Category Archives: Environment

Gumnuts, baby! How two abseiling horticulturalists rescued specimens from an endangered tree

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The threatened Jillaga Ash (Eucalyptus stenostoma) was spotted 90m down a cliff in Wadbilliga national park, in southern New South Wales

Two horticulturalists have undertaken a daring abseiling mission to rescue gumnuts from an endangered tree on a 300m cliff face.

Stan Wawrzyczek, a threatened flora ecologist at the Threatened Species Conservancy, spotted an endangered tree, Eucalyptus stenostoma (Jillaga Ash), 90m down the cliff in Wadbilliga national park in southern New South Wales.

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Nationals members vote to ditch net zero target from party platform

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Policy position diverging from senior Coalition partner expected to be formalised at Nationals partyroom meeting on Sunday morning

The Nationals’ grassroots members have voted to ditch net zero, setting the scene to formally scrap the target at a meeting on Sunday morning.

“We believe in reducing emissions, but not at any cost,” the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, told the party’s federal council on Saturday.

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No high-level US representatives will go to UN climate talks, Trump officials say

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Decision to stay away from Cop30 meeting in Brazil underscores administration’s hostility to climate action

The Trump administration has confirmed that no high-level representatives will be sent by the US to upcoming UN climate talks in Brazil, underscoring the administration’s hostile stance towards action on the climate crisis.

The US has always sent delegations of various sizes to UN climate summits over the past three decades, even during periods under George W Bush and Donald Trump’s first term where there was scant desire to address the global heating crisis.

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Paint me cool: scientists reveal roof coating that can reduce surface temperatures up to 6C on hot days

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Sydney researchers commercialising a product they say can cool indoor spaces and will cost little more than standard premium paints

Australian scientists have developed roof coatings that can passively cool surfaces up to 6C below ambient temperature, as well as extract water from the atmosphere, which they say could reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events.

Heatwaves are becoming more intense, more frequent and more deadly due to human-caused global heating.

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‘White-knuckled wolf spider’ thought lost is rediscovered on Isle of Wight

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Conservationists hail ‘remarkable’ rediscovery after 40 years, at nature reserve only accessible by boat

A tiny spider thought to have vanished for ever from the UK has been rediscovered on a remote area of a nature reserve accessible only by boat.

The Aulonia albimana, a member of the wolf spider family with orange legs, was found on the Isle of Wight in a spot grazed by a flock of Hebridean sheep.

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Boris Johnson tells Tories to stop ‘bashing green agenda’ or risk losing next election

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Former PM says he has not seen party ‘soaring in the polls as a result of saying what rubbish net zero is’

Boris Johnson has warned the Conservatives they will not win the next election by “bashing the green agenda”.

The former prime minister said he had not seen the Conservatives “soaring in the polls as a result of saying what rubbish net zero is”.

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UK unveils ‘carbon budget delivery plan’ to get back on track for net zero targets

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Ed Miliband says pushing for renewable energy and lower emissions will reduce household bills and boost economy

The UK government will go “all in” on clean energy and climate policy, the energy secretary has said, as he unveiled plans to put the UK back on track to reach its net zero commitments.

In the face of intensifying attacks on climate policy from the poll-leading Reform UK party and the Conservatives, the government insists that pushing for renewable energy and lower carbon emissions will reduce household bills and boost the economy.

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New planning bill could jeopardise UK’s trade deal with EU, ambassador warns

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Exclusive: Proposed legislation removes EU-derived nature protections as government hopes to boost economic growth

Ripping up environmental protections will put at risk the UK’s free trade agreement with the EU, Europe’s ambassador has warned.

The Guardian understands Pedro Serrano visited the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, this week and warned her that the planning and infrastructure bill going through the House of Lords could jeopardise the trade deal.

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Shark feeding frenzy spotted near shore at popular Australian surf beach

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‘Wonderful’ for people to see the predators so close and feasting on bait fish at the Gold Coast’s Rainbow Bay, near Snapper Rocks, expert says

A shiver of sharks has been spotted feeding close to shore near a popular surfing spot on the Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast.

The large group of predators surprised spectators on the southern end of Rainbow Bay on Tuesday, near the renowned Snapper Rocks surf break.

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America’s super-rich are running down the planet’s safe climate spaces, says Oxfam

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Exclusive: Data shows wealthiest 0.1% of the US burn carbon at 4,000 times the rate of the world’s poorest 10%

The US’s super-rich are burning through carbon emissions at 4,000 times the speed of the world’s poorest 10%, according to an analysis provided to the Guardian.

These billionaires and multimillionaires, who comprise the wealthiest 0.1% of the US population, are also running down our planet’s safe climate space at 183 times the rate of the global average.

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Pakistani farmers to sue German polluters over climate-linked flood damage

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Claimants seek compensation from RWE and Heidelberg Materials after extreme flooding destroyed harvests

A group of Pakistani farmers whose livelihoods were devastated by floods three years ago has fired the starting shot in legal action against two of Germany’s most polluting companies.

Lawyers acting for 43 men and women from the Sindh region sent the energy firm RWE and the cement producer Heidelberg formal letters before action on Tuesday warning of their intention to sue later this year.

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Expanded state powers on fossil fuel projects and water ‘betrayal’ of Australians, nature law critics say

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Extracts of planned changes to the EPBC Act prompt ‘anger’ from conservation organisations that fear nature protection will be weakened

State governments could be given expanded powers to make decisions on fossil fuel developments under Labor’s proposed overhaul of environment law, prompting “shock and anger” from community-based conservation organisations that fear nature protection would be weakened.

The Albanese government plans to introduce its planned changes to the national law – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act – to parliament later this week, and has been briefing interest groups on its plans.

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World’s climate plans fall drastically short of action needed, analysis shows

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Recent plans submitted to UN by more than 60 countries would cut carbon by only 10%, a sixth of what is needed

Recently drafted climate plans from scores of countries fall drastically short of what is needed to stave off the worst effects of climate breakdown, analysis has shown.

More than 60 countries have so far submitted national plans on greenhouse gas emissions to the UN, setting out how they will curb carbon for the next decade.

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Organised crime making millions from illegal waste dumping in UK, says committee

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Peers say ‘woeful’ record on prosecutions has led to a ‘low-risk, high-reward’ criminal culture

Organised crime groups in the UK are making millions every year from illegally dumping and burning rubbish, peers have told ministers, after an inquiry found a lack of enforcement made it a “low-risk, high-reward” criminal enterprise.

“Criminality is endemic in the waste sector,” a Lords committee told the government on Tuesday, after it found at least 38m tonnes of waste was illegally managed every year, “leading to serious environmental, economic and social consequences”.

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Two crucial Florida coral species left ‘functionally extinct’ by ocean heatwave

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Climate crisis drives near-total collapse of staghorn and elkhorn corals that formed backbone to state’s reefs

Two of the most important coral species that made up Florida’s reef are now functionally extinct after a withering ocean heatwave caused catastrophic losses, scientists have found.

The near-total collapse of the corals that once formed the backbone of reefs in Florida and the Caribbean means they can no longer play their previously crucial role in building and sustaining reef ecosystems that host a variety of marine life.

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Barnaby Joyce’s walkout and endless net zero rehashing? The Nationals are ‘having a normal one’

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The former deputy prime minister staying out of the Nationals party room is the latest sign some in the Coalition are in no rush to finish their ugly airing of grievances

The Nationals are once again, in the words of Chris Bowen, “having a normal one”.

Another Monday, another parliamentary week, another chapter in the seemingly never-ending story of the Coalition putting its fingers in its ears and screaming as they debate whether to ignore global momentum, scientific consensus and pleas from the business community, and seek to relitigate a position on net zero reached four years ago by the Morrison government.

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Bear attack survival tips released in Japan as encounters surge

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Governor of one prefecture says he is considering asking the military for help to tackle increasing attacks amid thousands-strong bear population

Knowing what to do in the event of a close encounter with a bear was once a concern only for hikers and foragers in Japan. Now, however, people in populated areas are being urged to learn how to protect themselves following a spate of attacks, as the animals leave their natural habitats in search of food.

Bear encounters are generating almost daily headlines. In the past week in Akita prefecture, the animals attacked a jogger and a walker in built-up areas, while another terrorised four people before holing up inside a nearby house. None of the victims was seriously injured.

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The not-so-little Murray cod that could: fish tracked swimming 900km along Australia’s biggest river system

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Fish named after Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus was most recently tracked at a section of the mid-Murray, near Belsar Island

A young Murray cod has swum one of the longest ever recorded journeys for the species, travelling about 900km through the Murray River, its streams and backchannels.

Murray cod, Australia’s largest freshwater fish, grow up to 1.5 metres and can live for half a century. Research by Victoria’s Arthur Rylah Institute has shown the species, listed as vulnerable under federal environment laws, is capable of covering extreme distances.

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Russia arrests Ukrainian biologist for backing curbs on Antarctic krill fishing

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‘Trumped-up’ charges spark diplomatic row as scientists express fears for health of 70-year-old Leonid Pshenichnov

A diplomatic row has erupted over the “illegal” detention of one of Ukraine’s scientists, who has been accused by the Kremlin of undermining Russia’s industrial trawling for krill in Antarctica.

Leonid Pshenichnov, 70, a Ukrainian biologist who is an expert on Antarctica, has a decades-long record of scientific research and contributions to conservation, including support for marine protected areas in the region.

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Tanni Grey-Thompson says disabled drivers at risk of missing out on switch to electric cars

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Former Paralympics champion says inaccessible charging points show government ‘has forgotten about us’

Campaigners including Tanni Grey-Thompson have warned that disabled drivers are at risk of being locked out of the electric car transition because of inaccessible chargers.

The former Paralympics champion and the Electric Vehicle Association England are pushing for the government to introduce standards to ensure chargers are easy to reach.

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