summit.

Major coal-using countries, including Canada, Poland, Ukraine and Vietnam, will phase out their use of coal for electricity generation, with the bigger economies doing so in the 2030s, and smaller economies doing so in the 2040s.

More than 20 governments and financial institutions, including the UK, US and Denmark, agreed to phase out overseas finance for all fossil fuels.

Research showed that the world could be on track to limit global heating to 1.9C, if commitments from India and other countries on greenhouse gas emissions are fulfilled.

Data seen by the Guardian revealed fossil fuel companies were using the energy charter treaty to sue governments for the losses they incur from national commitments to decarbonise.

Ireland was told it would need to cull 1.3m animals to meet climate targets.

The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, told the Cop26 conference London would become a global hub for net zero investment.

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Californians rush to see rare ‘corpse plant’ that only blooms for 48 hours

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Bloom of the plant, which emits a putrid odor of rotting flesh, began Sunday and quickly drew visitors to botanical garden

The bloom of a giant and stinky Sumatran flower nicknamed the “corpse plant” because it smells like a dead body is drawing huge crowds to a southern California botanical garden.

The bloom of the Amorphophallus titanum plant began Sunday afternoon at the San Diego Botanic Gardens in Encinitas. By Monday morning, timed-entry tickets had sold out, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, and more than 5,000 people were expected to have visited the garden by Tuesday evening.

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Animals farmed: meat taxes, death in farming and anti-climate lobbying

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Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the web

As UN climate talks take place in Glasgow, the role of cows and other farm animals in human-induced climate emissions – and what can be done about it – has been in the spotlight.

The world’s biggest meat and dairy companies are being “given a free pass by governments” over the lack of clear targets to reduce climate emissions, say campaigners, who have published a new ranking of the worst offenders.

Cutting methane is the biggest opportunity to slow global heating between now and 2040, say experts, who lament that “no country has a real target to reduce its livestock-related emissions or meat consumption”.

Brazil and Argentina, two of the biggest producers of beef products and animal feed crops in the world, are reported to have argued strongly against UN recommendations that reducing meat consumption is necessary to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The net zero climate pledges made this year by the world’s largest meat company, JBS, have been critiqued as an attempt to “avoid scrutiny from shareholders and investors” in a new report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

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Slow burn: inside the 5 November Guardian Weekly

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Can the Middle East wean itself off oil? Plus: the return of Abba
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Few regions on Earth are more central to hopes of reining in global temperature increases than the Middle East. Financed by the west’s insatiable demand for fossil fuels, cities filled with air-conditioned skyscrapers and shopping malls have risen from the desert, and it’s not surprising that Gulf monarchies made rich and powerful by oil have paid little heed to thoughts of an economic transition to renewables, even though the region is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. But, asks our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour, could the long-term view be about to change?

The Cop26 climate conference got under way in Glasgow this week, amid a flurry of announcements and expectation. Follow the Guardian’s extensive coverage here.

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‘We run from men only to meet crocodiles’: Kenya’s drought is deadly for women

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As poverty and lost livelihoods fuel threats in the home, those who have found refuge still risk their lives walking miles in search of water

The setting sun brings a warm glow to the huts in the village of Umoja in Samburu county, Kenya. Christine Sitiyan sits outside her home with her beadwork, carefully running the thin thread through tiny bead holes, hoping she can finish the colourful belt she is making before darkness sets in. The traditional belt can fetch 3,000 Kenyan shillings (£20), enough to cover her needs for a month.

This tranquil scene is very different from her troubled past. Like many girls in her community, Sitiyan never finished school but was married off as a young teenager. Seven years later, with two children, she left her husband, unable to endure the beatings from a man she says could no longer fend for the family in an increasingly harsh environment.

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