A 12-year industry roadmap has been unveiled to address the rising amount of solar panel waste headed for the tip
The solar industry is quickly approaching its tipping point, with unprecedented levels of waste headed for the tip.
Solar panel waste levels will reach a crisis point in the next two to three years instead of by 2030, as was previously forecast, according to a white paper released this week.
Continue reading...Poor harvests in extreme weather conditions have led to a tripling of cocoa prices – but farmers have seen no benefit
Around the world this holiday weekend, people will consume hundreds of millions of Easter eggs and bunnies, as part of an annual chocolate intake that can exceed 8kg (18lb) for every person in the UK, or 5kg in the US and Europe. But a global shortage of cacao – the seed from which chocolate is made – has brought warnings of a “chocolate meltdown” that could see prices increase and bars shrink further.
This week, cocoa prices rose to all-time highs on commodity exchanges in London and New York, reaching more than $10,000 a tonne for the first time, after the third consecutive poor harvest in west Africa. Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together produce more than half of the global cacao crop, have been hit by extreme weather supercharged by the climate crisis and the El Niño weather phenomenon. This has been exacerbated by disease and underinvestment in ageing plantations.
Continue reading...Decision raises concerns about financial future of UK’s biggest water firm and increases prospect of nationalisation
Investors at Thames Water have pulled the plug on £500m of emergency funding, raising concerns about the financial future of the country’s largest water company and increasing the prospect of nationalisation.
The beleaguered utilities company announced this morning that its shareholders had refused to provide the first tranche of £750m funding set to secure its short-term cashflow, after the company had failed to meet certain conditions.
Continue reading...World’s fossil-fuel producers on track to nearly quadruple output from newly approved projects by decade’s end, report finds
The world’s fossil-fuel producers are on track to nearly quadruple the amount of extracted oil and gas from newly approved projects by the end of this decade, with the US leading the way in a surge of activity that threatens to blow apart agreed climate goals, a new report has found.
There can be no new oil and gas infrastructure if the planet is to avoid careering past 1.5C (2.7F) of global heating, above pre-industrial times, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has previously stated. Breaching this warming threshold, agreed to by governments in the Paris climate agreement, will see ever worsening effects such as heatwaves, floods, drought and more, scientists have warned.
Continue reading...French president tells Brazil forum both parties need to be ‘much stronger’ on biodiversity and climate
Emmanuel Macron has called a proposed trade agreement between the EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc a “very bad deal” that lacks proper climate considerations.
“As it is negotiated today, it is a very bad deal, for you and for us,” the French president told Brazilian businessmen in São Paulo on Wednesday while on a three-day trip to Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy.
Continue reading...‘If ever there was a perfect case-study of the negative impacts on taxpayers of privatisation of strategic public assets, Eraring is it’, Tim Buckley says
New South Wales may end up paying $150m a year to subsidise the extension of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power plant, money better spent accelerating the take-up of rooftop solar with storage, Tim Buckley, an energy analyst said.
It comes as the Labor government will on Thursday announce $1bn for solar panel manufacturing in Australia, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, travelling to the Hunter region to spruik the government’s new Net Zero Economy Authority.
Continue reading...Steven Miles urges authorities to enable magpie to be reunited with ‘devastated’ Gold Coast carers and its ‘best friend’, their Staffy dog Peggy
Queensland’s premier has thrown his support for a campaign to return an Instagram-famous magpie to its former carers and its dog best friend, after it was seized by the environment department.
Gold Coast couple Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen adopted Molly the magpie in 2020 after it fell from the nest.
Continue reading...Bill to be introduced to parliament this week will incentivise carmakers to import cleaner vehicles
The Albanese government has watered down flagship new laws aimed at disincentivising the use of high-polluting cars and hastening the importation of cleaner vehicles amid pressure from the auto industry.
On Tuesday the transport minister, Catherine King, and the energy minister, Chris Bowen, revealed the details of compromise bill to be introduced to parliament this week, with the changes largely easing rules for popular large SUVs.
Continue reading...Horse racing industry insiders said to be pushing for Sydney track to be relocated to former brickpit in Olympic Park – a sanctuary to an unlikely urban survivor
Conservations have expressed surprise at reported plans to move Sydney’s Rosehill racecourse to a historic brickpit at Olympic Park, which is home to a colony of endangered green and golden bell frogs.
The plan has reportedly been devised by racing bosses, alongside the deal between the Australian Turf Club and the New South Wales government to redevelop the famous track into new housing, as well as two additional metro stations.
Continue reading...Brussels vote cancelled after it became clear law would not pass final stage with majority vote
The EU’s nature restoration laws appear on the verge of collapse after eight member states, including Hungary and Italy, withdrew support for the legislation.
The laws, which have been two years in the making and are designed to reverse decades of damage to wildlife on land and in waterways, were supposed to be rubber-stamped in a vote on Monday.
Continue reading...Residents and marine officials in British Columbia hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calf
A killer whale stranded off Canada’s west coast has died despite efforts to rescue her, but residents and marine officials hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calf.
On Saturday, members of the Ehattisaht First Nation, a coastal community along the north-western reaches of Vancouver Island, spotted an orca trapped on a rocky outcropping.
Continue reading...Heavy rainfall brings landslides to country’s south-east. Elsewhere, a wild temperature fluctuation in Iberia
Brazil was hit by devastating floods over the weekend that have so far claimed 20 lives in the resultant landslides and mudslides. There was heavy rainfall in parts of the south-east, including Rio de Janeiro, Petrópolis and the larger Espírito Santo region, with hourly rainfall totals of about 20mm recorded in places. Cumulative totals from Friday through Sunday were close to 250mm, particularly along the coast: this is far higher than the monthly average.
Landslides and mudslides occurred across the region, and a number of houses collapsed. Rescue operations are under way to look for people who may have been stranded by the floods. Although there may still be a few showers over the following days, the worst of the rain has now passed.
Continue reading...Leaders with responsibilities for sea country on way to Canberra to lobby against legislation
The Albanese government is facing major blowback over changes to its offshore gas bill, which the crossbench and environment groups have labelled “window dressing” that fails to prevent new rules watering down First Nations consultation.
Seeking to clear the decks before Easter, the government is expected to reveal tweaks to its proposed vehicle efficiency standards this week. And on Monday Labor introduced amendments to add safeguards to the offshore gas bill after widespread concerns, including from within it own ranks.
Continue reading...National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme aims to understand why population has declined
Artificial intelligence will be used for the first time to track hedgehog populations as part of a pioneering project aimed at understanding how many of them are left in the UK and why they have suffered a decline.
Images of the prickly mammals snuffling around urban parks, private gardens, woodlands and farmland will be captured by cameras and filtered by AI trained to differentiate between wildlife and humans.
Continue reading...In letter to TfL boss, Khan says plans ‘will not include new pay-per-mile road user charging scheme’
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has pledged not to expand the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) scheme if he returns to the role after May’s election.
In a letter to London’s transport commissioner, Andy Lord, Khan wrote that he had “categorically” ruled out the introduction of a pay-per-mile scheme as well as any tightening of Ulez emissions standards.
Continue reading...Crowds gather in Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and regional centres urging Albanese government to better preserve native wildlife habitats
Over 4,000 people have marched across Australia’s capital cities and in regional centres, calling for an end to native forest logging.
Crowds gathered in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide, as well as regional centres of Newcastle, Bega, Kyneton, Lismore and Bellingen, as part of the March in March for Forests organised by the Bob Brown Foundation.
Continue reading...Heritage orchard at RHS Rosemoor to be sampled this spring as part of search for previously unrecorded ‘survivor’ cultivars
Gardeners are searching for lost apple varieties by sequencing the genetics of trees in ancient orchards, in the hope they hold traits that can help the fruit survive climate breakdown.
Heritage apple trees at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) garden Rosemoor will be sampled this spring with the aim of finding species of apple enjoyed by people hundreds of years ago.
Continue reading...States including Texas, Louisiana and Florida say federal government lacks authority to broadly deny permits
Sixteen US states, including Texas, Louisiana and Florida, have filed a lawsuit to challenge the US federal government’s ban on approving applications to export liquefied natural gas, the office of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said on Thursday.
The lawsuit argues the federal government lacks the authority to broadly deny those permits.
Continue reading...Suit claims bibs, produced by Bumkins, leaves babies exposed to high levels of ‘forever chemicals’ and do not have warning labels
DC and Marvel comic-themed baby and toddler bibs are contaminated with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, leaving kids exposed to carcinogens that can easily be ingested, a new California lawsuit alleges.
Among others, the suit names the bibs’ US producer and Amazon as defendants. Under Proposition 65, products sold in California that contain PFOA, a highly toxic PFAS compound that was phased out of production in the US, must at a minimum contain a warning.
Continue reading...High temperatures in February affected millions of people and put further pressure on chocolate prices
A searing heatwave that struck west Africa in February was made 4C hotter and 10 times more likely by human-caused global heating, a study has found.
The heat affected millions of people but the number of early deaths or cases of illness are unknown, due to a lack of reporting.
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