Category Archives: Environment

Ramos-Horta says $74bn Timor Sea gas project could begin within months if Australia signs treaty

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Timor-Leste president’s trip comes amid mounting pressure for Labor to finalise an agreement

The $74bn Greater Sunrise gas project, which has been decades in the making, could be under way by the end of the year, the Timor-Leste president, José Ramos-Horta, said.

But he also said the pipeline and accompanying processing work must go to his nation, not Darwin.

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Water companies in England and Wales told to pay £158m penalty to customers

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Ofwat says firms must lower bills next year after poor performance on issues such as sewage spills and leaks

Water companies in England and Wales will have to return nearly £158m to customers through lower bills next year after falling further behind on key targets including sewage spills and leaks.

The regulator, Ofwat, announced the penalties as part of its annual review of companies’ performance.

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Scientists contest environment minister’s claim of ‘blitzing’ Australia’s ocean reserve expansion goal

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Tanya Plibersek claims Labor is protecting 52% of its ocean territory, but experts say that is ‘misleading’

Scientists have challenged Tanya Plibersek’s claim that Australia is protecting more than half of its oceans and has “blitzed” a 30% target, arguing industrial longline fishing will still be allowed in some areas the government says it is conserving.

The environment minister told a “global nature positive summit” in Sydney on Tuesday the government had quadrupled the size of the sub-Antarctic Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve, a world heritage area about 4,000km south-west of Perth.

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Curious koala survives close call at Sydney train station

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Marsupial caught on camera at Casula in city’s south-west, where urban development threatens wildlife

A curious koala has been captured wandering perilously close to a Sydney train line before the native animal was corralled to safety into nearby bushland.

The marsupial was caught on video crawling beneath a fence on to a platform at Casula train station, in the city’s south-west, shortly after 4am on Friday.

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Winter blackouts risk in Great Britain ‘lowest in four years’ despite end of coal

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Energy system operator expects winter power supplies to outstrip demand by almost 9% this year

The risk of winter blackouts in Great Britain has tumbled to its lowest in four years even after the shutdown of the UK’s last coal plant, thanks to investments in low-carbon electricity sources.

The National Energy System Operator (Neso) expects Britain’s winter power supplies to outstrip demand by almost 9% this year in its base case scenario, the greatest margin since the winter of 2019 to 2020.

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Salmon swim freely in Klamath River for first time in more than 100 years

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News comes after Iron Gate dam was removed to let river near California-Oregon border return to natural flow

For the first time in more than a century, salmon are swimming freely along the Klamath River and its tributaries, just days after the largest dam removal project in US history was completed.

Researchers determined that Chinook salmon began migrating on 3 October into previously inaccessible habitat above the site of the former Iron Gate dam, one of four towering dams near the California-Oregon border that were demolished as part of a national movement to let rivers return to their natural flow and to restore ecosystems for fish and other wildlife.

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Large French Alpine ski resort to close in face of shrinking snow season

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Local people and businesses left ‘in lurch’ after council says it cannot afford to support or develop Alpe du Grand Serre

A large French Alpine ski resort has announced it is to close, citing a lack of funds to become a year-round destination, as low- and medium-altitude mountain areas around Europe struggle with a truncated season due to global heating and declining snowfalls.

Local councillors voted not to reopen Alpe du Grand Serre in the Isère this winter, saying they could no longer pay for the mountain lifts or pay to complete a programme to diversify as an all-year tourist destination.

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Missing emu Irwin found dead in Wiltshire river after weeklong search

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Malmesbury sanctuary pays tribute to ‘jolly’ bird, which is thought to have drowned after falling into swollen river at night

The tale of Irwin the missing emu has ended sadly, with the “jolly” big bird’s body found in a river close to the sanctuary where he was last seen alive a week ago.

Staff at the Malmesbury animal sanctuary in Wiltshire believe Irwin slipped into the swollen river while playing with other emus and drowned.

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Canada’s carbon tax is popular, innovative and helps save the planet – but now it faces the axe

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As prime minister Justin Trudeau trails in polls, opposition seek to persuade voters environmental policy is a burden

Mass hunger and malnutrition. A looming nuclear winter. An existential threat to the Canadian way of life. For months, the country’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has issued dire and increasingly apocalyptic warnings about the future. The culprit? A federal carbon levy meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

In the House of Commons this month, the Tory leader said there was only one way to avoid the devastating crisis: embattled prime minister Justin Trudeau must “call a ‘carbon tax’ election”.

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Flash floods and landslides hit parts of Bosnia, killing at least 16

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Rescuers search for missing after huge volumes of rain fall in area around Jablanica and Konjic, causing sudden flooding

Rescue teams are searching for survivors after flash floods and landslides hit parts of Bosnia, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens more.

Construction machines worked to remove piles of rocks and debris covering the central town of Jablanica after the rainstorm early on Friday.

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EU leaders back extra Chinese EV tariffs despite split vote

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Decision opposed by five countries including Germany, where car firms say it could be ‘fatal’ blow for industry

EU leaders have given the green light to extra tariffs on electric vehicles from China despite opposition from five countries including Germany, where car manufacturers condemned the decision as a potential “fatal” blow for the auto industry.

The European Commission – which provisionally approved the step in June after an inquiry found that Beijing’s state aid to auto manufacturers was unfair – now has free rein to impose steep tariffs for five years from the end of this month.

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Gap in Albanese government’s new fuel efficiency rules means ‘biggest, dirtiest polluters’ exempt

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New vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) will not apply to at least four large vehicles, source says

New fuel efficiency standards due to come into force from January will not apply to at least four large vehicle models because of a gap within the legislation, the motor industry has been told.

The Albanese government said earlier this year its new vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) would save motorists about $1,000 a year while cutting fuel use and carbon emissions.

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Labour to commit almost £22bn to fund carbon capture and storage projects

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Investment will fund two CCS clusters – but environmental campaigners have criticised plans

Rachel Reeves is paving the way for a multibillion-pound increase in public-sector investment at the budget after the government announced plans to commit almost £22bn over 25 years to fund carbon capture and storage projects.

In what is expected to be one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament, the chancellor, prime minister and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, will unveil the details on a visit to the Liverpool city region on Friday declaring a “new era” for clean energy jobs.

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Europe’s exhausted oyster reefs ‘once covered area size of Northern Ireland’

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Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and Ireland

Only a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wiped out by overfishing, dredging and pollution.

A study led by British scientists has discovered how extensive they once were, with reefs as high as a house covering at least 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) from Norway to the Mediterranean, an area larger than Northern Ireland.

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Good eggs: fans delighted as new peregrine falcon chicks hatch on Melbourne skyscraper

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Social media stars of 367 Collins Street welcome baby birds to the nest

Joy can be hatched in the most unexpected places. On Thursday, it was nestled into the ledge of a skyscraper in Melbourne’s CBD, where two peregrine falcon chicks entered the world for the first time.

The newest members of Melbourne’s favourite family hatched in the morning on top of 367 Collins Street, witnessed by more than 1,000 viewers on the building’s rolling live feed.

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Unresolved water complaints in England and Wales rise to near-decade high

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Customer disputes over sewage spills, billing mistakes and water meters soar in past year

The number of customer complaints that were unable to be resolved by water companies in England and Wales has risen by almost a third to the highest level in nearly a decade.

There was a 29% increase in 2023-24 in cases escalated to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) by households that failed to achieve a resolution from their supplier, the watchdog said.

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Former EU environment chief hits out at plans to delay anti-deforestation law

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Credibility ‘damaged’ by proposed 12-month delay, which followed lobbying from governments and firms around the world

A former top environment official has said the EU’s credibility on its climate commitments has been damaged by plans for a one-year delay to a law to combat deforestation that followed intense lobbying from companies and governments around the world.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, a Lithuanian MEP who was the environment commissioner until mid-July, said postponing the deforestation regulation would be “a step backward in the fight against climate change”.

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Hurricane Helene leaves thousands without clean water in its wake

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Damage to sewage systems and pipes means widespread boil water notices and conservation orders could last weeks

Hurricane Helene left a path of devastation behind, with storm-ravaged areas struggling to access safe water for days because flooding damaged sewage systems, wastewater treatment plants and pipes that deliver drinking water to residents in the affected areas.

Boiling water advisories and water conservation orders are in place in counties in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.

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Sellafield ordered to pay nearly £400,000 over cybersecurity failings

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Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulator

Sellafield will have to pay almost £400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site.

The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack.

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Trip on psychedelics, save the planet: the offbeat solution to the climate crisis

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Proponents say using hallucinogens can spark ‘consciousness shifts’ to inspire climate-friendly behaviors

Thousands gathered for New York City’s annual Climate Week last week to promote climate solutions, from the phaseout of fossil-fuel subsidies to nuclear energy to corporate-led schemes like carbon credits. Others touted a more offbeat potential salve to the crisis: psychedelics.

Under the banner of Psychedelic Climate Week, a group of academics, marketers and advocates gathered for a film on pairing magic mushrooms with music, a discussion on funding ketamine-assisted therapy and a panel on “Balancing Investing & Impact with Climate & Psychedelic Capital”.

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