Countries and companies involved in oil and gas extraction to be asked to join scheme aimed at tackling global heating
Fossil-fuel producing countries and companies are being asked to pay into a new international fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of the climate crisis.
The climate investment fund is being set up by the Azerbaijan government, host country of the Cop29 UN climate summit in November.
Continue reading...Tourist hotspots including Ullapool and Fort William badly hit as biting insects enjoy damp, humid conditions
Scotland’s wet summer is providing perfect conditions for surges of midges, with experts saying worse is yet to come.
This week the Scottish Midge Forecast predicted high numbers of the biting insects, reaching peaks of four and five on a scale of one to five.
Continue reading...Lengthy prison sentences seen by many as heavy-handed and prompt comparisons with other offences
The lengthy jail terms handed to five supporters of the Just Stop Oil (JSO) climate campaign on Thursday – believed to be the longest ever meted out in the UK for non-violent protest – have sent shock waves through the protest community an d beyond.
The five-year sentence for Roger Hallam and four-year terms imposed on Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin are being seen by many as the latest heavy-handed response to protesters, particularly those urging action on the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Six people dead, thousands evacuated and transport disrupted after at least 20 floods in major rivers
China has been experiencing heavy and widespread rainfall since the start of the rainy season, which runs from May to September. It has resulted in at least 20 floods in major rivers across the country, with 31 rivers surpassing their flood warning levels.
Dianjiang county, in Chongqing, received 269.2mm in one day last week, a single-day record there. It led to six deaths, more than 10,000 evacuations, and 40,000 people being affected, as well as severe disruptions to rail services and transport caused by flooding.
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Shorten says last CFMEU Labor donation was over two years ago
Earlier on the Today Show, the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, was asked about the CFMEU and said that the last donation received by the Labor party from them was more than two years ago.
We’ve said that we’re suspending all donations from the CFMEU. In fact, we’ve suspended the CFMEU from the Labor party … The last donations were over two years ago. We’ve taken the action to stop any financial relations with the CFMEU.
I want to make clear there is zero tolerance for anyone who tried to subvert the demerit and penalty system. This taskforce will help ensure the penalties apply to all road users.
Continue reading...Organisers working to ensure safe environment for attenders in October after guerrillas’ warning of disruption
Colombian authorities have insisted it will be safe to attend a UN biodiversity summit in Cali later this year, after a dissident rebel group threatened to disrupt the event.
This week Central General Staff (EMC), a guerrilla faction that rejected the country’s 2016 peace agreement, said the UN nature summit Cop16 would “fail”, in a post on X addressed to the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features.
Continue reading...A sustainable project aims to repurpose encroacher bush to create building blocks to solve Namibia’s housing crisis
“People think the house would smell because the blocks are made of all-natural products, but it doesn’t smell,” says Kristine Haukongo. “Sometimes, there is a small touch of wood, but otherwise it’s completely odourless.”
Haukongo is the senior cultivator at the research group MycoHab and her job is pretty unusual. She grows oyster mushrooms on chopped-down invasive weeds before the waste is turned into large, solid brown slabs – mycoblocks – that will be used, it’s hoped, to build Namibian homes.
Continue reading...Snakebites, the ‘deadliest of neglected tropical diseases’ often impact rural communities the most, but a new study offers hope
A commonly used blood thinner can be used as an antidote to cobra venom, an international study has found, research that a Queensland expert has called “really exciting”.
In the study, published in the Journal of Science Translational Medicine on Thursday, Prof Nicholas Casewell described snakebites as the “deadliest of neglected tropical diseases, with its burden landing overwhelmingly on rural communities in low and middle income countries”.
Continue reading...At the lawless triple border between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, drug trafficking, illegal logging and gangs jeopardise the ecological and social fabric of the rainforest
The area of the Amazon where Brazil, Colombia, and Peru meet – referred to as Tres Fronteras (triple frontier) – brims with wildlife and natural resources. It is also a hotbed of illicit activity. Criminal groups are clearing the forest to plant coca and erect laboratories to turn the crop into cocaine. In the process of making coca paste, these labs discharge chemical waste – including acetone, gasoline and sulphuric acid – into rivers and soil.
Increasingly, these outfits are branching into illegal logging, gold dredging and fishing, in part because these activities allow them to launder money made from drug trafficking. These activities compound the environmental harm the groups are inflicting.
Continue reading...Anne Hidalgo fulfils pledge after cleanup operation makes water quality safe enough to host events at Games
It has been the dream and promise of Paris mayors for decades and a nightmare for Olympic organisers: could the Seine be cleaned up enough to swim in and hold triathlon and other events?
For the last 100 years and up until a few days ago, the answer seemed to be no.
Continue reading...Fair Work Commission’s Murray Furlong appointed as administrator of construction union. Follow the day’s news live
Tim Ayres flags ‘proportionate’ federal response to CFMEU
A Labor senator says that federal intervention into alleged criminal behaviour within the CFMEU will be effective and proportionate, AAP reports.
Tony and the team in there are doing the careful work of making sure that the government’s response is effective, well-weighted and effective.
While I don’t forecast the debates in terms of the national executive, we have received these requests from the premiers, we will act upon them, and we’ll act in accordance with the requests from the premiers.
We’re very blessed in this country. We don’t have a gun culture, we don’t have a history of political violence, we don’t at this point in time – thank God – have the fragmentation and polarisation that sadly exists in America to quite the same extent.
So look, can you rule these things out? Of course not. Do I expect it? Well, maybe some time in the next 100 or 200 years, sure. Almost anything could happen in that period of time. But is is imminent? I doubt it very much.
Continue reading...Nashville and surrounding areas have been hit by severe storms and flooding, overwhelming city’s infrastructure
Residents in Nashville, Illinois, are evacuating their homes after emergency management officials warned the failure of the city’s dam was “imminent”.
Nashville, a small city in Illinois with a population of nearly 3,000 people, and surrounding areas have been hit with severe storms which have caused flooding, overwhelming the city’s infrastructure. More than 5in of rain fell in the region within six hours on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Government will also overhaul state laws after Guardian Australia uncovered serious problems with biodiversity offsets scheme
The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.
The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying: “We cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis.”
Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;
Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;
Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;
Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment.
Continue reading...Award for Lawrence Gosden comes despite criticism over business plan and attempts to increase bills by 73%
The chief executive of Southern Water has received a £183,000 bonus despite submitting a business plan that has been criticised by the industry regulator and attempting to raise bills more than any other English water company.
Lawrence Gosden received the bonus as part of a £764,000 pay package, up from £428,000 a year earlier, according to the company’s annual report.
Continue reading...New peak may be challenged as early as Tuesday evening as mid-winter bites in Melbourne
The wintry blast sweeping across eastern Australia has set a record for electricity demand in Victoria and propelled wind generation in New South Wales to new highs, with energy authorities preparing for another power peak on Tuesday evening.
Victoria broke a 17-year record for maximum winter electricity demand, with the tally reaching 8,612 megawatts at 6pm on Monday, the Australian Energy Market Operator said.
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Weather update for Victoria and New South Wales: rain, floods, gusts and snow
Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier to provide an update on the rainfall across Victoria.
That has given us minor to moderate flood warnings including in parts of the Yarra River this morning, as all of the rain from last night and yesterday evening drains out through the river network and out towards the ocean.
Take actions to protect your life and property against potential hazards caused by flooding.
Continue reading...Figure represents 64-66% of global output of tetrafluoromethane and hexafluoroethane, MIT study finds
Emissions of two of the most potent greenhouse gases have substantially increased in China over the last decade, a study has found.
Perfluorocarbons are used in the manufacturing processes for flat-panel TVs and semiconductors, or as by-products from aluminium smelting. They are far more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2, and can persist in the Earth’s atmosphere for thousands of years, unlike CO2 which can persist for up to 200 years.
Continue reading...Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is suing three government departments over Ella’s fatal asthma attack
The mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate has said she wants an official apology for her daughter’s suffering as her high court claim against the government heads to trial.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is suing three government departments for compensation for personal injury arising from the illness and premature death of her daughter Ella, who had a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution.
Continue reading...MPs approve cull of 481 bears this year, up from 220 last year, to control ‘overpopulation’ of protected species
Romania’s parliament has approved the culling of almost 500 bears this year in an effort to control the “overpopulation” of the protected species after a deadly attack on a hiker sparked nationwide outcry.
The country is home to 8,000 brown bears, according to the environment ministry, Europe’s largest brown bear population outside Russia.
Continue reading...Lending puts banks in ‘complete violation’ of commitments to Paris agreement, climate group says, even as overall funding to sector ebbs
Australia’s big four banks are in “complete violation” of commitments to the Paris climate accord by funding fossil fuel expansion even as their overall lending to the sector continues to ebb, according to a new report.
The climate activist group Market Forces said in the report that the banks lent the industry $3.6bn in 2023, bringing their total loans to more than $61bn since 2015. Last year, though, was first year in the past eight that banks avoided explicitly backing a new or expanded fossil fuel project.
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