Upemba lechwe considered one of world’s rarest large mammals with fewer than 100 thought to remain
A photograph of Africa’s “forgotten antelope” has been published for the first time as the elusive creature dives towards extinction.
Fewer than 100 Upemba lechwe are thought to remain, with an aerial survey in the Kamalondo depression of the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo having recorded 10 individuals.
Continue reading...Shane Jones is unapologetic about his plan to double mineral exports to $3bn over the next decade despite criticism over potential environmental impacts
New Zealand’s minister for resources, Shane Jones, said he will not be guilt-tripped by “apocalyptic images” of mining and its effects on the environment put forward by his critics, as he embarks on a major mining push.
Jones, a member of the minor populist coalition party New Zealand First, wants to double mineral exports to $3bn over the next decade, to boost economic growth and minimise the country’s reliance on imported resources, even if it results in environmental trade-offs.
Continue reading...Differing interpretations of public access rights are at heart of Brockwell case pitting campaign group against festival fans
Public parks have been a cherished part of British life since the 19th century; for the Victorians they represented a “commitment to cultivate public good within the public realm”.
But differing interpretations of this vision for municipal green space are at the heart of a debate over a very 21st-century issue: music festivals.
Continue reading...President aims to construct new nuclear reactors as he implements his own energy policies and undoes Joe Biden’s
Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday intended to spur a “nuclear energy renaissance” through the construction of new reactors he said would satisfy the electricity demands of data centers for artificial intelligence and other emerging industries.
The orders represented the president’s latest foray into the policy underlying America’s electricity supply. Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office over and moved to undo a ban implemented by Joe Biden on new natural gas export terminals and expand oil and gas drilling in Alaska.
Continue reading...MPs had previously backed Conservative amendment to ask developers to provide hollow bricks for endangered birds
Providing every new home with at least one “swift brick” to help endangered cavity-nesting birds has been rejected by Labour at the committee stage of its increasingly controversial planning bill.
The amendment to the bill to ask every developer to provide a £35 hollow brick for swifts, house martins, sparrows and starlings, which was tabled by Labour MP Barry Gardiner, has been rejected by the Labour-dominated committee.
Continue reading...Brazilian photographer’s work highlighted injustice and introduced rainforest to the world
The Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, who is best known for his dramatic black-and-white photographs that highlighted injustice and introduced the Amazon rainforest the world, has died. He was 81.
His death was confirmed by the Instituto Terra, the environmental restoration non-profit he founded with his wife of six decades, Lélia Wanick Salgado. In a post on Instagram, the institute described Salgado as “much more than one of the greatest photographers of our time”.
Continue reading...Legislation would dismantle regulations in farming, mining and energy, increasing risk of widespread destruction
Environmental activists in Brazil have decried a dramatic rollback of environmental safeguards after the senate approved a bill that would dismantle licensing processes and increase the risk of widespread destruction.
The upper house passed the so-called “devastation bill” with 54 votes to 13 late on Wednesday, paving the way for projects ranging from mining and infrastructure to energy and farming to receive regulatory approval with little to no environmental oversight.
Continue reading...Cocoa one of six commodities vulnerable to environmental threats in ‘extremely worrying picture’ for food resilience
Climate breakdown and wildlife loss are deepening the EU’s “chocolate crisis”, a report has argued, with cocoa one of six key commodities to come mostly from countries vulnerable to environmental threats.
More than two-thirds of the cocoa, coffee, soy, rice, wheat and maize brought into the EU in 2023 came from countries that are not well prepared for climate change, according to the UK consultants Foresight Transitions.
Continue reading...Two days of heavy rainfall still on way as SES carries out 130 rescues amid floods in Taree and nearby areas
Residents of the mid-north coast of New South Wales have described anxious waits for rescue in the dark as unprecedented flooding inundates homes and businesses across the region.
The State Emergency Service has performed 130 rescues in the past 24 hours, the bulk of those occurring in Taree, Wingham and Glenthorne.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Climate Change Committee says original goal of a 75% emissions cut by 2030 will now be delayed by up to six years
The UK’s climate watchdog has warned that Scotland needs to take “immediate action at pace and scale” to cut its emissions after ministers axed a series of policy pledges.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), an official advisory body, said ministers in Edinburgh needed to take urgent action to curb emissions from buildings and transport to cut Scotland’s overall emissions to nearly zero by 2045.
Abandoned a target to cut car miles by 20% by 2030.
Dropped a pledge to rapidly decarbonise homes by mandating low-carbon heating systems.
Cut funding for tree planting.
Missed targets to restore degraded peatland.
Ignored calls for a plan to cut meat and dairy consumption, and failed to use their powers to tax air travel more heavily.
Continue reading...University of Reading report says conflicts including war in Ukraine among 12 most pressing threats to pollinator
War zones, microplastics and street lights are among the emerging threats to the bee population, according to scientists.
Bee experts have drawn up a list of the 12 most pressing threats to the pollinator over the next decade, published in a report, Emerging Threats and Opportunities for Conservation of Global Pollinators, by the University of Reading.
Continue reading...Researchers are deploying sniffing dogs to combat spread of leaf-hopping pests that can damage trees and fruit crops
The spotted lanternfly, a leaf-hopping invasive pest first detected in the US a decade ago, has steadily spread across the East coast and into the midwest with little getting in its way.
But now researchers are deploying a new weapon to slow its advance: specially trained dogs with the ability to sniff out the winged insect’s eggs before they hatch.
Continue reading...Introduced bees could be harming native species and risk driving them to extinction, researchers say
Scientists have recommended limits on urban beekeeping after a peer-reviewed study found introduced honeybees could be harming Australian native bees and risked driving them to extinction.
The Australian research, published in Frontiers in Bee Science, found native bees living in areas with high densities of introduced honeybees had fewer female offspring and a higher death rate in their first year of life.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
Continue reading...Analysis suggests there could be 500,000 additional plug-in hybrid electric cars on Britain’s roads by 2030
The UK government’s weakening of rules on electric car sales is likely to result in significantly more carbon emissions as sales of plug-in hybrids rise, according to analysis.
Relaxed rules could result in as many as 500,000 additional plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) on UK roads by 2030, according to modelling by T&E, a campaign group on transport and the environment. PHEVs combine a small battery with a polluting petrol engine and tend to be much more profitable than pure battery electric cars.
Continue reading...Thousands have been displaced and conservation work halted as series of killings jeopardises decades of work in Niassa, one of Africa’s biggest protected areas
One of Africa’s largest protected areas has been shaken by a series of attacks by Islamic State-linked extremists, which have left at least 10 people dead.
Conservationists in Niassa reserve, Mozambique, say decades of work to rebuild populations of lions, elephants and other keystone species are being jeopardised, as conservation operations grind to a halt.
Continue reading...Fire in black sheoak forest of East Gippsland would destroy the birds’ food supply, conservationist says
Glossy black cockatoos could be pushed towards extinction in Victoria if planned burns of 13,000 hectares of forest go ahead, ecologists and conservationists warn.
The Victorian government is being urged to abandon the burn, which is intended to reduce bushfire risk.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Rebekah Shaman, of Protect Brockwell Park, took action against Lambeth council over number of large-scale events
A campaigner who argued that music festivals held in a south London park unfairly cut off large sections of the space and made it a “mud bath” has won a court case that could result in events being banned there this summer.
The Protect Brockwell Park (PBP) group, which includes the actor Mark Rylance, complained about walls being erected in the park, and noise and environmental damage, leading to a tense debate about the use of public space, nimbyism and the importance of summer cultural events.
Continue reading...Some have speculated there is a link, but it’s too soon to say, one expert says, with toxicology results expected to reveal more soon
Shark sightings and strandings are unusually high across South Australia amid a prolonged toxic algal bloom, but scientists say it’s too soon to link to recent shark incidents.
On Thursday, a swimmer was bitten by a shark at Port Noarlunga beach, 30km south of Adelaide’s CBD, one of a rising number of reported sharks swimming closer to shore – with some washing up dead on beaches.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...A video shows the large flightless takahē bird in hot pursuit of the tuatara – but the tables soon turn
Two of New Zealand’s most rare and beloved animals – a large flightless takahē bird and an ancient tuatara reptile – have been captured chasing and nipping at one another during a bush-floor melee.
Nick Fisentzidis, a department of conservation ranger on the pest-free Tiritiri Matangi Island near Auckland, saw the takahē attack the tuatara and quickly grabbed his phone to capture the rare footage.
Continue reading...Civil society groups call on government to address risk of neocolonial exploitation in its supply chain strategy
The risk of neocolonial exploitation in the global rush for critical minerals must be addressed by the government as it formulates its official supply chain strategy, say civil society campaigners.
They have said the scrabble for access is being greenwashed as wealthier economies around the world attempt to line up a host of minerals that are essential to the manufacture of hi-tech products, including cobalt, lithium and nickel.
Continue reading...