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us-news/2023/aug/07/california-helicopter-crash-wildfires-firefighters | Three dead after firefighting helicopters collide in California | Three members of a firefighting helicopter crew were killed after their helicopter collided with another in midair and crashed while battling wildfires in southern California on Sunday evening, officials said. The cause of the deadly accident near Cabazon, about 90 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, was not immediately clear, the chief of Cal Fire’s southern region, David Fulcher, told a news conference early Monday. CBS News Los Angeles described a “fiery mid-air collision”. Both helicopters were responding to a grassland fire when they collided Sunday about 6pm. The pilot and two other crew members of the coordinating chopper – an “observer helicopter” – were killed. The other helicopter, a water-dropping one with two crew members aboard, was able to land safely. “The first helicopter was able to land safely nearby. Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed, and tragically all three members perished,” Fulcher said in a news conference. Fulcher added: “I would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family and co-workers of the personnel. This was a tragic loss.” The victims killed in the crash included a contracted pilot, a CalFire division chief and a CalFire captain. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are assessing the crash and the circumstances surrounding it. Sunday’s deaths are the first of California’s 2023 fire season, according to data from CalFire. They come two weeks after a water bomber crashed while fighting forest fires on the southern Greek island of Evia, killing the two pilots. California’s fire season has gotten off to a slow start after wet weather improved the devastating drought levels that have plagued the region and delayed the onset of fire weather conditions. But experts have warned that the reprieve would not be permanent. A historic heatwave began blasting the lower south-west US in late June, stretching from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert. Environmental analysts have also cautioned that as climate warming gets worse and temperatures continue to rise, fires are likely to increase. | ['us-news/california', 'world/wildfires', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'us-news/firefighters', 'profile/edwardhelmore', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-08-07T12:32:38Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
sport/2022/dec/13/azeem-rafiq-accuses-ecb-of-being-in-denial-on-racism-in-cricket | Azeem Rafiq accuses ECB of being in denial on racism in cricket | Azeem Rafiq has accused the ECB of actively attempting to discredit him, during a hearing of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee of MPs in which the governing body was repeatedly castigated for a perceived lack of action against discrimination and a lack of support for cultural change. A week after the England and Wales Cricket Board published three separate reports in an attempt to demonstrate the steps they have taken to combat discrimination in cricket the hearing will have made extremely awkward viewing at Lord’s. Rafiq, whose blockbuster testimony about his experience of racism while a player at Yorkshire to the same committee last November brought massive attention to the issue, returned to deliver a withering assessment of the response, praising the ECB only for providing him with the 24-hour security he now requires as a result of the abuse and intimidation he and his family have endured. “Thirteen months on from me opening my heart out, all that’s changed really is that me and my family have been driven out of the country,” Rafiq said. “I spoke out to make cricket a better place. Thirteen months on I’d have loved to come and tell you how much has changed. But what it feels like is cricket is very much in denial. There’s a group of people out there who almost feel like cricket’s the victim in this. I’ve felt any chance there’s been to discredit my experiences, even the ECB have tried to do that.” Other witnesses included Jahid Ahmed, who spoke publicly about his experiences at Essex shortly after Rafiq’s appearance last year. He said: “I don’t think much has changed. It’s over a year since I spoke out and I’ve received no support from anyone. I’ve had no support from the ECB so far.” Kamlesh Patel, who was named chair of Yorkshire last November as the county battled to rebuild its reputation and renew its practices after Rafiq’s testimony, said of the ECB: “Every time there’s an issue, every time people have needed to stand up and support me, they didn’t. I asked in writing, email after email, letter after letter, saying: ‘You asked me to do this, please support me.’ And I’ve had no response to any of those letters or emails.” The past year has been one of change at the ECB, with Tom Harrison standing down as chief executive in June and Richard Thompson being appointed chair in August. “I’ve got hope in the new leadership,” Rafiq said, “but it’s very little at the moment.” Asked about whether he had received sufficient support from the governing body, Lord Patel said: “I’m looking forward to the new leadership but in the last 12 months the answer has to be no. Because of the positions I’ve had people think: ‘He can handle it.’ People in the public eye, we get flak. That’s what we expect. But this is relentless and it’s in an area where you don’t expect it. This is sport, this is something we enjoy, that brings people together. And this group of individuals, I don’t think they do understand it. I don’t think the ECB has got it. They respond to headlines, it’s not systematic.” Patel described the ECB’s Cricket Discipline Commission, which is investigating charges against Yorkshire and a number of individuals, as “completely flawed” and called for an independent regulator to be appointed and a formal code of conduct established. Rafiq said that the imminent publication of a report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, a body set up by the ECB in March 2021, would be “a pivotal moment for the game”. In a statement the ECB insisted that significant progress had been made since Rafiq’s first appearance in front of the DCMS committee. It said it “applauds the bravery of those including Azeem and Jahid Ahmed who have spoken out about their experiences”, and that they both “welcome the change that Lord Patel is leading at Yorkshire” and are “appalled at the level of racist abuse he has received and recognise the pain this has caused him”. The ICEC report would, it said, “help to drive the lasting change we need and rebuild trust among communities to show people that cricket can be a game for them”. Both Patel and Rafiq criticised the reporting of the Yorkshire Post for stoking controversy and encouraging racism. George Dobell, the chief correspondent for the Cricketer and another witness, described the paper as “the voice of the racist” and their cricket correspondent Chris Waters, who has dismissed his critics as “woke anti-racists”, as “out of his depth”. In a statement James Mitchinson, the paper’s editor, rejected the accusations. “The Yorkshire Post has repeatedly acknowledged the racism suffered by Mr Rafiq and we have been scrupulously objective, impartial and professional in our reporting of the story,” he said. | ['sport/cricket', 'sport/azeem-rafiq', 'sport/ecb', 'sport/yorkshire', 'world/race', 'sport/sport', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/simonburnton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/ecb | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-12-13T17:14:02Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
sport/2009/mar/03/ipl-lalit-modi-sri-lanka | Cricket: Chairman of the Indian Premier League Lalit Modi says Lahore attack will have no impact | The chairman of the Indian Premier League has insisted the Lahore attack on the Sri Lanka Test team in neighbouring Pakistan will have no effect on his tournament. "The IPL will go ahead as planned and I don't visualise any impact on it," Lalit Modi said. "There are a few dates which will change due to the general elections and a few of the games will be shifted around. But we will get under way on 10 April." Five England players, led by Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, are due to travel to India to take part in the Twenty20 competition next month but there is unease over its future after the attack in Pakistan, coming in the wake of last November's attacks on hotels and other targets in Mumbai. Modi, however, insists India remains a safe venue for the IPL, in which Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara are also set to play. "We will leave no stone unturned to provide our cricketers, fans and stakeholders alike the best security arrangements. We are working in close conjunction with the Indian government, the state governments and franchisees for the safe and successful conduct of the tournament in 2009." The eight-team event is scheduled to begin on 10 April at nine venues across India, and features major players from all the Test-playing countries except Pakistan – because of simmering diplomatic tensions following the Mumbai attacks. Modi claimed the IPL security team had visualised every conceivable mode of attack and prepared for them. "We have already put in place several measures following the Mumbai terror attacks," he said. "We have already taken into account these kinds of attacks in our plans. There is always a remote chance that it may happen and therefore the agency which we have engaged have based their plans on several unrealistic but possible incidents happening in the future. "We are fully prepared and we are going to be making sure that we are on top of security issues on a day-to-day basis. The Indian government is also very serious about security so for us, it's a very big issue." Modi said the IPL had already begun working on tactics to combat exactly the kind of attack the Sri Lankan team experienced. "We already have measures in place when players need to travel around from hotel to stadium," he added. "If you recollect, after the attacks in Mumbai, the England team returned to Chennai and we took every possible security angle into account. It was a dress rehearsal for us and the Chennai team did an extremely good job in terms of movement of players from the airports to hotel and from the hotel to different venues. "It's a template we have already adopted and it's not that we are going to do it just because of the attack on the Sri Lankan team today. This is something we had decided on way back last year." Modi revealed a new system would be in place to ensure security inside the playing venues. "Security in stadiums will be very different too," he said. "We are doing something new and for the first time from this season. "We have a disaster management team and in case of disaster occurring, we have plans in place to empty the stadium in seven minutes. That's the target we have set for ourselves and we have been working on it for the last year. "Every gate, every exit is taken into account and should something happen inside the stadium, God forbid, we have the capability of emptying out the entire stadium or getting people into the middle of the pitch. "There are a lot of different things which need to be looked into, but we have a team of people advising us on this. This exercise started a long time ago. So we are fully prepared for any eventuality." | ['sport/ipl', 'sport/sri-lanka-cricket-team', 'world/pakistan', 'world/srilanka', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'world/world', 'world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack', 'tone/news', 'sport/lalit-modi', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'type/article'] | world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2009-03-03T09:48:16Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
social-enterprise-network/2013/jul/19/eco-tourism-sustainable-business-amazon-rainforest | How to develop eco-tourism and sustainable business in the Amazon rainforest | In the second part of the series, we'll learn three ways to work sustainably in the Amazon rainforest and three ways to develop ecotourism enterprise in the central-west region. How to work sustainably in the Amazon How do farming social enterprises in this region run sustainable, organic, fair-trade operations? 1. Connect supply and demand 100% Amazonia has found a way to work sustainably with the fair-trade farmers of the Amazon. They co-ordinate with individual farmers, collect their produce, freeze it and ship it to manufacturers around the world that want large amounts of fair-trade products. They've recently supplied the ingredients for a specialty beer for the UK market. Owner Fernanda Stefani said: "We are a solution provider. If you want to use anything from the Amazon in a sustainable, fair-trade way, you'll be happy to contact us." 2. Repurpose Existing Technology What do you get if you cross Nasa food storage technology with the açaí berry? Bio EcoBrazil has the answer. They are shipping freeze-dried, certified organic and biodynamic açaí berry powder to health-conscious consumers around the world, and they are seeing the market grow. Leonilda Fagundes, chief executive of Bio EcoBrazil, said: "The international market and consumer understand organic and fair trade, and they are willing to pay extra for it. Until we started freeze-drying açaí, we couldn't get it to them. Now we can." 3. Solve multiple problems Preserva Mundi sustainably and organically grows products not just for the health-conscious market, but also for the agricultural market. Preserva Mundi has two specialities: neem and noni. Noni is their organically grown superfood. Neem has much wider repertoire of uses. Director Romina Lindemann said: "With cattle livestock, adding neem to the food supply improves digestion and stops the reproduction of pest insects in the cow dung. With vegetables, it helps their roots grow stronger and thicker. And it has a real effect on reducing the need for chemical insecticides … It's amazing to work with neem. You can have better milk, better vegetables, and eliminate the insects with a natural product." Running an ecotourism enterprise in Brazil "In Brazil, ecotourism usually means tourism in nature," says land owner and business director Roberto Coelho. Roberto has come to ecotourism through an unusual route: farming. His farm, Fazenda San Francisco is in an area called the Pantanal, and it now contains several lodges and a nature reserve. "My business is agro-ecotourism. My family started this farm in 1975, but in 1989 we opened it for tourism too. We have 4,000 hectares for rice farming, 3,000 for cattle and 8,000 for a nature reserve. More than half is completely natural, and will remain that way forever." 1. Integrate with farming Why does Roberto add ecotourism to farming? "Of course, it brings in extra income, and I like the integration of the businesses. The men of the local families work on the farm, and their wives, who are not trained in farming skills, are still able to work with the tourists. For example, in the kitchen, providing the delicious food." 2. Incentivise environmental care Is there a clear environmental benefit? "Because of the mixture with ecotourism, farmers have an added incentive to preserve the natural beauty and wildlife. If the farmers stick to intensive, monoculture farming, it harms the environment, the wildlife moves away, and the tourists stop coming too." 3. Activate unique ecosystems Ecotourism entrepreneur Modesto Sampaio used to be a cattle farmer, but in 1986 he acquired an unusual piece of land. Part of the land included a giant sinkhole, a natural sandstone crater with a very rare ecosystem. He was advised to cover or fill it somehow, so that he could use the land for farming. However Modesto had heard that this area used to be home to wild green-winged macaws, and realised it's unique potential. Sampaio said: "The hole had been used as a local dumping ground for years, and the macaws had moved on. I convinced the fire brigade, the local university and the army to help remove three truckloads of waste from the hole, and a dumped car. Soon after, the macaws came back, and so did the tourists." Now he and his sons have stopped farming and are able to rely entirely on the income that the sustainably managed tourists bring into the area. Brazilian federal and state laws now permanently protect this site. Richard Brownsdon runs Inspiring Adventures. He is a writer, blogger and freelance social enterprise marketing and events specialist. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the Guardian Social Enterprise Network, click here. | ['tone/blog', 'society/socialenterprises', 'society/society', 'world/brazil', 'world/americas', 'world/world', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'travel/amazon', 'travel/southamerica', 'travel/travel', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'environment/forests', 'environment/deforestation', 'travel/brazil', 'sustainable-business/how-to', 'sustainable-business/social-enterprise', 'sustainable-business/social-enterprise-blog', 'type/article', 'sustainable-business/series/international'] | environment/amazon-rainforest | BIODIVERSITY | 2013-07-19T15:00:00Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
uk-news/2019/jul/18/case-against-hs2-environmental-protesters-collapses | Case against HS2 environmental protesters collapses | Two environmental protesters campaigning against the HS2 high-speed rail link have walked free from court after a prosecution against them collapsed. Sarah Green, 63, a Green party member, and Laura Hughes, 37, of Extinction Rebellion, were both charged with aggravated trespass for protesting against work HS2 was carrying out in the Colne Valley nature reserve in Hillingdon, London, home to a variety of fauna and flora including bats, owls and osprey. Both of the accused repeatedly raised concerns about the destruction of wildlife habitats and damage to 22% of London’s water supply caused by HS2 workers pile-driving into an aquifer on the site. At an earlier hearing, both women pleaded not guilty to charges in relation to obstructing a digger. The HS2 development has generated huge controversy about cost, usefulness and possible environmental damage. Environmental protesters have established a camp close to the Colne Valley HS2 works site and protesters have staged various demonstrations there in recent months. The prosecution at Uxbridge magistrates court related to a protest at the Colne Valley site on 11 December 2018. Green was alleged to have climbed on top of an HS2 digger and Hughes was alleged to have locked herself to the digger. The district judge presiding over the case, Deborah Wright, dismissed the case after she said it was not possible to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the protesters were trespassing on land in the possession of HS2. HS2 had previously admitted that a map it provided to the Crown Prosecution Service outlining which part of the site was covered by a high court injunction against protesters was incorrectly labeled. Two prosecution witnesses who were part of HS2’s security team provided different accounts to the court on Wednesday of exactly where the two protesters were on the site at the time of the alleged offences. Various maps of land possessed by HS2 and the boundary of the high court injunction were submitted as part of the prosecution case. But there was confusion about exactly what land was and was not owned by HS2. Wright said: “I would have a reasonable doubt about whether the ladies concerned were trespassing at the time of the alleged offence.” The court looked at three separate pieces of land. The judge said: “I’m satisfied that two of these pieces of land were in possession of HS2. However, there’s a narrow strip, the third piece of land, about which I have heard no evidence. It is the vicinity of the area where Ms Green and Ms Hughes are said to have trespassed on. This is an area, effectively, of fields. I cannot be sure beyond reasonable doubt that these offences occurred on land that was in the possession of HS2. The defendants are entitled to the benefit of the doubt. I’m going to dismiss the case against them.” Sailesh Mehta, the counsel for Green, said after the hearing: “These protestors are safeguarding future generations’ right to a valuable resource. An attempt to curtail that has failed today in court. This is a case that should never have been brought before a court.” Both Green and Hughes said their victory was bittersweet because their concerns about the damage HS2 is causing to the environment remained valid. Hughes said: “Although I’m happy that this weight has been lifted from me and my children, the weight of climate change and the destruction of my children’s future remains.” Green said: “The CPS relied on evidence from HS2 which was not accepted by the judge. On one level I feel relieved about today’s outcome, but on another level I’m not at all relieved because our drinking water is still under threat.” Joe Rukin, of Stop HS2, said: “This is absolutely terrible news for HS2. They have ignored environmental concerns about the project from day one. They can now expect a summer of direct action from protesters concerned about the damage they are causing to the environment.” An HS2 spokesperson said: “Alongside the economic benefits, HS2 will deliver a new green corridor made up of woodland, wildlife habitats and amenity facilities, designed to blend the line into the landscape and leave a lasting legacy of high-quality green spaces all along the route. At every stage during the construction of the railway, the health and safety of the public and our staff is our priority.” | ['uk/hs2', 'environment/activism', 'environment/environment', 'world/protest', 'uk/uk', 'uk/london', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'politics/green-party', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/dianetaylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-07-18T14:32:17Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
sustainable-business/2015/jan/22/net-positive-leading-edge-sustainability | Net positive: ‘It’s the leading edge of sustainability, but we’ve not cracked it’ | “Net positive”, like so much management-speak, feels almost intentionally discombobulating. Be not confused, however. The clue is in the name. In a net-positive world, positive-minded managers run positive-oriented companies with an array of positive outcomes. So what’s the basic premise? It’s similar to Google’s famous company mantra, “Don’t be evil”, only turned on its head. If net positivists have a guiding maxim, then “be positive” sums it up. The aim of the net-positive movement is to encourage businesses to leave the world a better place than they find it, explains Sally Uren, chief executive of sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future. So if you use water in your business model, then leave the planet with more or better quality water than you take out. It’s the same with forests, energy, or whatever finite natural resource your company relies upon. Making inroads Uren doesn’t deny that the net-positive approach marks a sharp divergence from normal business practice. But the idea has made inroads in the last five years. “I’m surprised by the ease with which pioneer businesses have made the necessary mindset shift,” she says. These are not only new businesses: cheerleaders for the concept include big hitters, such as telecoms company BT, food and beverage giant Coca-Cola and home furnishing chain Ikea. All participate in the Net Positive Group, a coalition of a dozen industry enthusiasts coordinated by Forum for the Future which last April published a report on the business benefits of net positive strategies. Nor do its advocates only herald from big business. A growing wave of startups and small organisations are popping up with new positive goals and ambitions, according to Bruce Davis, managing director at Abundance Generation, a peer-to-peer renewable energy investor. “The zeitgeist is moving in this direction,” he says. “There’s an increasing number of brands and businesses that are either talking about it [net positive] because they want to show themselves to be responsible or because it’s basically their business model.” Rhetoric to results Talking and doing are not one and the same, however. For all the hype around net positivism, the journey from upbeat rhetoric and on-the-ground results is a long one. What’s more, it’s barely just begun. One reason for slow progress is the lengthy timescales required to see results. Kingfisher, the UK home improvement retailer, announced a set of ambitious net positive targets in 2012 including its goal of “global net reforestation”. Year on year, its procurement of sustainable timber is slowly inching upward. Small-scale projects to promote forest biodiversity and encourage conservation are underway, too. By Kingfisher’s own admission, however, its cumulative impact on the world’s forests will only switch from negative to positive in the mid-2030s – and that’s if the project if successful. More fundamentally, delivering a net positive business strategy is phenomenally difficult. It requires a massive exercise in internal reorganisation and collaborative effort with others, including NGOs, governments, suppliers, customers and so forth – not all of whom may be as positive about net positive as the theory’s supporters. “Net positivists are striving to go beyond damage control and into generating positive impacts for society and the natural world,” says Dax Lovegrove, Kingfisher’s director of sustainability. “It is seen as the leading edge of sustainability, but we’ve not cracked it.” Cynics wonder if they ever will. Can a large global retailer realistically generate more renewable energy than it consumes? And even if it can (Ikea claims it’s on track to produce green energy equivalent to 70% of its energy consumption by next year), is it fair to call it net positive if its impacts on water or forests remain net negative? What lies ahead That’s an ideological fight for further down the road. Now companies simply need to be able measure their net contributions with a degree of accuracy and comparability. None can: despite advances in natural capital accounting and other similar methodologies, non-financial impact evaluations still involve a hefty dose of guesswork – particularly around intangible social metrics such as civic cohesion or personal fulfilment. “It’s really hard,” admits Forum for the Future’s Uren. “How do you actually measure a net positive impact? How do you draw the boundaries? How do you establish a baseline, and so forth?” In the year ahead, the Forum’s Net Positive Group intends to compile a list of existing measurement methodologies, from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to handprinting. This endeavour may not resolve these questions immediately, but it should provide a useful starting point from which future answers may emerge. We can also expect to see net positivists getting better at clarifying what they are, and what they’re not, in the near future. The theory still isn’t on the radar of most mainstream business leaders, while many see it as nothing more than “repackaged CSR” [corporate social responsibility]. Even for those conversant in sustainability management speak, net positive can still mean “different things to different people”, Uren adds. The challenges ahead are certainly great, even discombobulating. But don’t expect net positive’s early champions to lose their positivity, and nor should they. Net negative has long been the norm for business – and look where that has taken us. • Are you a net positive organisation? Click here to enter the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards 2015. The business futures hub is funded by The Crystal. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled “brought to you by”. Find out more here. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox. | ['sustainable-business/series/business-futures', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'business/business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'business/corporate-governance', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/oliver-balch'] | environment/sustainable-development | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-01-22T14:05:16Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
global-development/2012/jun/15/rio20-voice-near-kabul-afghanistan | Rio+20: A voice from near Kabul, Afghanistan | I haven't heard of Rio+20, because I'm mostly out on the land. I can tell you, though, if it is a meeting of the international community and the donors to Afghanistan, my message is that the government has to find a way to provide water to the farmers, through irrigation canals, wells, or pumping. Before the Taliban, we got water naturally until the early summer, from a small stream. But someone called Najib has built a town upriver that took all the water, so we had to dig wells. Twenty years ago you only had to drill about 35 metres to get to water; now it is 40 or 45. Water is very expensive now, because we had to dig a deep well, and put in a generator that runs on diesel. It costs more than $40 a day, though we don't run it every day. For me, sustainable farming is making sure you don't exhaust the soil. If I plant onions in a field this year, I will plant carrots or something else next year. If you grow onions there every year, the production will just fall. Farmers are the heart of a country. If farming develops and a farmer moves forward, the whole nation and the government are going to develop and improve. In the days of Zahir Shah [the Afghan king ousted in a 1973 coup] we used to get some seeds, fertiliser and medicines, but unfortunately this government never helps us. Even our seeds aren't as good now; 30 years ago they were cheaper and higher quality. Our other problem is transportation and marketing – it's a long way to the city from here. I moved to the city for security reasons after the Russians came [in 1979], so 20 years ago I was farming on the lands of other people, and had a little piece of my own land. In the past few years, while I was getting money for a pump, I grew rain-fed wheat, as there is no water for irrigation here. When we put it in, I could start planting vegetables and the fruit trees, three years ago. It cost me and my brother 180,000 Afghanis ($3,600). If there is any aid from the international community, the money just goes to the local elders and officials, we never see any of it. Several times my son has told me to stop, because I am old, but I like this work, I like to touch green things. As long as I can walk, and carry a spade, I will keep farming. | ['global-development/environmental-sustainability', 'global-development/global-development', 'environment/rio-20-earth-summit', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/environment', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'tone/interview', 'global-development/series/global-development-voices', 'type/article'] | environment/sustainable-development | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2012-06-15T09:20:37Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
global-development/2023/nov/01/a-titan-of-the-climate-movement-tributes-pour-in-for-saleemul-huq | ‘A titan of the climate movement’: tributes pour in for Saleemul Huq | Tributes have poured in from around for world for the renowned Bangladeshi scientist Prof Saleemul Huq, who died on 28 October. Huq, 71, was an acclaimed academic, a relentless climate activist and the director of the International Centre for Climate Change & Development (ICCCAD), a research and capacity-building organisation in Bangladesh. Shahab Uddin, the Bangladeshi minister of environment, forest and climate change, said that Huq’s death was an irreparable loss to the country and the rest of the world. On Sunday afternoon in Dhaka, hundreds gathered at the Gulshan Society Mosque to pay their last respects, and a minute’s silence was observed in his memory at Sunday’s pre-Cop G77 meeting in Abu Dhabi. The Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate told the Guardian she had the privilege of working with Huq several times over the years. “As well as fighting for those most vulnerable, Huq was incredibly generous with his time,” she said. “I remember at Cop26, I had the opportunity to do a big media interview on loss and damage but wanted an expert to speak alongside me. He immediately responded to my request, dropping what he was doing and walking across the Glasgow conference centre to join me.” Mohamed Adow, director of the energy and climate thinktank Power Shift Africa, described Huq on X, formerly Twitter, as a “titan of the climate movement who stood out in a field dominated by scientists from Europe and North America. It was always good to see a Bangladeshi speaking with such authority and insight on the global stage.” Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican climate leader and the former executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), said Huq had been a “tenacious, visionary colleague”. Huq was an early force for community-based adaptation – a well-established concept in rural Bangladesh – which focuses on helping communities find their own solutions to the climate crisis, such as improving flood defences and adjusting cropping patterns to weather change. He strongly believed that affected communities needed “to be in the driving seat” and by the 1990s, he was active in international climate negotiations, helping climate-vulnerable countries put their individual needs on the agenda at high-profile UN talks. Among his many achievements, Huq was one of the longest and most persistent advocates of loss and damage funds, whereby rich nations – which have done by far the most to cause it – pay to help developing countries cope with the consequences of global heating. Though the idea gained traction leading up to the 2015 Paris climate agreement, it was only in 2022 that an agreement was signed. “Loss and damage isn’t aid,” said Huq. “When money is given as aid, all the power rests with the donor. It is an unequal relationship.” Huq, who was awarded an OBE in 2022, was a professor at the Independent University, Bangladesh; a senior associate of the International Institute on Environment and Development; and part of the Cop28 advisory committee. He was a prolific writer and researcher, and was among the lead authors for the IPCC’s third, fourth and fifth assessments of the global climate. In 2022, the journal Nature named Huq as one of the top 10 scientists in the world. Huq was a strong advocate of young people being given a voice in global negotiations. “Our generation created the mess and their generation is suffering. Hence, they must have a say,” he said. The Bangladeshi climate advocate Sohanur Rahman described him as a “true visionary and climate champion whose unmatched legacy will remain as a shining example for years and generations to come. His tireless efforts in the fight against climate injustice will continue to inspire us all.” Huq was known for his frankness, and spoke in a way that cut through climate jargon and politics to ask the great moral questions over the inequality of the climate crisis. Ahead of Cop28 this year, he wrote an open letter to the president of the UN climate summit, advocating for a new loss and damage fund while outlining concrete steps on how to achieve it. “Just to cite one example from my country Bangladesh: every single day, over 2,000 climate displaced people arrive by foot, cycle, boat and bus in Dhaka and disappear into the city slums,” he wrote. “No one is looking after them but they are people being forced to move by human-induced climate change and are hence the responsibility of the UNFCCC.” It is a fight that Huq’s friends and peers will take up on the global stage in his absence at Cop28 next month and beyond. “I’m so grateful that he lived to see the loss and damage fund finally being agreed at Cop27 in Egypt,” said Nakate. “I hope now we can fight for his legacy and ensure it is filled with real money.” In a tribute, Harjeet Singh, the head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, said: “The battle for climate justice remains ongoing. I pledge to redouble my efforts, to uphold the torch, and to champion the cause with even more passion and hard work. I’ll do this in honour of your legacy, feeling your guidance and blessings from the heavens above.” | ['global-development/global-development', 'environment/environment', 'world/unitednations', 'environment/cop27', 'environment/cop28', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'world/bangladesh', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/thaslima-begum', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/cop28 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2023-11-01T10:00:07Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
business/2021/apr/21/ikea-to-invest-34bn-by-2030-in-renewable-energy | Ikea to invest £3.4bn in renewable energy by 2030 | Ikea plans to accelerate its investment in renewable energy by spending an extra €4bn (£3.4bn) by the end of the decade to build wind and solar farms, while fitting its stores with electric vehicle charge points. Ingka Group, the owner of most Ikea stores, spent €2.5bn over the last decade installing 935,000 solar panels on the roofs of its stores and warehouses, and investing in 547 wind turbines and 10 solar parks to more than cover its own electricity use. The fresh investment will bring Ikea’s clean energy spending to €6.5bn by 2030 and include its first steps into energy storage, to help make better use of its renewable energy generation, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure and hydrogen fuels to help cut the emissions from its fleet of delivery vans. Jesper Brodin, the chief executive of Ingka Group, said Ikea’s growing clean energy ambitions over the next 10 years would coincide with a crucial decade in tackling the climate crisis. “We are in the most important decade in the history of humankind – climate change is no longer a distant threat, and we must all do our part to limit global warming to 1.5C,” he said. “The cost of inaction is just too high and brings substantial risks to humanity and our business. We know that with the right actions and investments we can be part of the solution and reduce the impact on the home we share – our planet – while future proofing our business. For us, it is good business to be a good business,” Brodin added. Ikea was one of the early adopters of climate action among major corporations. It set out a plan in 2016 to generate more renewable electricity than it uses by 2020, and in 2019 vowed to become a “carbon neutral” company by 2030. The Swedish furniture giant plans to focus part of the new renewable energy investment in India by equipping all its stores, warehouses and shopping centres in the country to run entirely on renewable energy by 2025. Ikea’s parent company has also recently acquired a 49% stake in eight solar farms in Russia, which will provide enough electricity to power all 17 Ikea stores in the country. Pia Heidenmark Cook, the company’s chief sustainability officer, said: “We have already come a long way, and in this critical decade we need to come together to accelerate a just transition to a society powered by renewable energy.” | ['business/business', 'business/ikea', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'business/retail', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'world/sweden', 'world/europe-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jillian-ambrose', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2021-04-21T17:10:55Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2009/oct/19/nuclear-waste-landfill-threat | Landfill sites may be used to dump radioactive waste | The government is poised to allow nuclear power generators to use ordinary landfill sites for dumping "hundreds of thousands of tons" of waste in an attempt to reduce the £73bn cost of decommissioning old reactors. The move has triggered a swath of applications around the country from big corporations trying to cash in on this potential new business, but infuriated local councils and campaign groups. The issue of waste is critical to the government as the stockpile is potentially much greater than previously thought and ministers are keen to encourage the power industry to build a new generation of reactors. Actions being considered by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and its Nuclear Decommissioning Authority include: • Allowing the nuclear industry to use ordinary landfill sites for disposing of radioactive waste in a more extensive way. • Allowing the main independent nuclear waste dump at Drigg in Cumbria to reduce its costs by scaling back the level of containment. • Building a £1.5bn radioactive liquid-waste processing plant at Sellafield, Britain's biggest atomic site, despite a history of project cost overruns and wider safety concerns there. • Extending a blueprint for dealing with existing high-level waste to cover that created by future nuclear stations – an "unjustifiable" step, according to the chair of the committee that created the blueprint. Cumbria county council, regarded as the most pro-nuclear authority in the country, is among those trying to stop at least two landfill sites from being used for dumping radioactive waste. The council's frustration threatens to undermine the government's attempts to persuade it to host the country's first high-level radioactive waste repository. Tim Knowles, cabinet member for the environment on the council, said: "A tiny amount of nuclear waste went into the Lillyhall landfill site in the past but now they are trying to vastly expand that and use a former open-cast mine at Keekle Head. "We are talking about moving from a few tons to hundreds of thousands of tons," he said. The cost of dealing with existing waste has risen to £73bn and been made worse by the discovery that there is 13m cubic metres of "potentially contaminated land" around sites such as Sellafield. This is as well as the existing 3.2m cubic metres of low-level waste and a smaller amount of more radioactive, high-level waste. A report seen by the Guardian, dated October 2008, from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), says: "In a worst-case scenario, this supplementary volume could increase the volume of land as waste to the point that it dwarfs the current baseline for UK low-level waste. This uncertainty presents significant challenges to the development of a national low-level waste strategy." The NDA recently completed a 14-week consultation on low-level waste and said it was close to finalising a new strategy. Extending landfill is clearly part of that. Martin Forwood, of Cumbrians Opposed to a Nuclear Environment, said he was "appalled" by moves to spread the waste around the county. "This is all being done because the Treasury wants to cut the cost, while the one proper licensed waste site at Drigg is almost full up. People seem willing to bend over backwards to help nuclear in a way they don't for anyone else." Waste management firms have moved swiftly to apply for permission to dispose of nuclear material. A French-owned company, Sita (through its Endecom subsidiary), is applying to the Environment Agency for authorisation for a Radioactive Substances Act disposal unit for its Clifton Marsh landfill site near Preston. Sita has also presented local councillors and industry professionals with plans to convert a former open-cast mine at Keekle Head, near Whitehaven, Cumbria. A rival waste company, Augean, is trying to convince locals it should be allowed to dump nuclear waste at the East Northants Management Facility at Kings Cliffe village, near Peterborough. And EnergySolutions, a firm with deep roots in the nuclear industry, wants to extend the use of a landfill site at Lillyhall in Cumbria. Rob Scott, from Sita's nuclear consultants, Nuvia, said: "Planned decommissioning of nuclear installations will generate significant quantities of low-level waste and very low-level waste, such as building rubble and soil. "It is now clear that the continued disposal of this low-level waste to the highly engineered national Low-Level Waste Repository, near Drigg in west Cumbria, is not sustainable and is very expensive for the taxpayer. This means alternative solutions have to be found." The energy department said last night it expected a decision on low-level waste from the NDA within "months" but said this would not affect the timing of its wider nuclear programme. It said a policy dating back to 2007 allowed landfill to be used for the disposal of very low-level waste "subject to appropriate regulatory authorisations" though it is unclear if any waste has been disposed of in this way. But Melanie McCall, one of the campaigners opposing the Augean move near Peterborough, said: "People don't want to be guinea pigs. The dump is completely inappropriate for this waste." Augean said it was satisfied there would be no "harm to our employees, the public or the environment". Low-level waste is made up of a wide range of materials used in the atomic industry, including plastic and clothing as well as metal and building rubble. It makes up approximately 90% of the total volume of the UK's radioactive waste but, the NDA argues, it contains "less than 0.0003%" of the total radioactivity. The government expects high-level waste to be buried in a deep repository and two local councils in Cumbria have made "expressions of interest" about housing the dump, although discussions remain at a very early stage. The waste from future reactors will be lower in volume but highly radioactive. | ['environment/nuclear-waste', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'business/utilities', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2009-10-19T19:33:50Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2022/nov/20/cop27-climate-summit-egypt-key-outcomes | What are the key outcomes of Cop27 climate summit? | Loss and damage Developing countries have been seeking financial assistance for loss and damage – money needed to rescue and rebuild the physical and social infrastructure of countries devastated by extreme weather – for nearly three decades. Finally achieving agreement on a fund is a major milestone. Now comes the difficult part – the fund must be set up, and filled with cash. There is no agreement yet on how the finance should be provided and where it should come from. 1.5C The 2015 Paris agreement contained two temperature goals – to keep the rise “well below 2C” above pre-industrial levels, and “pursuing efforts” to keep the increase to 1.5C. Science since then has shown clearly that 2C is not safe, so at Cop26 in Glasgow last year countries agreed to focus on a 1.5C limit. As their commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions were too weak to stay within the 1.5C limit, they also agreed to return each year to strengthen them, a process known as the ratchet. At Cop27, some countries tried to renege on the 1.5C goal, and to abolish the ratchet. They failed, but a resolution to cause emissions to peak by 2025 was taken out, to the dismay of many. Gas The final text of Cop27 contained a provision to boost “low-emissions energy”. That could mean many things, from wind and solar farms to nuclear reactors, and coal-fired power stations fitted with carbon capture and storage. It could also be interpreted to mean gas, which has lower emissions than coal, but is still a major fossil fuel. Many countries at Cop27, particularly those from Africa with large reserves to exploit, came to Sharm el-Sheikh hoping to strike lucrative gas deals. Fossil fuels Last year at Glasgow, a commitment to phase down the use of coal was agreed. It marked the first time a resolution on fossil fuels had been included in the final text – some would say, incredibly for 30 years of conferences on climate change. At Cop27, some countries – led by India – wanted to go further and include a commitment to phase down all fossil fuels. That was the subject of intense wrangling late into Saturday night, but in the end it failed and the resolution included was the same as that in Glasgow. World Bank reform A growing number of developed and developing countries are calling for urgent changes to the World Bank and other publicly funded finance institutions, which they say have failed to provide the funding needed to help poor countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis. Reform of the kind widely discussed at Cop27 could involve a recapitalisation of the development banks to allow them to provide far more assistance to the developing world. Nicholas Stern, a climate economist and peer, has calculated the developing world will need $2.4tn (£2tn) a year from 2030. But this is only about 5% more than the investment they would require anyway, much of which would go into high-carbon infrastructure. The World Bank could provide about half of those funds, he estimates. Adaptation Building flood defences, preserving wetlands, restoring mangrove swamps and regrowing forests – these measures, and more, can help countries to become more resilient to the impacts of climate breakdown. But poor countries often struggle to gain funding for these efforts. Of the $100bn a year rich countries promised they would receive from 2020 – a promise still not fulfilled – only about $20bn goes to adaptation. In Glasgow, countries agreed to double that proportion, but at Cop27 some sought to remove that commitment. After some struggle, it was reaffirmed. Tipping points, the IPCC and health Since Cop26, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has published the key parts of its latest vast assessment of climate science, warning of catastrophic impacts that can only be averted by sharp and urgent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The IPCC was set up by the UN to advise on science, yet some countries wished to remove references to its latest findings from the final text. Instead of that, a reference to the key finding of “tipping points” was put in – a warning that the climate does not warm in a gradual and linear fashion, but that we risk tripping feedback loops that will lead to rapidly escalating effects. These include the heating of the Amazon, which could turn the rainforest to savannah, transforming it from a carbon sink to a carbon source, and the melting of permafrost that releases the powerful greenhouse gas methane. Also inserted was a reference to “the right to a clean healthy and sustainable environment”. Medical professionals have begun to play a much more prominent role in climate talks, and in climate protests, drawing a clear link between global heating and health. | ['environment/cop27', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/explainers', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/cop27 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2022-11-20T11:40:57Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
music/2012/oct/22/sting-ditches-concert-venue-trees | Sting ditches concert venue over plans to uproot trees | Sting has relocated a concert in the Philippines following protests by environmental groups. The singer called off a concert at Pasay's SM Mall of Asia arena after complaints that the stadium's owners were planning to uproot 182 trees as part of a shopping centre expansion. For months, a group called Project: Save 182 has been fighting the planned redevelopment of the SM City Baguio mall, planned to include the removal of dozens of trees from Luneta Hill. Environmentalists' protests have included public plantings at other sites, offering "symbolic support for the trees intended to be cut, earth-balled and harmed" by the conglomerate SM Prime Holdings – founded by the Philippines' richest man, Henry Sy. Following letters from campaigners, Sting has now announced the relocation of his concert on 9 December, moving the gig from SM Mall of Asia Arena to the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. This was "the decision of the artist himself", reps from SM Mall of Asia told the Associated Press. "Understandably, the known environment-advocate artist was left with no choice in spite of the SM representatives' appeal." In their initial press release, SM Prime Holdings said that the Mall of Asia Arena "has nothing to do with" the 182 trees "except for the fact that it is also under the same holding company as the Baguio [site]". They went on: "It seems that the activists behind Project: Save 182 are bent on taking down the SM brand in general … [and] ruining a corporate giant's reputation completely." But in a later statement, the company struck a different tone. "[SM] regrets that there has been a lot of disinformation on its Baguio redevelopment plan, which apparently has reached Sting," they wrote on Saturday. "For the record, SM City Baguio plans to redevelop its facilities in order to address an urgent topsoil erosion problem … to protect the integrity of its Baguio mall ... These trees will be relocated, not cut." In 1989 Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, founded the Rainforest Foundation, which aims to protect rainforests and the indigenous people who live within them. It has helped save 28m acres of rainforest, in more than 20 different countries. | ['music/sting', 'music/popandrock', 'music/music', 'culture/culture', 'world/philippines', 'world/world', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/seanmichaels'] | environment/deforestation | BIODIVERSITY | 2012-10-22T11:11:15Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
society/2019/sep/18/government-ad-campaign-climate-crisis-brexit-not-deal | We’re crying out for a government ad campaign on how to halt the climate crisis | Joshua Curiel | As I prepare to join the climate strikers on Friday, I am aware that many people still know very little about what “climate crisis” actually means. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 84% of 18- to 24-year-olds agree they need more information to learn how to prevent climate breakdown. In addition, more than two-thirds of teachers in the UK believe there should be more teaching in schools about the climate crisis. And three-quarters feel they have not received appropriate training to educate their students on the subject. Rather than spending £100m on an ad campaign to prepare the country for a no-deal Brexit, a better use of government resources would be a public information campaign on tackling the climate emergency. Such campaigns were very effective in the 20th century. In 1918, the government set up a new department – The Ministry of Information (MOI) – to oversee publicity and propaganda. It was short-lived but returned during the second world war. Campaigns such as the Make Do and Mend and Dig for Victory projects, educated the public on the vital role that civilians could play in the war effort. In the 1930s, communications activities became a function of government, including films, radio broadcasts and exhibitions. Artists and designers could be called up at any time. As a result, hundreds of designs were pre-prepared, instructing people to do a variety of things to help the war effort according to changing demands, from saving kitchen scraps to feeding chickens, to putting out paper, metal and bones for recycling to make “planes, guns, tanks, ships and ammunition”. Dig for Victory was perhaps the most effective. Open spaces in gardens and public parks were transformed into makeshift allotments to growmuch-needed food. By 1942 half of the civilian population was part of the nation’s “garden front”. Similarly, Make Do and Mend – a slogan to encourage people to repair and rewear old fabrics after clothes rationing in 1941 – became an indispensable guide to life in Britain for rich and poor alike. In similar fashion, a 2019 public information campaign could inform people about their role in the fight against global heating. Using lessons from past campaigns, a climate emergency campaign could harness the skills of contemporary artists, designers, and writers to create eye-catching and informative messages- creating a campaign that would illuminate ways in which members of the public can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, just as designers and illustrators such as Donia Nachshen and Abram Games did during the second world war. It would also call on experts to draw attention to the negative and positive impacts of our lifestyles. Few people are aware of how to properly recycle different types of plastic waste, or the detrimental impact of fast fashion on the planet, or how they can transform their gardens to encourage biodiversity. How can we galvanise people into taking immediate action if we know little to nothing about the effects of our lifestyles on the climate? We must put pressure on the government to launch this campaign. It should be internet-based but include posters in public spaces printed on recycled paper and a leaflet delivered to every home in the country. Yes, we are in a climate emergency, but that means nothing if it is in word only. It’s up to the government to launch such a campaign because of its resources and ability to target every household. We still have time to halt a climate emergency and shift to renewable energy sources. A government-sponsored campaign must go hand-in-hand with achieving targets for net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2025. Past public information campaigns show the need to target everyone in society to effect change. • Joshua Curiel is a 19-year-old student and enviornmental activist. He co-wrote this opinion with Annal Lobbenberg, head of digital learning programmes at the British Library | ['society/youngpeople', 'society/society', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'info/info', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'tone/comment', 'media/advertising', 'media/media', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/joshua-curiel', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/society', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-society'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-09-18T11:00:07Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
world/2017/oct/16/portugal-spain-wildfires-forest-fires-ophelia-villages-evacuated | One-month-old baby among at least 32 killed in Portugal and Spain fires | At least 32 people including a one-month-old baby have been killed in northern Portugal and Spain, where hundreds of wildfires have forced residents to flee from towns and villages. Portugal’s national civil protection authority said the infant had been missing after a wildfire near Tabua, 120 miles (200km) north of Lisbon. Seven people were missing and 56 people were injured – 16 of them seriously, the agency said. The death toll in Portugal, where a huge fire killed 64 people in June, is likely to rise. The government declared a state of emergency for regions north of the Tagus river after Sunday was described as “the worst day of the year in terms of forest fires” by the civil protection spokeswoman Patricia Gaspar. More than 6,000 firefighters were battling more than 500 wildfires on Sunday – the highest number of fires in a single day for more than 10 years. Portugal has asked for help from its European partners and Morocco. Jorge Gomes, Portugal’s secretary of state of internal administration, said most of the fires, which have destroyed houses, factories and other infrastructure, had been set deliberately. The bodies of two of the three victims in Spain, both women, were found by firemen inside a burnt-out car on a road in the north-western region of Galicia. The third, a man in his 70s, died as he tried to save his farm animals, media reported. The fires were fanned by strong winds as remnants of Hurricane Ophelia brushed the Iberian coast. They spread quickly over the weekend across a landscape left tinder dry by a hot summer. Some blazes in Galicia remained out of control on Monday, authorities said. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the head of the regional government, said 15 of the fires posed a risk to towns and that 90% of forest fires each year in Galicia were started intentionally. He told reporters: “All of Galicia is weeping this morning for our razed hills, but especially for the loss of human lives.” Spain’s interior minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, said some of those responsible had already been identified. They could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted, police said. The country’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, who is from Galicia, said he was returning to the region to see the emergency co-ordination effort for himself. “I’m heading to Galicia,” he tweeted on Monday morning. “Solidarity from all of Spain and prompt coordination to combat the fire and assist people.” Schools were closed on Monday, while at least 20 planes joined 350 firefighting units in tackling the fires. Light rainfall early in the day was expected to help extinguish the flames. Last week, an independent investigation into Portugal’s June wildfires found that authorities failed to evacuate villages in time. The fires destroyed about 29,000 hectares (72,000 acres) of land. This article was amended on 15 January 2018 to change the spelling of the Tagus river. | ['world/portugal', 'world/spain', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samjones', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-10-16T16:00:18Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
global-development-professionals-network/2014/apr/08/mobile-banking-digital-finance-companies | Cashing in: why mobile banking is good for people and profit | Whether it is lack of access to water, energy or education, development professionals are well versed in the plethora of challenges facing billions of people. The traditional approach to solving these problems has been to think big – in terms of the millennium development goals, government aid programmes, or huge fundraising campaigns. But there are dozens of startups and larger companies with innovative ideas who are approaching these challenges in new ways using digital finance. The success of M-Pesa, which reaches 18.2m registered users in Kenya alone, shows (pdf) how digital finance can become rooted in a country's economy, but success stories aren't limited to Kenya. Digital finance has taken off in countries as diverse as Bangladesh, where BKash [development] serves 8m registered users with payments and remittances through a network of 76,000 agents, and Pakistan, where EasyPaisa, the third largest mobile money deployment in the world, reaches 7.4m users. Chidi Okpala, director and head of Airtel Money – Africa, a mobile money service with an active base of 5m customers, sees mobile financial services "tapping in" to other areas like healthcare, agriculture, and education. Bridge International Academies is one company that's already ventured into the education space in Kenya. Its "academy in a box" relies heavily on technology to deliver quality, affordable education to children whose families live on less than $2 a day. So far, the for-profit education company has enrolled over 80,000 students in the programme, which equips teachers with a tablet to deliver standardised instruction. Parents use mobile money accounts to pay the approximately $6 monthly fee, 40% cheaper than other low-cost private schools in the company's communities. Bridge makes the financially complicated process of paying for school easier for families by digitising it (94% of Bridge's families have mobile phones) and making it more affordable. The success of M-Pesa and Bridge International illustrates that well-defined needs can be addressed with creative applications of digital finance – what CGap refers to as 'digital finance plus companies' and the Washington-based partnership has identified more than 50 in 12 countries who are taking new and exciting approaches to increasing access to clean water, energy, education, health and agriculture. Whether it's Sarjaval building affordable access to safe drinking water in India, EcoEnergy Finance providing solar energy to communities in rural Pakistan, or others, all these companies share two common characteristics: they aim to solve a fundamental access problem and they rely on digital finance to make their model work. It can be expected that some of these businesses will disrupt traditional models of providing basic services to communities at the base of the economic pyramid. Still, enthusiasm surrounding digital finance must be tempered with caution. The industry is young, and many of these businesses have yet to prove whether or not they can scale in order to make an impact. Technology is certainly not a silver bullet to ending global poverty, and there have been obvious challenges in using it to reach the unbanked. These include, for example, low uptake of mobile offerings – as shown in Nigeria and Ghana, the preference for in-person transactions in countries like Pakistan, the manner in which illiteracy nearly guarantees that mobile banking will leave some people – especially women – behind, and inactive registered customers. These aren't challenges with obvious solutions, but each scenario offers lessons for future projects. What gives digital finance plus companies an advantage is that they set out to tackle problems that are central to the lives of poor people. And ultimately, these companies recognise the high-growth opportunity associated with powering their innovations with mobile financial services – 50% of people in the developing world now have access to a mobile phone even if they don't own one. As GSMA, the association of mobile phone operators, has pointed out, more people have access to the mobile network than energy or water. In this way, we see a potential win-win scenario: not only could digital finance be a game-changer, bringing poor people into the formal financial system, but it also stands to directly benefit companies who can take their ideas to scale and reach millions of under-served people. Erin Scronce is web editor at CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) is a global partnership set up to advance financial inclusion. Follow @ErinScronce on Twitter Join the community of global development professionals and experts. Become a GDPN member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox | ['global-development-professionals-network/financial-inclusion', 'working-in-development/working-in-development', 'global-development-professionals-network/technology', 'technology/technology', 'technology/mobilephones', 'technology/telecoms', 'society/poverty', 'society/society', 'society/socialexclusion', 'business/business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'world/world', 'global-development/microfinance', 'global-development/global-development', 'tone/blog', 'type/article'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-04-08T16:13:00Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2021/oct/05/global-citizens-assembly-to-be-chosen-for-un-climate-talks | Global citizens’ assembly to be chosen for UN climate talks | One hundred people from around the world are to take part in a citizens’ assembly to discuss the climate crisis over the next month, before presenting their findings at the UN Cop26 climate summit. The Global Citizens’ Assembly will be representative of the world’s population, and will invite people chosen by lottery to take part in online discussions that will culminate in November, during the fortnight-long climate talks that open in Glasgow on 31 October. Funded with nearly $1m, from sources including the Scottish government and the European Climate Foundation, the assembly is supported by the UN and UK and run by a coalition of more than 100 organisations. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said: “Last month I launched Our Common Agenda, a roadmap to begin rebuilding our world and mending trust. The Global Citizens’ Assembly for Cop26 is a practical way of showing how we can accelerate action through solidarity and people power. People everywhere want bold, ambitious climate action, and now is the moment for national leaders to stand and deliver.” Citizens’ assemblies have been used in some countries to help decide difficult issues of national importance. For instance, they played a key role in Ireland’s decision to change its abortion laws in a referendum. In the past two years, citizens’ assemblies in countries including the UK and France have taken on the climate crisis and shown large public support for the key measures needed to tackle global heating, including investing in new forms of energy and infrastructure, and changing lifestyles and behaviour. The members of the assembly will be chosen through a lottery and a selection process that will ensure the makeup of the body reflects global demographics: 60 of the 100 people will come from Asia, 17 from Africa, half will be women and 70 will be people who earn $10 a day or less. They will receive a stipend, technical and communications support and translation services to ensure they can take part. A team of international scientists and other experts will explain details of the climate crisis and potential solutions, and members of the assembly will discuss how these might work in practice, seeking to answer the question: “How can humanity address the climate and ecological crisis in a fair and effective way?”. The key messages from their discussions will be presented at Cop26 and a report will be published in March. Alok Sharma, the UK cabinet minister who will act as president of the Cop26 summit, said: “The Global Assembly is a fantastic initiative and was selected for representation in the green zone [of the Cop26 presentation hall] because we recognise just how important its work is and also because we are committed to bringing the voice of global citizens into the heart of Cop26. It creates that vital link between local conversation and a global conference.” At Cop26, countries are expected to produce plans for drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years in order to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the lower of two goals set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. | ['environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-10-05T08:00:45Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2005/jan/04/tsunami2004 | First Swedish bodies flown home | Coffins carrying the first Swedish bodies to be repatriated following the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster were loaded on to a Swedish military plane today, as European governments struggled to assess the numbers of dead and missing. Though two Nordic countries revised downwards their lists of missing persons, most expected the numbers of dead to rise as identification and discovery of bodies continued. Sweden, the European country hardest hit by the disaster, has warned that its death toll could rise to 1,000. Thus far the government has confirmed 52 deaths and another 827 missing. It said it had no information about 1,495 others believed to be holidaying in the region. The Swedish prime minister, Goran Persson, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia are due to meet the transport plane when it lands in Stockholm tonight. These first six coffins carry victims from the Thai resort of Phuket, where thousands of Swedes were enjoying winter holidays. Denmark and Norway both announced that their lists of missing had reduced dramatically, with some people contacting authorities to say they were safe, and other names found to have been listed twice. Denmark cut its number of missing from 207 to 69, while Norway listed 150 people missing, down from an initial estimate of more than 1,400. Seven Danes and 16 Norwegians have been confirmed dead. Both countries as well as Finland named missing people, but Sweden - with 2,322 people unaccounted for - refrained from doing so for security reasons. Following the deaths of 551 Swedes when the ferry Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea in 1994, Swedish police reported that homes of the dead and missing were burgled, and authorities are being cautious to avoid a repeat. Efforts to track down the missing and check bodies in Thailand were continuing, but officials said it could take months to recover bodies, analyse dental records and perform the other tests needed to fully identify victims. The Swedish government has been harshly criticised for its handling of the tragedy. Some say it reacted too slowly in evacuating Swedes and dispatching foreign ministry officials to the affected areas. The roughly 4,000 schools in Norway, some with empty desks because 26 children are among the missing, began classes today after the Christmas break with various memorials to help children cope with the aftermath of the disaster. "The tidal wave disaster is something that effects us all, even if each individual school has not lost any of its students or staff," said the minister of education, Kristin Clemet. "A memorial gives children in Norway a chance to show compassion and concern together." The Thai tourist resorts hit hardest by the tsunamis, such as Phuket and Khao Lak, were warm havens for tens of thousands of Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and other Europeans escaping the winter cold. Germany has also been suffering, with 60 Germans confirmed dead, 300 injured and more than 1,000 still missing. Europe's dead and missing · Austria: 10 dead, 443 missing, 218 unaccounted for · Belgium: 6 dead, 99 missing, 375 unaccounted for · Britain: 40 dead, 159 missing · Croatia: 1 dead, 1 missing · Czech Republic: 1 dead, 7 missing, 16 unaccounted for · Denmark: 7 dead, 60 missing, 100 unaccounted for · Finland: 1 dead, 183 missing · France: 22 dead, 99 missing, 560 unaccounted for · Germany: 60 dead, 1,000 missing · Greece: 9 dead · Hungary: 20 dead · Iceland: 11 dead · Ireland: 20 dead · Italy: 18 dead, 436 missing · Luxembourg: 2 dead · Netherlands 6 dead, 30 missing, 200 unaccounted for · Norway: 16 dead, 91 missing · Poland: 4 dead, 43 missing · Portugal: 8 dead · Russia: 2 dead, 135 missing · Spain: 11 dead · Sweden: 52 dead, 827 missing, 1,495 unaccounted for · Switzerland: several hundred dead, 105 missing, 500 unaccounted for · Turkey: 1 dead, 16 missing | ['world/world', 'world/tsunami2004', 'type/article'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-01-04T15:46:33Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
technology/2015/sep/09/apple-ipad-pro-129in-iphone-6s-event | Apple supersizes its tablet with new 12.9in iPad Pro | Apple has announced a new iPad Pro with a larger 12.9in screen and a focus on productivity. The company’s chief executive Tim Cook took to the stage of San Francisco’s large Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to announce the new iPad, alongside a series of updates to the company’s other products including the iPhone. Cook said: “We asked ourselves, how could we take iPad even further? Now we have the biggest news in iPad since the iPad – the iPad Pro the most powerful and capable iPad we’ve ever created.” The iPad Pro is the first iPad since the first iPad’s launch in 2010 to have a screen larger than 9.7in and has the same width screen as the iPad Air 2’s height. The iPad Pro, similar to Apple’s MacBook Pro and Mac Pro computer lines, is being marketed as a business or professional tablet, capable of running two full-sized applications side-by-side on the screen. Measuring 12.9in diagonally, the iPad Pro’s screen offers 76% more screen area than the current 9.7in, with the same 4:3 ratio for its width and length. The new tablet will use Apple’s new A9X processor, which is 1.8 times faster than the previous generation A8X used in 2014’s iPad Air 2. It’s graphics performance is twice that of the A8X, which will help drive the large, high-density screen with 5.9 million pixels. “It’s faster than 80% of the processors of portable PCs that were shipped in the last 12 months, and faster than 90% of the graphics of the portable PC shipped,” said Apple’s Phil Schiller on stage. The iPad Pro also has 10 hours of battery life, matching the iPad Air 2, is 6.9mm thick (0.8mm thicker than the Air 2) and has four speakers creating stereo sound. The iPad Pro will be available in November in silver, gold and space grey for $799 with 32GB of storage, with versions with 128GB of storage and 4G connectivity costing $1,079. Keyboard like the Microsoft Surface tablets Apple also released their own version of Microsoft’s Touch Cover, which was released with the original Surface Tablet. The Apple Smart Keyboard costs $169 magnetically attaches to a new Smart Connector port on the bottom of the iPad forming a screen cover when closed. Apple also released a pixel-accurate pressure sensitive stylus for the iPad Pro called the Apple Pencil, again similar to Microsoft’s Surface stylus. The Pencil is charged via the Lightning Connector directly from the iPad Pro and costs $99. Microsoft demonstrated its Office suite on iPad Pro on stage, including using the Apple Pencil. Adobe also showed off new additions to its creative applications for iPad, which now support the Pencil. Enterprise charge The larger iPad Pro, which joins the 9.7in iPad Air 2 and the 7.9in iPad Mini lines, runs the risk of cannibalising Apple’s laptop sales, reaching similar costs at the tablet’s highest specifications with 4G connectivity as the MacBook Air line. It could be more attractive to business users, who have already started to use Apple’s 9.7in iPad as a cheaper, more secure and longer-lasting laptop alternative. The NHS, publishers and other office-based industries have adopted the iPad as a work machine, but a larger tablet combined with a deal Apple signed in July with IBM could be crucial to reviving flagging sales. IBM released a collection of business applications for Apple’s iPad in December for banking, retail, governments and the telecommunications sector. Apple has seen five straight quarters of declining sales of its iPad line, despite the launch of a thinner iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, both introducing Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Consumers have cooled on tablets, with the global shipments of the devices falling since the fourth quarter of 2014. A slower rate of tablet-replacement compared to smartphones, and cannibalisation by larger-screened smartphones including Apple’s own 5.5in iPhone 6 Plus and phablets such as the 5.7in Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and 6in Google Nexus 6, have been blamed. Apple’s share of the global tablet market was also down 5% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2014 at 28.1%, according to data from research firm IDC. • Apple iPad Air 2 review : Apple’s best tablet yet, but is that enough? | ['technology/ipad', 'technology/apple', 'technology/tablet-computer', 'technology/ios', 'technology/technology', 'technology/gadgets', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samuel-gibbs', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2015-09-09T17:46:13Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
sustainable-business/2017/may/19/british-energy-iceland-volcano-geothermal-power | Could British homes be powered by Icelandic volcano? | Harnessing the power of Iceland’s volcanoes to provide energy to British homes is one of those ideas that resurfaces every few years, but sounds too good – or whacky – to be true. However, interest from a clutch of international companies in a geothermal project in northern Iceland suggests the idea is not just achievable but commercially viable too. Scientists working on the Krafla Magma Testbed plan to drill more than 2km below the Earth’s crust into a molten magma lake, starting a process they say could see the UK receiving energy from Iceland’s volcanoes within 20 years. In an experiment due to begin in 2020, the researchers will drill an initial borehole down to the magma body, into which water can be pumped through reinforced U-shaped pipes. The resulting “supercritical steam” could, in theory, be used to power turbines and the energy generated sent across the North Atlantic via underwater cables. While geothermal power already generates a quarter of Iceland’s electricity production, on a global scale the sector has failed to flourish in the same way as solar or wind. Held back by high upfront development costs, it currently produces less than 1% of the world’s electricity, according to the World Energy Council. However, new technology of the type being piloted in Krafla could accelerate the sector’s growth, according to Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland and an investigator on the project. Professor Yan Lavallée, a volcanology and magma research chair at Liverpool University, says the renewable potential is enormous. “Even a small body of magma in the order of a fraction of a cubic kilometre could power a whole country the size of the UK,” he says, adding that the possibility of storing the energy generated in large batteries or old mines is also under discussion. The promise of bountiful, clean volcano power appears to be attracting the attention of a host of large corporations, including those from the fossil fuel and mining sectors. “We have had discussions with a number of international oil and gas companies,” says John Ludden, the director of the British Geological Survey (BGS), which is coordinating the Krafla project with Iceland’s Geothermal Research Group. The Norwegian oil and gas giant Statoil confirmed an “informal dialogue” with the Krafla project, while Canada’s Falco Resources, a mining company, has part-funded a research post that is exploring collaborative work with the Krafla team. The researchers are also working with US-based Sandia National Laboratories, a nuclear contractor to the US government, to assess how to deal with magma at temperatures of 900C, says Ludden. “It’s not impossible to imagine that Iceland could send 2GW of energy at a time to the UK, Holland or Denmark via underwater cables,” he says – enough to power around 1.5m homes. “Perhaps that could happen in the next two decades.” Political and financial challenges Those underwater cables would, of course, come at a cost: one assessment (pdf) puts the price of a 1,000km-long interconnector across the North Atlantic at up to €3.5bn (£2.7bn), almost twice the cost of the London Array, one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world. Hordur Arnarson, CEO of Icelandic utility Landsvirkjun, which will develop the Krafla site, has warned that his company would need fixed price guarantees and long-term contracts, along the lines of the support given to the Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor. He has also previously raised concerns that Brexit could complicate the process. However, a UK-Iceland joint task force concluded (pdf) last July – after the referendum – that there was a viable business case for such a connector, and the European commission has put the cable on its list of “projects of common interest”. In any case, the cable would need five more years of assessments and preparatory work before construction could begin, according to Landsvirkjun, providing plenty of time for any opposition to organise. In Iceland, people living near the Krafla site have been told a risk assessment involving them will take place, says Bjarni Pálsson, a project manager for Landsvirkjun. Researchers have said, so far, that they see no risk their drilling will trigger an eruption, and that they will insert magma flow sensors specifically geared to detect future eruptions. Exporting the energy, rather than using it to boost domestic industry, is also likely to raise eyebrows. Pálsson describes exports as “just an option that the government is looking into”. “It is definitely a political issue and it will have to go through a lot of dialogue before being realised,” he says. Sign up to be a Guardian Sustainable Business member and get more stories like this direct to your inbox every week. You can also follow us on Twitter. This article was amended on 19 May 2017. An earlier version said that the pipeline would bring energy from Iceland to the UK across the North Sea. This has been corrected to say the North Atlantic. | ['sustainable-business/series/innovation', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/geothermal', 'world/iceland', 'world/volcanoes', 'world/world', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/arthurneslen', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-professional-networks'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2017-05-19T05:00:46Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2022/aug/10/the-guardian-view-on-water-companies-nationalise-a-flawed-private-system | The Guardian view on water companies: nationalise a flawed private system | Editorial | When the water industry was in public hands, it was claimed to work neither for its owner – the state – nor the public. Since being privatised in 1989, water companies have enriched investors and senior executives but failed to adequately invest in infrastructure. Shareholders have been paid £72bn in dividends. The cash came from big debts, with companies borrowing £56bn, and big bills, with prices rising 40%. Private-sector efficiency did not provide better service, but it did allow companies to be milked for cash. Companies’ pressing concern was to make money rather than think hard about the challenge of the climate emergency. Hence water companies will impose hosepipe bans in record-breaking summer heat despite up to a fifth of water being lost to leaks. Two companies restricting water use – South West Water and Southern Water – have some of the worst environmental records. Thames Water, which will ban lawn watering for its 15 million customers, was fined £20m in 2017 for tipping 1.4bn litres of raw sewage into rivers. Last year the firm was found to have illegally discharged untreated sewage for 735 days. Such failings are met by water companies with bromides designed to create the illusion of problem-solving. The firms get away with this because the water watchdogs’ bark is worse than their bite. The Environment Agency has said that water company bosses responsible for the worst pollution should be jailed. There is no sign of any chief executive facing criminal charges. In February, the industry regulator Ofwat said Britain’s privatised water companies should link executive pay to performance. This summer, the Thames Water boss, Sarah Bentley, will be handed a total of £700,000 as part of a £3m “golden hello” pay package, just weeks after her company’s terrible pollution record was officially recognised. The sound most frequently heard these days in regulatory circles is that of the stable door being shut long after the horses have bolted. In June, Anglian Water, one of the UK’s biggest firms, announced that it would be paying a £92m dividend to its owners. A month later, Ofwat proposed new powers to prevent dividends being paid to shareholders. The government has signalled that post-Brexit regulations are likely to be less, not more, onerous. Voters have every right to feel let down. There is a very good argument that privatised companies have been overcharging customers of natural monopolies by duping the regulator and paying off shareholders by loading up with debt. Such outrageous behaviour has been compounded, it appears, by a collective failure to make the investment that society needs. Britain’s private utility model is broken. Services can clearly be managed by the state in a way that makes sense. The railways have proved ill-suited to conventional capitalism. The government has already announced plans to nationalise key parts of the electricity grid to help meet climate goals. The Treasury has been forced to pick up the tab as gas suppliers collapsed. Global heating means that water shortages and leaks are set to worsen. To stop companies being able to game the system and dodge their responsibilities will require a measure of state ownership. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com • This article was amended on 17 August 2022. In referring to water companies with poor environmental records, an earlier version incorrectly named South East Water when South West Water was meant. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/water', 'politics/privatisation', 'environment/pollution', 'politics/economy', 'politics/politics', 'environment/environment-agency', 'business/utilities', 'money/water-bills', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2022-08-10T18:12:36Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
technology/blog/2008/jun/19/youtuberespondstogettingit | YouTube responds to getting its ass kicked by Hulu | Google's YouTube was recently given a kicking by billionaire "blog maverick" Mark Cuban, who pointed out that Hulu is kicking YouTube's Ass. It doesn't have more visitors or serve up more videos, of course. However, Hulu has 100% legal premium content that it can monetize -- TV programmes such as Sex & The City, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and movies such as Juno and Lost in Translation -- and YouTube, basically, doesn't. Indeed, if it did, YouTube could be forced to remove them. What makes it even better for Hulu is that it can exploit YouTube. As Cuban says: Hulu posts clips, not full episodes, clips on its YouTube channel and elsewhere on YouTube. Those clips are preroll AND overlays AND post rolls promoting Hulu and its full episodes of shows and movies. All of which costs Hulu the ginormous cost of ....nothing. From which it generates traffic to its Hulu site on which it sells, to the point of often selling out, display and preroll ads. That's the ultimate arbitrage. We pay you nothing, and you send us traffic that generates ad revenue for us. The economics are straightforward, and bad news for YouTube: the more traffic Hulu generates, the more money it makes. The more traffic YouTube generates, the more money it loses... Maybe they think they will make it up with even more volume? What YouTube can do, of course, is copy Hulu and offer longer, legal content that it can sell against. To this end, it has emailed its content partners as follows, says Sillicon Alley Insider: Long Form Content You now will be able to upload and monetize videos in your account that are longer than 10 minutes. This feature is exclusively for partners. Independent Film makers that partner with us will now be able to upload their feature films on our site. Please note that for long form content, the maximum file size is 1GB. That's enough for a full-length movie at YouTube quality. Whether these "independent film makers" will come up with enough good stuff to take on Hulu, which is backed by NBC Universal and News Corp, is another matter. It's better than nothing, which is pretty much what YouTube has at the moment. Comment (added later): Hulu is US-only and has a limited amount of content, but it is still new: it was officially launched just three months ago, on March 12, 2008. For more on the background see Hulu starts private beta, while NBC rubbishes iTunes business, below. | ['technology/blog', 'technology/digital-music-and-audio', 'technology/technology', 'business/technology', 'business/business', 'tone/blog', 'technology/digitalvideo', 'technology/internet', 'media/online-tv', 'media/video-on-demand', 'type/article', 'profile/jackschofield'] | technology/digitalvideo | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2008-06-19T16:00:00Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2022/jun/25/orange-roughy-campaigners-call-for-limit-to-trawling-of-species-after-breeding-age-of-73-revealed | Breeding at age 73: new details of endangered orange roughy’s life cycle prompt calls to limit fishing | Ocean campaigners say that a New Zealand fishing fleet that trawls for orange roughy in waters off Tasmania should be “sent back” in light of new data about the vulnerable species. Orange roughy is an endangered deep-sea species which, under Australia’s environmental laws, can still be fished in approved fisheries. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) manages orange roughy stock as though the fish reaches maturity and breeds at 27 to 32 years of age. But campaigners say a new assessment of orange roughy in New Zealand suggests that age could be much higher which could have implications for the ability for populations to recover after fishing. New Zealand’s fisheries management assessed populations in one of its orange roughy fisheries and found that the age of breeding was “unexpectedly high” with only 50% of stocks spawning by 55 years old. The age at which 95% of stocks were breeding was 73.3 years. The concerns have been raised as the new environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, travelled to Lisbon for the UN oceans conference. Plibersek has said she wants Australia to take a global leadership role in ocean protection. The sustainable fisheries manager at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Adrian Meder, said the newly released data should prompt a “precautionary” response from the AFMA, which allows permits for fishing of orange roughy in two areas off Tasmania. New Zealand vessels have begun arriving in Tasmania and the AFMA said it had granted one boat approval to trawl for the species this year. “It has real implications for the ability of these fish populations to support industrial fishing,” Meder said. “It means that the fish are capable of doing potentially a lot less breeding in the years they’re out in the ocean before we catch them.” Meder said sustainable fisheries practices typically tried to ensure that fish populations had a chance to start replacing themselves before they were caught. But he said the AFMA had not incorporated the new data into its management of this season’s orange roughy fishery in “any meaningful way”. “If the science is correct, we’ve just invited New Zealand based boats and crews to catch these fish, do decades-lasting damage to our diminished orange roughy stocks and our deep-sea coral reefs, and ship almost all their catch straight to the US and Europe,” he said. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Karli Thomas, a New Zealand-based ocean advocate with the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, said deep-sea trawling put fish and other species, including deep-sea corals, at risk. She said orange roughy was already a species that was known to be vulnerable and easily overfished. “If you look at the state of the stocks and the concerning science that’s coming out of New Zealand, no country would let New Zealand trawlers into their country to be trawling for this species,” she said. “It’s going to be very urgent that other stocks get assessed because this information about the basics of a life cycle of a species has implications for anywhere that it’s fished.” A spokesperson for the AFMA cautioned that the data was specific to one orange roughy stock on the east coast of New Zealand. “There are often regional differences in life history characteristics for fish stocks, so the findings should not be considered applicable to all other orange roughy stocks,” the spokesperson said. They said there had been comprehensive data collection for orange roughy stocks in Australian since the 1990s and over many years it had shown that most of the fish that were gathering to breed were between 20 and 40 years old. “The life history characteristics of fish stocks are routinely reviewed and, if necessary, updated,” they said. Orange roughy in Australia have been managed under a stock rebuilding strategy since 2006 to allow populations to recover from historical overfishing. The populations are managed as six stocks. The two stocks that are considered sustainable have catch limits in place. Targeted fishing of the remaining four stocks is prohibited. The AFMA spokesperson said the authority approved “an application for one New Zealand boat to be deemed as an Australian vessel to fish for orange roughy on the Cascade Plateau and the east coast of Tasmania in 2022”. They said it was subject to catch limits and would also “contribute to our understanding of these stocks by collecting important biological and acoustic data to inform future assessment models”. | ['environment/fishing', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/fish', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/tasmania', 'world/newzealand', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-06-24T20:00:55Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
sport/2020/oct/05/england-cricket-winter-tours-sri-lanka-south-africa-india | England's winter tours shaping up although Sri Lanka trip in balance | The England and Wales Cricket Board is working to ensure its national teams can tour this winter but the proposed Test series in Sri Lanka is proving troublesome amid concerns over the country’s quarantine rules. Talks with South Africa over a six-match, white-ball tour for Eoin Morgan’s men next month are currently at an advanced stage, while there is an agreement in place for Heather Knight’s women’s side to travel to New Zealand in February. But there is less clarity as regards the men’s tours to Sri Lanka and India from January onwards, with the former seemingly contingent on a change of policy from its government and the latter now one of the epicentres of the global pandemic. Teams who visited England this summer technically quarantined in the on-site cricket ground hotels in Manchester, Derby and Worcester but, thanks to the ECB’s government-approved biosecure protocols, they could still train during this period. Sri Lanka have thus far been unable to secure a similar exemption, however, with Bangladesh cancelling a three-match Test series this month after balking at the prospect of players isolating in hotel rooms for 14 days upon arrival. Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said: “We are working to ensure the business of international cricket keeps going. [But] the Bangladesh tour to Sri Lanka is an understandable situation for the Bangladeshi team; two weeks of quarantine is not an easy thing to agree to for players and I don’t think we would agree to that either. “We will not sign off on plans we’re not comfortable with, in terms of our No 1 priority: the health and wellbeing of players and staff on these tours.” Professor Nick Peirce, the ECB’s chief medical officer, insists on-site hotels at grounds are not a prerequisite – the South Africa trip may well see England stay in one Cape Town hotel and commute to matches at Newlands and Paarl – but fears how a strict quarantine period would affect the mental health of the players. The rising number of Covid cases in the UK does not help the case for an exemption and it may be that a neutral venue is sought. The United Arab Emirates, currently hosting the Indian Premier League, is already being talked about for the India tour that follows, even if the BCCI remains hopeful that the situation at home will improve. The ECB must be seen to be doing its bit after its own season was saved by West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Australia travelling to England. And while uncertainty reigns as regards the 2021 home summer, when India’s men arrive for five Tests, the hope is that the biosecure model can be relaxed due to both the exorbitant costs and the demands it places on those involved. The ECB spent around £1m on Covid-19 testing alone this year – some 10,000 tests were done at a cost of £100 each – amid losses in excess of £100m due to the pandemic. Harrison admitted he was drawing up contingency plans for similar financial pain next year, with all eyes on the winter sports as regards the return of crowds. | ['sport/england-cricket-team', 'sport/ecb', 'sport/sri-lanka-cricket-team', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ali-martin', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/ecb | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2020-10-05T18:04:37Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2017/sep/22/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-dam | Puerto Rico evacuates 70,000 after dam fails in Hurricane Maria's wake | Officials are rushing to evacuate tens of thousands of people from their homes in western Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria inflicted structural damage on a dam and unleashed “extremely dangerous” flash floods. Some 70,000 residents in the municipalities of Isabela and Quebradillas were being evacuated by bus after a crack appeared in the nearly 90-year old Guajataca dam. “It’s a structural failure. I don’t have any more details,” Governor Ricardo Rossello said from the capital, San Juan. “We’re trying to evacuate as many people as possible.” “This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. Buses are currently evacuating people from the area as quickly as they can,” the US National Weather Service tweeted on Friday . In a later message, the NWS tweeted: “All Areas surrounding the Guajataca River should evacuate NOW. Their lives are in DANGER! Please SHARE!” More than 15in (nearly 40cm) of rain has fallen on the mountains surrounding the Guajataca dam, swelling the reservoir behind the nearly 90-year-old dam, which holds back a manmade lake covering about two square miles (five square kilometres). An engineer inspecting the dam reported a “contained breach” that officials quickly realized was a crack and could be the first sign of total failure of the dam, said Anthony Reynes, a meteorologist with the US National Weather Service. “There’s no clue as to how long or how this can evolve. That is why the authorities are moving so fast, because they also have the challenges of all the debris. It is a really, really dire situation,” Reynes said. “They are trying to mobilize all the resources they can, but it’s not easy. We really don’t know how long it would take for this failure to become a full break of the dam.” The scale of the damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria is only just beginning to emerge, partly because communications to outlying areas of the island were severely hampered by the storm. A government spokesman, Carlos Bermudez, said officials had no communication with 40 of the 78 municipalities on the island more than two days after the category 5 storm crossed the island, toppling power lines and cell phone towers and sending floodwaters cascading through city streets. Maj Gen Derek P Rydholm, deputy to the chief of the air force reserve, said at the Pentagon that it was impossible to say when communication and power would be restored. He said mobile communications systems were being flown in but acknowledged “it’s going to take a while” before people in Puerto Rico will be able to communicate with their families outside the island. Until Friday, he said, “there was no real understanding at all of the gravity of the situation”. Maria was the second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month and the strongest storm to hit the US territory in nearly 90 years. It completely knocked out the island’s power, and several rivers hit record flood levels. Officials on the island said on Friday that six people had been confirmed killed by the storm: three died in landslides in Utuadno, in the island’s mountainous center; two drowned in flooding in Toa Baja, west of San Juan; and one died in Bayamón, also near San Juan, after being struck by a panel. Earlier news media reports had the death toll on the island as high as 15. “At the moment, these are fatalities we know of. We know of other potential fatalities through unofficial channels that we haven’t been able to confirm,” said Héctor Pesquera, the government’s secretary of public safety. | ['us-news/puerto-rico', 'world/hurricane-maria', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'world/caribbean', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-09-22T20:55:57Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2017/dec/18/christmas-emojis-younger-people-wrapping-paper | Are the days of Christmas wrapping paper and cards over? | Phoebe-Jane Boyd | Since early life crawled out of the sludge and decided it would like to continue crawling, prising shiny shells open to get to their inner goodness (fruit/seeds/viscera) has been an unbreakable habit for the living – we can’t help it. We love opening things; banana peels, packets of biscuits, envelopes that look like they don’t have bills in them. And so comes Christmas with shiny boxes to be opened, full of promised goodness for our continuing survival; in many cases, instead of life-giving nutrients, it’s regifted candles from the neighbours. But even now, away from the primordial grime, the message of “this looks good, it might contain good things if I open it” whirrs away in our lizard brains. Psychologically, so the theory goes, the shine of the shell matters. Candle regift hastily handed over in an old plastic bag? It sucks. But if the candle comes to you in shiny wrapping, with ribbons, and a handwritten glittery card … those neighbours; they tried, they care. It’s worth something. Even if it’s the same candle you gave them last year. Yet fewer people are interested in buying wrapping paper and cards for the gifts they give at Christmas. A study from the retail analysts Mintel shows that the Shiny Shell of Worth idea isn’t holding up with 25- to 34-year-olds in particular – only 49% still send cards, with one in three believing social media to be just dandy for forwarding their Christmas wishes. Half of us in the UK would also choose to get our presents with no wrapping at all. Who needs a stamp for a card when you can text over two snowmen emoji and a Christmas tree, an additional snowflake if you fancy, an accompanying message with correct spelling, maybe. And a lot of us are happy with that, Sky Ocean Rescue finding that 46% would rather receive a digital greeting than a paper card. Things are changing, partly due to green gifting concerns. No to unrecyclable glitter cards and paper the council will leave behind, so less waste. Perhaps there’s also a move away from the superficiality that can come with Christmas, a feeling that the love you have for your giftee just isn’t possible to sum up with three-for-two rolls of mass-produced reindeer paper. But the more crotchety among us might call it laziness or a lack of care instead. Maybe millennials just don’t want to put in the effort previous generations did, and prefer to send their texts and unwrapped Amazon parcels because it’s easy and instant. Maybe it’s a symptom of 25- to 34-year-olds not understanding the value of giving; that Christmas, a time that used to be about goodwill etc, doesn’t mean that much any more. And maybe one of the other findings from the research – that 55% of those surveyed don’t like to bother with the hassle of going shopping for gifts in store – would back that up. But if you can remember growing up in a home stocked with cheap multipack boxes of generic Christmas cards for tit-for-tat posting, the growing preference for text messaging and online shopping doesn’t seem so lazy or meaningless in comparison. What’s more pointless and fake than a cardboard “Happy Christmas” delivered through a door just because the other person did it first? Or those awful annual missives smug families send to detail their successes over the last year – nobody really likes receiving those, because they’re terrible. Especially if there’s a picture of them wearing Santa hats on the front, especially if the card’s co-signed by the family pet. It’s not possible to create something that twee and asinine in a text or tweet format – and isn’t that something to be thankful for? The Mintel study also showed that as sales of those old multipacks of cards are going down, more is being spent on individual cards – those chosen with a specific recipient in mind and picked with genuine care. As senior retail analyst Samantha Dover said of the results: “In a digital world where the tangible is vanishing, consumers are increasingly elevating the value of physical goods and the emotional attachment to sending and receiving.” If you wrap it nicely, it’s because the person it’s for is worth it. And if you haven’t wrapped it, it’s the giving that’s meaningful. So, just as it’s always been, then: a shiny shell is just that, it’s what’s at its core that’s nourishing and good. • Phoebe-Jane Boyd is an online media company content editor | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'lifeandstyle/christmas', 'tone/comment', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'society/youngpeople', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/phoebe-jane-boyd', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-12-18T16:23:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
business/2022/aug/10/britain-crises-one-thing-in-common-failure-to-invest-cost-of-living-drought-covid | Britain’s crises have one thing in common: a failure to invest | Larry Elliott | The government is drawing up contingency plans for power cuts this winter as it finally wakes up to the reality of what the next few months will bring. Britain has a cost of living crisis. It also has a housing crisis and an energy crisis. Weeks without rain in southern England mean there is a looming drought crisis. The NHS is only one serious Covid-19 outbreak away from crunch point. These crises are all distinct and special in their own way but they also have a common theme: a failure to invest stretching back decades. An obsession with efficiency has meant infrastructure has been run into the ground rather than upgraded. Cost-cutting has been given a higher priority than capacity building. Take the NHS. International comparisons show Britain has one of the lowest number of hospital beds for each head of population of any western country, a smaller number of intensive care beds, and one of the highest bed occupancy rates. Problems with this seat-of-the-pants approach were brutally exposed by the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. Or take water. Since 1990 the population of the UK has risen by about 10 million to 67 million but not a single new reservoir has been built in the past three decades. More than 200,000 miles of water pipes date back to Victorian times yet the water companies are replacing them at a rate of 0.05% a year. That compares with a European average of 0.5%. Then there’s the state of the country’s housing stock. A report by the energy firm EDF found almost 60% of 21m homes in England and Wales only met insulation standards of the mid-1970s or earlier – costing households up to £930 a year in higher energy bills. In the early 1970s, the lights went out when the miners went on strike. If they go out again this winter it will be because there is not enough domestic capacity and supplies of imported energy are insufficient to meet demand. Britain is, of course, not the only country facing the possibility of energy shortages. Germany, for example, is much more heavily exposed to the whims of Vladimir Putin. Even so, there is a pattern here – one in which a misguided belief that everything will turn out well in the end has taken the place of long-term planning and strategic investment. Let’s be clear, this is not only a government problem. Britain has the lowest rate of business investment of any G7 country and one reason for that is the private sector has tended to prefer dividend payouts and share buy-backs to higher spending on new kit. Muddling through is the country’s default setting. The lack of any real slack in the system only really become apparent in times of national emergency. Like now, for instance. What can the UK learn from the US’s battle with inflation? Inflation in the UK is still some way short of its peak but in the US there are signs it might have topped out. The latest data from the world’s biggest economy showed the headline measure of the annual increase in the cost of living falling from 9.1% to 8.5%, while core inflation – excluding energy and food – remained unchanged at 5.9%. Both measures were lower than analysts had been expecting and the news had a predictable effect: shares on Wall Street rallied strongly on hopes that the Federal Reserve – America’s central bank – would ease back on the pace of interest rate increases. There is certainly a case for the Fed to do just that. The US economy contracted in both the first two quarters of 2022 and a falling participation rate is evidence that demand for labour is softening. But the Fed’s chairman – Jerome Powell – is going to take more convincing that the battle is won. Interest rates will still go up again next month, although probably by 0.5 percentage points rather than 0.75 points. Wall Street is expecting borrowing costs to be increased twice more before the end of the year, taking them to approximately 4%. Paul Volcker, the former Fed chairman, who in the early 1980s engineered a monster recession to squeeze inflation out of the system, would no doubt be impressed by his successor’s determination. Powell says he wants to see a period in which the US grows at a below potential rate and he is at risk of over-delivering. By this time next year, it is likely the Fed will be more concerned about rising unemployment than inflation. That holds true for the Bank of England too. | ['business/series/viewpointcolumn', 'business/utilities', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/cost-of-living-crisis', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'society/nhs', 'environment/water', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'environment/drought', 'environment/environment', 'business/inflation', 'business/useconomy', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/larryelliott', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-08-10T13:54:27Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2021/jul/01/nowhere-is-safe-say-scientists-as-extreme-heat-causes-chaos-in-us-and-canada | Nowhere is safe, say scientists as extreme heat causes chaos in US and Canada | Climate scientists have said nowhere is safe from the kind of extreme heat events that have hit the western US and Canada in recent days and urged governments to dramatically ramp up their efforts to tackle the escalating climate emergency. The devastating “heat dome” has caused temperatures to rise to almost 50C in Canada and has been linked to hundreds of deaths, melted power lines, buckled roads and wildfires. Experts say that as the climate crisis pushes global temperatures higher, all societies – from northern Siberia to Europe, Asia to Australia – must prepare for more extreme weather events. Sir David King, the former UK chief scientific adviser, said: “Nowhere is safe … who would have predicted a temperature of 48/49C in British Columbia?” King, who along with other leading scientists set up the Climate Crisis Advisory Group earlier this month, said scientists had been warning about extreme weather events for decades and now time was running out to take action. “The risks have been understood and known for so long and we have not acted, now we have a very narrow timeline for us to manage the problem,” he said. In Canada experts have been shocked by the rise in temperature, which on Tuesday hit 49.6C (121.1F) in the town of Lytton, British Columbia, smashing the national record for the third day in a row. On the US west coast, Seattle and Portland have registered consecutive days of exceptional heat. Local authorities said they were investigating about a dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon that could be attributed to the scorching temperatures. Michael E Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University and author of The New Climate War, said as the planet warmed up such dangerous weather events would become more common. “We should take this very seriously … You warm up the planet, you’re going to see an increased incidence of heat extremes.” Mann said the climate was being destabilised in part by the dramatic warming of the Arctic and said existing climate models were failing to capture the scale of what was happening. “Climate models are actually underestimating the impact that climate change is having on events like the unprecedented heatwave we are witnessing out west right now,” he added. On Wednesday the US president, Joe Biden, blamed the climate crisis for the heatwave in the western US and Canada which officials said had already broken 103 heat records across British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories. The US National Weather Service said the peak in the region was 42.2 C on Tuesday in Spokane, Washington, another local record. About 9,300 homes lost power and the local utility Avista Utilities said planned blackouts would be needed, affecting more than 200,000 people. In British Columbia (BC) at least 486 sudden deaths were reported over five days during the heatwave. The chief coroner said typically there would have been about 165 sudden deaths, suggesting more than 300 deaths could be attributed to the heat. “While it is too early to say with certainty how many of these deaths are heat related, it is believed likely that the significant increase in deaths reported is attributable to the extreme weather BC has experienced and continues to impact many parts of our province,” Lisa Lapointe said in a statement. Lapointe said the figures were preliminary and would increase as coroners in communities across the province entered other death reports into the agency’s system. “Our thoughts are with people who have lost loved ones,” said Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, warning the blistering temperatures in a region of the country ill-prepared for such heat was a reminder of the need to address the climate crisis. Police sergeant Steve Addison said: “I’ve been a police officer for 15 years and I’ve never experienced the volume of sudden deaths that have come in such a short period of time.” Many of those who died over the five-day period were elderly people who lived alone and were found in residences that were hot and not well ventilated. “People can be overcome by the effects of extreme heat quickly and may not be aware of the danger,” Lapointe said. Scientists said that the scale of the heatwave in the US and Canada should serve as a “wake-up call” to policymakers, politicians and communities around the world, especially in the buildup to the crucial UN Cop26 climate summit to be hosted by the UK in November. “The risk of heatwaves is increasing across the globe sufficiently rapidly that it is now bringing unprecedented weather and conditions to people and societies that have not seen it before,” said Prof Peter Stott from the Met Office. “Climate change is taking weather out of the envelope that societies have long experienced.” Prof Simon Lewis of University College London described the situation as “scary” and warned that extreme heat events could have huge impacts on everything from food prices to power supplies. “Everywhere is going to have to think about how to deal with these new conditions and the extremes that come along with the new climate that we are creating. That means everyone needs plans.” He said it was crucial governments and policymakers heeded the warning signs and dramatically ramped up plans to halt fossil fuel emissions and prepare societies to deal with more extreme weather events. “This is a warning in two senses,” said Lewis. “We have to get emissions down to zero fast to cut off the new extreme heatwaves, and we have to adapt to the new climate conditions we are creating.” | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'world/canada', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/environment', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'profile/leyland-cecco', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2021-07-01T15:35:57Z | true | EMISSIONS |
news/2015/sep/16/weatherwatch-gardner-etau-cyclone-japan-spain-italy-monsoon-india | Baseball hail, floods and lightning strikes | In parts of east Japan, over the past week, tropical cyclone Etau has been causing devastation. The storm made landfall early last Thursday but the effects are still being felt, with torrential rain, channelled by mountainous terrain, leading to severe flooding and landslides. The heaviest rainfall was observed in Tochigi prefecture where more than 650mm (25in) was recorded in a 24-hour period, well over twice the average monthly total for September. The northwest Pacific region gets on average 26 named tropical storms annually, with Etau the 20th so far in the 2015 season. In the first week of the month unusually stormy conditions affected many Mediterranean countries. An intense thunderstorm crossed the central Italian peninsula on 5 September sending down baseball-sized hail on Naples. In southern regions of Spain the clean-up is still underway after persistent torrential rain led to flooding. The town of Adra, in the province of Almería, was one of the worst affected areas; cars were washed away and buildings were damaged by water levels above half a metre in the main streets. Lightning strikes associated with the Indian monsoon rains killed more than 30 people in the south-east of India during the evening of 6 September. Those killed were said mainly to have been farm labourers working in the fields. Although an event of this severity is rare, lightning strikes are common in the Indian monsoon, from June to September, as a reversal of the prevailing winds brings onshore winds and rising air over the continent, causing torrential downpours. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/meteorology', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/flooding', 'world/landslides', 'world/japan', 'world/india', 'world/italy', 'world/spain', 'world/europe-news', 'world/asia-pacific', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'world/world', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-09-16T20:30:09Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2021/aug/27/air-pollution-linked-to-more-severe-mental-illness-study | Air pollution linked to more severe mental illness – study | Exposure to air pollution is linked to an increased severity of mental illness, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind. The research, involving 13,000 people in London, found that a relatively small increase in exposure to nitrogen dioxide led to a 32% increase in the risk of needing community-based treatment and an 18% increase in the risk of being admitted to hospital. The researchers said the findings were likely to apply to most cities in developed nations, and cutting air pollution could benefit millions of people. “Air pollution is modifiable, and on a big scale as well, reducing population-level exposure,” said Joanne Newbury, of the University of Bristol, part of the research team. “We know there are interventions that can be used, such as expanding low-emission zones. Mental health interventions at the individual level are actually quite difficult.” The study used the frequency of admission to hospital or visits to community doctors and nurses as a measure of severity. The researchers calculated that a small reduction in one pollutant alone could reduce illness and save the NHS tens of millions a year. Levels of air pollution in London have fallen in recent years but there is no safe level, said Ioannis Bakolis, of King’s College London, who led the research. “Even at low levels of air pollution, you can observe this kind of very important effect.” Recent research has shown that small increases in air pollution are linked to significant rises in depression and anxiety. It has also linked dirty air to increased suicides and indicated that growing up in polluted places increases the risk of mental disorders. Other research has found that air pollution causes a “huge” reduction in intelligence and is linked to dementia. A global review in 2019 concluded that air pollution may be damaging every organ in the human body. The new study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, tracked patients in south London from their first contact with mental health services and used high-resolution estimates of air pollution at their homes. The quarterly average NO2 levels in the study area varied by between 18 and 96 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³). The researchers found that people exposed to 15µg/m³ higher levels of pollution had an 18% higher risk of being admitted to hospital and a 32% higher risk of needing outpatient treatment after a year. The link was strongest for NO2, which is largely emitted by diesel vehicles, but was also significant for small particle pollution, which is produced by burning all fossil fuels. The small particle levels varied from 9 to 25 µg/m³ and an increased exposure of 3 units increased hospital admission risk by 11% and outpatient treatment risk by 7%. The scientists assessed the patient data again seven years after the first treatment and found the link to air pollution was still apparent. The findings were not explained by a range of possible other factors including age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation or population density, although unidentified factors might still play an important role. “Identifying modifiable risk factors for illness severity and relapse could inform early intervention efforts and reduce the human suffering and high economic costs caused by long-term chronic mental illness,” the researchers said. The study was not designed to prove a causal link between air pollution and the severity of mental illness – that requires difficult experimental work. But the link is “biologically plausible”, the researchers said, as air pollutants are known to have potent inflammatory properties and inflammation is believed to be a factor in psychotic and mood disorders. The World Bank has estimated that air pollution costs the global economy $5tn a year, but this includes only the well-known damage caused to heart and lungs. “Cost evaluations currently only factor in physical health, but we’re seeing more studies demonstrating links with mental health,” said Newbury. “We think it can be important to include these, because it could tip the scales and make it clearer that investing in reducing air pollution is cost-effective.” The researchers estimated that reducing the exposure of the UK’s urban population to small particle pollution alone by just a few units, to the World Health Organization’s annual limit of 10µg/m³, would cut the use of mental health services by about 2% and save tens of millions of pounds each year. Prof Kevin McConway of the Open University, who was not part of the study team, said: “This is a good study. The statistical analysis is generally appropriate [and] does increase confidence that there’s at least some element of cause and effect in the association between pollution and mental health. “But it’s not easy for people to avoid pollution. Reducing air pollution in cities needs communal action on a broad scale.” A separate new study has shown that heart attacks rise as the level of air pollution rises. The research examined data from southern Lombardy in Italy, an area with 1.5 million inhabitants. Francesca Gentile, of the IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation in Pavia, said: “The results could be used to predict the incidence of this life-threatening condition [and] improve health service efficiency by being factored into ambulance forecasting models and warning systems.” The study was presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2021 congress. • This article was amended on 27 August 2021 to correct the roles of Joanne Newbury and Ioannis Bakolis. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/pollution', 'society/mental-health', 'science/medical-research', 'environment/environment', 'society/health', 'science/science', 'society/society', 'uk/london', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2021-08-27T11:26:16Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
world/2016/dec/23/brazil-budget-uncontacted-amazon-tribe-risk-indigenous | Brazil budget cuts put uncontacted Amazon tribe at risk, say activists | An uncontacted Amazon tribe could be at risk as Brazil makes austerity-driven budget cuts and proposals for constitutional change affecting land rights move through parliament, campaigners have said. The tribe were photographed from a helicopter by Ricardo Stuckert this month near the border with Peru. “These are dark times if you’re an indigenous person in Brazil,” said Fiona Watson, a field director at the London-based human rights organisation Survival International. “For the people in those photos the biggest threat is the loggers and drug traffickers on the Peru side. That’s the immediate, visceral threat. But the other threat is thousands of miles away in [Brazil’s] congress.” The prospect of budget cuts to the governmental body tasked with protecting indigenous people, Funai, could be the “writing on the wall” for the tribe and the 102 other such uncontacted groups in Brazil, Watson said. The UN special rapporteur for indigenous rights said this week that federal funding for the department had all but dried up, leaving staff overworked and dealing with a backlog of cases. Indigenous rights groups are also concerned by PEC 215, a proposed constitutional amendment working its ways through congress that campaigners say could threaten the land rights of indigenous people. But Watson, who has lived in the Amazon rainforest and has met members of previously uncontacted peoples, said she believed the tribe could still thrive. The people live in a very remote part of the rainforest and the Acre state government is relatively sympathetic to indigenous people’s rights. Stuckert and José Carlos Meirelles, a tribes expert with the Acre government, who was also on the helicopter, reported that the estimated 300 members of the tribe appeared healthy. While Watson admitted that little was known about the tribe, the photographs showed a substantial and well-made house, gardens and crops. The bows and arrows carried mean the tribe almost certainly hunts for meat. “I imagine hunting is pretty good in that area – tapir, capybaras, wild pigs, probably deer, monkey. They probably do some fishing as well, they probably eat shellfish and crabs.” The tribe is likely to be semi-nomadic, said Watson. The people fired arrows at the helicopter. “They’re messages. Those arrows mean ‘leave us in peace, do not disturb’,” Meirelles told National Geographic. “I think it’s clear that they want to remain uncontacted,” said Watson. “One can speculate that they are the descendants of the people who escaped the rubber boom in that area 100 years ago, and have an awareness of the outside world.” In some cases, uncontacted groups have been driven into making contact owing to other pressures. In 2014, previously uncontacted tribesmen were filmed after they crossed into Brazil from Peru and told people they had been driven out of their forest home by people presumed to be drug traffickers. The situation is reportedly worse for tribes over the border in Peru, where Survival International estimated there are 15-20 uncontacted groups. “We know there is a huge amount of illegal logging and drug trafficking, and it’s pretty much out of control in Peru,” said Watson. Brazil’s policy is to leave tribes alone unless they approach the outside world. But before 1987, the policy was to contact such people, in what Watson called a “paternalistic, we know best” attitude, rather than leaving them to self-determination. The results, as people were exposed to viruses such as flu for the first time, were often catastrophic. “There were disastrous contacts where well over 90% of a tribe died within a month of coming into contact: the Panará people, the Matis people, the Awá people,” said Watson. In July this year, the Brazilian government rejected calls from two US anthropologists to rethink its policy of contact. | ['world/indigenous-peoples', 'world/brazil', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'world/americas', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/forests', 'world/world', 'environment/land-rights', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-vaughan', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/amazon-rainforest | BIODIVERSITY | 2016-12-23T14:48:54Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2019/oct/22/chart-topper-jeremy-marou-says-its-time-for-him-to-speak-up-on-climate-impacts-in-torres-strait | Chart topper Jeremy Marou says it's time for him to speak up on climate impacts in Torres Strait | Jeremy Marou hadn’t been back to the Torres Straits for 12 years – long enough to meet Tom Busby in a Rockhampton pub, form a band called Busby Marou, sign to a major label and produce four albums. But a trip with Busby to Murray Island in June, and then another on his own last month to tiny Masig Island, has shaken the 36-year-old musician. “They are losing their burial sites, streets and shops,” Marou tells Guardian Australia. “Dead set I don’t know how many times I almost came to tears. It just blew me away how serious the rising sea levels are affecting the straits.” Marou has has been forced to a conclusion that he struggles to articulate. A duty to become a voice. “I guess now I have been up there, I’m feeling it’s expected of me. It’s a role I need to take – I need to step up. We have stayed away from being a political band, but this affects my homeland and my family,” he says. Marou’s father, Segar Marou, left Murray Island in his early 20s and settled in Rockhampton, where Jeremy was born. As a child, there were the occasional trips back home to Murray Island. But Marou’s father died young. Although seemingly strong and healthy, the 53-year-old collapsed during a family game of touch football. Marou was 19. Busby Marou’s fourth studio album – The Great Divide – was released in September. The band’s previous album – Postcards from the Shell House – debuted at number one in the ARIA album chart. In June, the band went to Murray Island to get closer to Marou’s musical influences, and record a film to go with a new single, Naba Norem – meaning “let’s go to the reef” in the Meriam language. “It’s not a coral cay so the impacts [of sea level rise] aren’t as bad there, but my uncles pointed out some areas to me where my dad used to play, and where there used to be grassy banks. It was mind blowing.” A few weeks later and Marou was back in the straits, working on a Queensland government project to find ways that tiny Masig Island could adopt lower-emissions technologies or renewable energy. His role is “not to be a guy from a band or a bureaucrat”, he says, but to be a friendly face to break down a few barriers. “That was a real eye opener to see how it’s affecting those low lying islands,” he says. “One old guy just said they were becoming sad, and they were having mental health issues because they are watching their islands fading away. It’s like a cancer eating at them. It breaks my heart to listen to these stories. These people are so connected to their country. “There are not too many high profile people coming out of there, so I’m feeling like I should step up. I feel like I’m responsible for being a voice for the Torres Straits.” Since starting the band in 2007, Marou says they’ve been busy “writing music and trying to be rock stars” and were “oblivious” to the impacts in the Torres Strait. “In the past, we have been scared to mention global warming” he says. “On Masig island, one side where they get the northerlies their roads are totally gone now. On Mabuiag, if they get a tidal surge or a low at the same time as a king tide, houses are going under water and burial sites are going under water. “One thing we know for certain is that sea levels are rising. Yes, it’s climate change.” According to a climate change resilience plan developed for the Torres Straits, the island is seeing sea levels rising at between 6 and 8 millimetres per year – at least double the global average. “I try to be realistic about this,” says Marou. “I’m from central Queensland where the economy has relied on mining, so shutting down mine sites won’t fix that beach, or stop those houses going under water. “The sea levels are rising and there are always climate shifts. But I have no doubt though that human influence is speeding up the process. I’m still learning a lot. I certainly believe in global warming and we have definitely sped things up.” Marou says locals told him they could fix some of the erosion issues “with some excavators and some sand” but were frustrated at what they felt was government bureaucracy getting in the way. In 2016, islands in the western portion of the Torres Strait group were hit with severe coral bleaching caused by the same rising ocean temperatures that bleached large sections of the northern Great Barrier Reef. “They live off the reef,” says Marou. “Murray Island is surrounded by reefs and if the reef dies, the island dies because the reef protects the island.” He said he was shocked at the rubbish that comes up onto the reef and beaches on ocean currents, in particular so-called “ghost nets” – discarded fishing nets from commercial boats that get caught on reefs and entangle wildlife. “It’s just insane. It make me so angry,” he says. “Both Tom and I are passionate in raising awareness of what’s going on up there. It’s houses and grave sites under water, but people down in Sydney have no idea what’s going on. “We’re not a third world country and I found that aspect of it extremely sad.” | ['global/torres-strait-islands', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/sea-level', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/sea-level | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-10-21T17:00:39Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2022/nov/17/after-mike-cannon-brookes-shake-up-agl-now-faces-the-challenge-of-pivoting-away-from-power-stations | After Mike Cannon-Brookes’ shake-up, AGL now faces the challenge of pivoting away from power stations | Tristan Edis | Mike Cannon-Brookes and his collaborators have succeeded in sending shock waves throughout the boardrooms of major companies around Australia. His campaign, via shareholder activism, has resulted in a mass clean-out of the board of directors of Australia’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, AGL Energy. Perhaps more importantly it has resulted in AGL management substantially accelerating their exit out of coal. AGL’s decision to close Loy Yang A power station by 2035 probably helped precipitate the decision of the Victorian Labor party (facing an election on 26 November) to commit to seeing all coal power closed by 2035, and an expansion of renewable energy to 90% of the state’s power supply. Critically, board directors and chief executives of other major Australian companies can now see clearly that if they fail to take climate change issues seriously, they risk an investor backlash that could put them out of a job. Some environmentalists will still remain unsatisfied because AGL’s current climate transition plan is not consistent with an emissions reduction pathway to contain global warming to 1.5C. While Cannon-Brookes has succeeded in getting all four of his board nominees elected, significant challenges remain in the way of a further acceleration in coal closure. The Russian-induced spike in the international prices of gas and coal has flowed through to Australian power prices. Because AGL’s Bayswater and Loy Yang A power stations receive coal that is not tied to international prices, these power plants are likely to be incredibly profitable right now. For how long international prices remain elevated is difficult to predict, but as the profits flow through to financial results, it will be hard to persuade a majority of AGL shareholders to bring forward the closure dates. The other issue is that there are genuine constraints and uncertainties surrounding the expansion of renewable energy in this country. The process for connecting new solar and wind power plants to the grid is not working well. Many large projects over the past two years were physically completed but then left for months either idle or heavily constrained. New transmission lines are also necessary but they are expensive, time consuming and can face significant community resistance. There are also disputes over who should pay for them. Thankfully, Australia is not the only country looking to rapidly expand the use of wind and solar power, and batteries and electric vehicles. But this has meant prices have risen and wait times on orders have blown out. We also need more people, particularly those skilled in electrical engineering as well as software. Within a five-year time frame, things look very difficult. But over a 10-year period it will become far easier – provided we maintain a concerted and coordinated effort. It’s not the AGL board’s job to solve these problems – that needs to be led by governments. Instead, they need to consider how to profitably respond. This isn’t as simple as just building lots of new renewable energy power plants and batteries. Households and businesses are adding solar to their rooftops at a rapid pace. In the near future, it’s likely they will also begin adding large energy storage devices within their cars which can discharge power into the grid (known as vehicle to grid). Given we sell around 1m new cars a year, and assuming they each could export the same amount of power as a typical solar system – 5kW – that’s an additional 5,000MW of dispatchable power every year. That’s more capacity than AGL’s Loy Yang A and Bayswater combined. The Victorian and Queensland state governments are proposing to build and own several thousand megawatts of their own generation. While superannuation funds are also keen to invest in new renewable energy. The future for companies like AGL is in software and trading rather than power stations. In 10 years many people will own more power capacity on their roof and their car than they can possibly make use of. To make good use of this spare capacity will require someone who can effectively coordinate it in a way that makes this appealing and easy for the customer. History suggests most companies fail in such major strategic pivots against less experienced but more technologically savvy new entrants. So the new refreshed board faces a very challenging task. • Tristan Edis is a director with energy advisory firm Green Energy Markets | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'business/agl', 'australia-news/mike-cannon-brookes', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'business/business', 'australia-news/business-australia', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/coal', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/windpower', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/tristan-edis', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-opinion'] | environment/coal | ENERGY | 2022-11-17T03:25:59Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2012/jun/10/sierra-leone-fortunes-change-diamonds | Sierra Leone fortunes change as diamond trade brings back investment | Lying in Sierra Leone's mineral-rich eastern belt, the Koidu Holdings diamond mine and others like it were once at the heart of the country's decade-long civil war. Six hours from the capital, Freetown, burned-out houses are testament to the conflict that coined the term "blood diamonds" as warring factions fought to control lucrative diamond fields. Now, the mine that served as a war chest for the rebels supplies the jeweller Tiffany's. It is at the heart of a remarkable turnaround that has lifted this nation of 5 million people to world-leading growth of 35% this year. "When the mine began operating in 2002, there were still 16,000 peacekeepers in the country. From an investment perspective, it was, basically, how much money are you prepared to lose," said the Koidu Holdings chief executive, Jan Joubert, who persuaded investors to put down $16m (£10.4m) back then. Joubert, who came to Sierra Leone in 1995 with the now defunct South African mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes, said the company planned to raise $1bn on top of a $300m expansion programme, and boost production to about 500kg of gemstones annually. The government hopes the burgeoning success of wildcat explorers will pave the way for big multinationals with deep pockets, allowing Sierra Leone to haul itself into the ranks of middle-income countries such as South Africa or Mexico. "There is no doubt mining can transform Sierra Leone's fortunes," said the finance minister, Samura Kamara. "Mining is bringing in a one-off increase [in GDP] this year but we have also made tremendous progress in improving the atmosphere for investment generally, and we are seeing that trickle down." Other companies are pouring money into a sector once associated with drug-crazed warlords. The Aim-listed African Minerals claims that the world's biggest magnetite mining operation will earn the government $92bn in royalties over a decade or so. Meanwhile, London Mining, in which the commodities group Glencore has an "offtake", or supply agreement, plans to more than treble its iron ore yields within a decade. Signs of money flooding in on the back of the mining boom are evident. Where peacekeepers once stood guard on the outskirts of Freetown, tractors are clawing huge chunks of red earth to connect satellite towns to the capital, where Chinese companies are widening cramped colonial-era roads designed for horse-drawn carts. The country's white sand and rainforest-enclosed beaches remain largely empty amid a lack of tourism infrastructure, although the Hilton group plans to open a hotel here. And Sierra Leone has jumped 15 places to 141 in the World Bank's 2012 Doing Business rankings, ahead of its neighbours. But the government has to negotiate a fraught path. There is an immense skills gap after an entire generation was denied basic education during the war, and high expectations have strained mining companies' relationships with their hosts. Not for the first time, the police faced down a knot of protesters at the official opening of London Mining's Marampa mine in Lunsar in April. Wrapped in red bandages, the protesters heckled officials as they wooed visiting dignitaries, forcing President Ernest Bai Koroma to appeal to the crowd. "There is too much talk from the president. Let him come work here every day for one week to see how it is," said one protester, Momo Kamara, who gave up sifting ankle-deep brown rivers for an elusive diamond in exchange for a $300-a-month salary with London Mining. "I could only find gold, but that was no use – it's for women to put food on the table or send one child to school," he said, adding that "a diamond or a bigger salary" was necessary for feeding his family of six. Other controversies have dogged the mining bonanza. Civil society groups have pressured the government into several successful contract renegotiations, including one that involved London Mining raising its tax payments to 25% from 6%. Critics worry underhand deals by lesser-known companies could deprive the country of millions in income. Still, across Africa, mineral-rich countries are pushing for tougher deals on mining concessions amid voracious demand led by China. The continent produces almost the entire global supply of cobalt, used in batteries and laptops, and a third of the US and China's mineral supplies. Guinea's president, Alpha Condé, recently overhauled mining laws to force companies to pay greater royalties. In Senegal, the former president Abdoulaye Wade championed the idea of a grouping of mineral-exporting countries based on the oil-exporting organisation, Opec. In neighbouring Niger, which supplies a tenth of the world's uranium, the government said it "cautiously welcomed" the idea of a pan-African body. But some think there are risks from resource-rich nationalism. "As an emerging economy we cannot afford to scare off investors," said Kamara. • This article was amended on 12 June 2012 to clarify the name of the Marampa mine and correct the month in which it was officially opened. | ['world/sierraleone', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'business/mining', 'world/africa', 'world/world', 'environment/mining', 'tone/news', 'world/blood-diamonds', 'global-development/natural-resources-and-development', 'global-development/global-development', 'type/article', 'profile/monica-mark', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2012-06-10T14:51:14Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2013/jul/19/nuclear-power-leaks-new-eu-push | Nuclear power: leaks show new EU push | The European Commission is considering a radical change in rules on state aid to nuclear power in a move that would make it easier to build new reactors in Britain. Draft documents show the proposals along with negative reactions from ministers in Berlin, who have abandoned nuclear in favour of renewables. The proposals, drawn up by the EU's Competition Commission after pressure from the UK and France and leaked in a German newspaper, are regarded as a work in progress and could yet be opposed by the influential German energy commissioner, Günther Oettinger. But Rebecca Harms, co-chair of the Green parties in the European parliament, alleged a pro-nuclear camp around Oettinger and competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia were "leading the charge" for a U-turn on energy policy. "The planned subsidy rules will supposedly make the construction of new nuclear power stations worthwhile again. Ailing nuclear groups are to be set back on the rails thanks to high state subsidies." The issue is most sensitive in Germany, where an autumn election is looming. Furthermore, the country has decided to phase out its old atomic power plants following the Fukushima accident in Japan. Berlin has instead set its face towards a major renewable power revolution. But the rethink will delight the UK and France, who are both heavily committed to new nuclear. The Department of Energy and Climate Change in London is currently negotiating with energy firm EDF about financial incentives that would encourage the French company to spend up to £14bn constructing new reactors, firstly at Hinkley Point in Somerset. It has already offered a £10bn financial "guarantee" and is negotiating a deal under which the power company would receive over 96p per megawatt hour over 35 years for the electrcity generated. Environmentalists have always claimed Brussels would refuse to accept any public subsidies to EDF but the draft energy document indicates this could change. | ['environment/nuclearpower', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/energy', 'world/eu', 'tone/news', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2013-07-19T18:18:11Z | true | ENERGY |
cities/2019/jun/07/barcelona-port-is-worst-in-europe-for-cruise-ship-air-pollution | Barcelona port is worst in Europe for cruise ship air pollution | The port of Barcelona, a city already overwhelmed by mass tourism, has topped a list of 50 European ports for the amount of air pollution produced there by cruise ships, according to a report. In 2017 cruise ships emitted 32.8 tonnes of sulphur oxide (SOx) in Barcelona, according to the research. Palma de Mallorca was the second most polluted, with 28 tonnes, followed by Venice with 27.5. Southampton, with 19.7 tonnes, was fifth on the list. Barcelona also leads in the amount of carcinogenic nitrogen oxide (NOx) particles the ships emit. Cruise ships account for 15% of the NOx emitted by all of Europe’s passenger vehicles. “Cities are, and with reason, banning diesel vehicles but at the same time are allowing free entry to cruise ship companies whose ships’ emissions cause immeasurable damage,” said Faig Abbasov, maritime coordinator of the NGO behind the report, Brussels-based Transport and Environment. Ships run on fuel oil, which contains about 2,000 times more sulphur oxide than ordinary diesel. The report claims that cruise ships docking in European ports produced 10 times more sulphur emissions than all the 260m cars in those countries combined. In the case of Barcelona, in 2017 cruise ships emitted nearly five times as much SOx as all the city’s cars. A recent report by the environmental group Ecologists in Action said toxic particles from the ships were detected as far as 249 miles (400km) from Barcelona’s port. The impact is exacerbated by ships leaving their engines running while in port. The city is Europe’s busiest cruise ship destination, with some 2.7 million passengers disembarking from 800 ships in 2017. On a single day last October, seven ships with 18,000 passengers and 6,000 crew were docked in the port. Environmental groups and residents associations in the city have campaigned for years for the numbers to be curbed. Last year, the Symphony of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, was met by protests when it arrived in Barcelona for its maiden voyage. Campaigners argue that not only are the ships endangering residents’ health, especially those who live near the port, they are a form of tourism that brings few benefits to the city. Most passengers visit the city for around five hours, spending an average of €57 each, and return to their ships at night. Gala Pin, a Barcelona councillor who represents the old city that adjoins the port, raised a few eyebrows last year when she compared cruise ship tourists to locusts. “In my opinion, we shouldn’t have this kind of tourism,” she said. “It’s like a plague of locusts. They devour the public space and then they leave.” While the city authorities have tried to limit the number of ships, they are good business for the port, which is managed by central government, not the city council. The International Maritime Organization limits the amount of sulphur in fuel oil to 3.5% and in 2020 a new limit of 0.5% will come into force. However, under the European Union’s clean air policy, the limit in the Mediterranean may be reduced to 0.1%. Under current rules, there is a policy of zero emissions while ships are docked in Baltic, North Sea and Channel ports, and there are plans to extend this to the Mediterranean. Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to join the discussion, catch up on our best stories or sign up for our weekly newsletter | ['cities/cities', 'world/spain', 'world/barcelona', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/pollution', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'environment/air-pollution', 'travel/cruises', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/stephen-burgen', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/cities'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-06-07T09:58:11Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2018/aug/02/a-lot-of-transparency-frydenberg-defends-444m-grant-to-small-reef-charity | 'A lot of transparency': Frydenberg defends $444m grant to small reef charity | The environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, has dismissed concerns about the Turnbull government’s decision to hand an unsolicited grant of $444m to a small Great Barrier Reef not-for-profit without a tender process. He has also rejected claims that the grant process lacked transparency, saying the process complied with governance guidelines on grants and the Australian Audit Office would be able to follow how the money was being spent. When asked if the Coalition would mind if a future Labor government handed $400m to an organisation without a tender process, Frydenberg said: “Well I tell you what, we would welcome that sort of commitment from the Labor party [to the Great Barrier Reef] because we never saw it when they were in office.” The Turnbull government is facing pressure to explain why it awarded nearly half a billion dollars to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation during a private meeting in April between the foundation’s chairman, John Schubert, prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and Frydenberg. The $443.8m grant was awarded without a competitive tender process or any application for the money, at a time when the foundation had just six full-time staff. A parliamentary inquiry has been examining the process by which the grant was awarded, with Labor and the Greens pressing the government to explain what was said in the private meeting in April. But Frydenberg has dismissed concerns about the grant process, saying the government did nothing wrong. “Firstly, we have complied with the governance guidelines on grants,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Thursday night. “We have reached an extensive partnership agreement with the foundation which is public. The Australian Audit Office will be able to follow the money, and there will continue to be close cooperation between the foundation, the federal government, and the Queensland government.” Asked if it was standard practice for the federal government to hand $400m to an organisation without any tender process or transparency, Frydenberg said the process had “a lot of transparency”. “I really think that this is being raised as a distraction from the government’s achievement in investing in the reef, as opposed to anything else,” he said. “This is the largest single investment via government in reef preservation and conservation and the only reason the Labor party is raising this is because they abandoned the reef when they were in office. “There is a lot of transparency. There is a public agreement. As I said, the Audit Office will continue to be able to follow the money, you’ve got compliance with the governance guidelines, it’s an organisation which the Labor party contributed to, and it has some of Australia’s leading scientists and those who are involved in philanthropic organisations, so it’s a very reputable partner for the commonwealth.” Frydenberg said his department had had more than 20 meetings with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation since April. | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australian-budget-2018', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/queensland', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/gareth-hutchens', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-08-02T11:44:36Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2018/aug/08/western-us-population-wildfires-risk-california | Huge rise of people at risk from wildfires as western US population grows | There’s been an enormous increase in the number of people at risk from wildfire in the western US in recent decades, with an estimated 6.7m homes now at significant risk from fires that are getting larger and more frequent. The population in wildfire-prone areas in California, Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and Nevada has exploded since 1940, when just 607,000 houses were in locations threatened by wildfires. The at-risk number of properties in the western US has grown since that time by more than 1,000% to 6.7m, according to recent research. The findings come as California is scorched by its largest wildfire on record, which has grown to more than 1,176 sq km (454 sq miles). There are seven other major fires in the state, causing several deaths and the deployment of more than 14,000 firefighters. “It’s a two-headed dragon where we’ve seen an increase in the number of large wildfires and a big increase in population in the worst wildfire areas,” said Stephen Strader, assistant professor of physical and environmental geography at Villanova University and author of the research. “We see everywhere that cities are enlarging, people are spreading out from the urban core. “In California, this growth is concentrated in areas prone to fire. The west is continuing to grow because of westward migration so this trend is going to continue,” Strader added. Last year, California’s population grew by nearly 300,000 people in 12 months, bringing it up to nearly 40 million people. Idaho was the fastest growing state for population last year, according to the US Census, with Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Arizona also experiencing large increases. At the same time, the number of large conflagrations in the west is climbing. Huge fires more than 1,000 acres in size are now more than 550% more frequent than in the 1970s and early 1980s. The fire season is growing in length due to warming temperatures, providing greater opportunity for dry vegetation to catch light. “Back in the 1940s, wildfires weren’t as big of a concern because there weren’t many people living in vulnerable areas,” said Strader. “Now you have mountainous areas that are becoming brand new sub divisions for communities. People with money are moving into beautiful regions and are finding that they are getting wildfires. “We are getting better at mitigating wildfires but that hasn’t really kept pace with the spread of cities. The cost is going up and up.” Some elected officials have advocated for changes to fire management techniques such as “thinning” out forests to get rid of dead, fire-prone trees. The US Forest Service has said, however, that fuel reduction activities aren’t sufficient to keep pace with the changes under way due to climate change. “There is no magic bullet to fix this issue,” said Strader. “There needs to be locally-driven fire programs, new building codes and more resilient homes. We sit idly by time and time again and we get disaster amnesia. We have to take some responsibility and think more about the risk of buying a home in a wildfire prone area, just like we need to think about the flooding risk on the coasts.” | ['world/wildfires', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/california', 'us-news/washington-state', 'us-news/oregon', 'us-news/idaho', 'us-news/nevada', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'us-news/west-coast', 'profile/oliver-milman', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-08-08T10:00:06Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
theguardian/2011/oct/24/kit-strange-obituary | Kit Strange obituary | My colleague Kit Strange, who has died suddenly aged 56, was an environmental consultant whose vision of waste as a potential resource has gradually taken hold of mainstream thinking. In 1993, he joined the World Resource Foundation as a journalist, and later took over the organisation and its publication, the Warmer Bulletin. He was director until 1999, raising the profile of the charity and pursuing his passion for making a case for more sustainable resource management. Then Kit founded his own consultancy, Residua. The Resource Recovery Forum had been started in the mid-1990s by a mix of people within industry and local government who were interested in the balance between material recycling and energy from waste. Kit was an early member, made suggestions in a quiet, informed way and brought together people or organisations doing interesting things. Residua became the secretariat for the RRF and it grew into an association of 300 organisations and individuals worldwide. Kit was in constant demand, speaking at conferences and sitting on advisory bodies. He was also secretary general of the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling & Sustainable Resource Management. RRF members typically received three or four emails a day on some element of global best practice. If you wanted some information, the reply was quick, wherever he was in the world. He was born Christopher Strange in Chichester, West Sussex, and educated at Midhurst grammar school. Kit studied biochemistry and pollution at Manchester University, and worked in the oil, gas and nuclear industries as an environmental scientist, increasingly focusing on communication. In the late 1980s he worked as communications manager for Nirex, the government nuclear waste agency. From there he went to British Gas exploration and production, designing and implementing local environmental communications activities in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and various parts of Europe. Kit was an engaging communicator and a warm and humorous friend. He was constantly on the go, but found time outside work for charity fell-running. He is survived by his daughters, Emily, Kathie and Marianne. | ['theguardian/series/otherlives', 'environment/waste', 'tone/obituaries', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/obituaries'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2011-10-24T16:16:39Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
politics/2022/jul/20/rishi-sunak-accused-economic-illiteracy-pledge-block-onshore-windfarms | Sunak accused of ‘economic illiteracy’ over pledge to block onshore windfarms | Opposition parties have accused Rishi Sunak of “economic illiteracy” and a lack of seriousness over the climate emergency after he announced a plan for the UK to become energy independent while at the same time making it harder to use onshore wind. Before the fifth and final round of MPs’ voting for the Conservative party leadership on Wednesday, the former chancellor set out what he called an “energy sovereignty strategy”, intended to achieve UK energy independence by 2045 at the latest. But in the same announcement, Sunak pledged that as prime minister he would make it more difficult to build onshore windfarms in England. Ministers had been considering a relaxation of planning rules for onshore wind that were tightened under David Cameron’s government in 2014 following pressure from Tory activists who disliked wind turbines in rural areas. The view is shared by a number of Conservative MPs. The 2014 change required more local consultation and acted as a de facto halt on new developments in England. Planning rules vary across UK nations. The possible relaxation was potentially part of an energy independence plan, unveiled in April, which opted not to change the planning rules but did say the government would look at offering communities cheaper electricity bills in return for their consent for windfarms. But Wednesday’s announcement by Sunak’s campaign said: “In recognition of the distress and disruption that onshore windfarms can often cause, Rishi has also promised to scrap plans to relax the ban on onshore windfarms in England, providing certainty to rural communities.” Instead, he would put the 2045 self-sufficiency target into law and split up the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, creating a new secretary of state for energy sovereignty. Offshore wind would be prioritised as well; this tends to be more expensive than onshore developments and takes longer to build. Sunak said: “Wind energy will be an important part of our strategy, but I want to reassure communities that as prime minister I would scrap plans to relax the ban on onshore wind in England, instead focusing on building more turbines offshore.” Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, said: “As Britain boils in an unprecedented heatwave, it is economic illiteracy and unilateral economic disarmament in the fight against the climate crisis that Rishi Sunak wants to keep the ban on onshore wind. “Anyone with such dangerous views is not a serious candidate for high office. But this is the reality: a Conservative leadership race in which candidates have engaged in fantasy climate denial that will lead to higher energy bills, damage our security and burdens future generations with extreme weather events.” Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat climate change and energy spokesperson, said: “Just a day after the UK’s hottest ever day, and with soaring energy bills, Rishi Sunak has shown that he is completely out of touch with reality. “Any supposed energy security strategy without onshore wind simply makes no sense. The plan flies in the face of any energy security plan and chooses to ignore climate change. This plan not only flies in the face of energy security but completely misunderstands climate change and its terrible impacts. “Onshore wind sites can be up and running, providing low-cost clean power for bill payers, in around a year. Not only is Rishi Sunak failing to grasp climate change but he is ruling out a key tool to bring down people’s energy bills as quickly as next year.” A source within Sunak’s campaign said offshore wind prices had fallen to record lows, and that in one recent auction it was less than that for onshore. | ['politics/conservative-leadership', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/rishi-sunak', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'politics/politics', 'environment/environment', 'environment/energy', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/peterwalker', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-07-20T10:51:23Z | true | ENERGY |
sport/2022/mar/14/fifa-latest-governing-body-to-review-links-with-concussion-in-sport-group | Fifa latest governing body to review links with Concussion in Sport Group | Fifa is reviewing its relationship with the global sports concussion organisation it helps fund amid allegations of plagiarism against its former co-chair, the influential neuroscientist Dr Paul McCrory. A week after McCrory tendered his resignation from the Concussion in Sport Group, football’s world governing body has joined World Rugby in putting distance between itself and the protocols the Australian academic has helped shape in a multitude of sports including the NFL, the Football Association and the AFL. “It is with great concern that Fifa has taken note of the resignation of Professor McCrory from the Concussion in Sport Group (CISG),” Fifa said in a statement issued to the Guardian. “Given the seriousness of the situation, Fifa is currently analysing the work of the Concussion in Sport Group (CISG) as a whole in order to decide the best way forward. “Generally speaking, Fifa is fully supportive of the tools and information that has come from the consensus statements made by the CISG and it will continue to ensure these tools are freely available to all who wish to use them.” McCrory, a divisive figure who has previously described concussion among NFL players as “overblown,” was the lead author on four of the last five Consensus Statements on Concussion in Sport, from which Fifa and myriad other organisations draw their concussion guidelines and assessment protocols. That includes the standardised SCAT5 tool used by doctors to evaluate head injuries in athletes aged 13 and over. But the CISG was embroiled in controversy this month after the British Journal of Sports Medicine retracted a 2005 editorial written by McCrory, the publication’s theneditor, citing an “unlawful and indefensible breach of copyright” of the work of Professor Steve Haake. McCrory said the “error” occurred because an unfinished and unreferenced draft had been accidentally uploaded. Since then, an analysis of 10 pieces suggests he may have copied other work without proper attribution. It leaves the CISG on shaky ground with its benefactors, which include Fifa, World Rugby and the International Olympic Committee, along with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, the FIA and the International Ice Hockey Federation. Even before the McCrory allegations it faced criticism about alleged conflicts of interest, while its latest consensus statement, of which McCrory was the lead author, does not acknowledge “a cause-and-effect relationship” between chronic traumatic encephalopathy and repeated concussion or sub-concussive impacts. Last year, a group of academics, researchers, clinicians and carers argued the process has consistently underplayed the risks. Since the plagiarism allegations surfaced, World Rugby has also distanced itself from McCrory, emphasising its independence and “individualised” case-by-case approach to return-to-play time frames. On Monday it “noted with concern” McCrory’s resignation. “World Rugby can confirm that Professor McCrory has not been involved in any concussion projects or research undertaken by World Rugby and he has not been involved in any concussion working group that shapes policy for the sport in this important area,” it said in a statement. “Rugby’s graduated return to play protocols (GRTP) are backed by scientific research and are guided by our Independent Concussion Working Group. Our GRTP is not based on the opinions of any one group or individual. “Given the seriousness of the allegations, World Rugby, guided by its Independent Concussion Working Group, is working with fellow founding sponsoring sports to investigate and identify any necessary governance measures required to better support the future of the Concussion in Sports Conference.” It is understood World Rugby may yet seek a more active role in CISG’s operations in exchange for its continuing support. Fifa, for its part, has recently taken some long-overdue steps in an attempt to mitigate the risk of head injuries in football. New protocols authorised by the Ifab at the end of 2020 allow for one or two permanent replacements to be brought into a match, over and above regular substitutes, if doctors believe a player could have concussion. It trialled a one-substitute protocol at the Club World Cup in Qatar while the Premier League, FA Cup and Women’s Super League have implemented a two-substitute policy, but so far many of Fifa’s 211 member associations have opted against it. At this year’s World Cup, concussion spotters will be introduced to identify from the stands possible brain injuries. | ['sport/concussion-in-sport', 'sport/australia-sport', 'sport/uk-sport', 'sport/sport', 'football/fifa', 'sport/world-rugby', 'football/football', 'sport/rugby-union', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/andybull', 'profile/emma-kemp', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-sport'] | sport/concussion-in-sport | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-03-14T13:26:05Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
us-news/2024/feb/28/texas-wildfire-smokehouse-creek-fire | Historic Texas wildfire consumes over 500,000 acres as blaze rages on | A historic wildfire in Texas continued to rage on Wednesday morning as firefighters work to contain the flames and survey damage. The Smokehouse Creek fire, the second largest wildfire in Texas to date, has consumed more than 500,000 acres in Texas’s Panhandle area since it ignited on Monday. The fire is part of a cluster of blazes that have spun out of control. It is currently at 0% containment, with several Texas counties still evacuated amid growing flames. Officials were starting to assess the damage and warned it could be extensive. The town of Fritch, with a population of fewer than 2,000 people, appeared to be hit hard. The people in that area are probably not “prepared for what they’re going to see if they pull into town”, the Hutchinson county emergency management spokesperson, Deidra Thomas, said in a social media live stream. She compared the damage to a tornado. The town remained unsafe for people to return, she said. Tresea Rankin videotaped her home in the town of Canadian as it burned. “Thirty-eight years of memories, that’s what you were thinking,” Rankin said of watching the flames destroy her house. “Two of my kids were married there ... But you know, it’s OK, the memories won’t go away.” The Smokehouse Creek fire began at 40,000 acres on Tuesday, quickly swelling by Wednesday morning, CNN reported. The fire has burned through an area more than half the size of Rhode Island, CNN further reported. The fire has largely spread given unseasonably warm temperatures and strong wind, propelling flames through dry, grassy areas. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for several Texas counties on Tuesday afternoon, as Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration. Some counties have had their evacuation orderers lifted as of early Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service in Amarillo, Texas, announced on X, formerly known as Twitter. In addition to the fire damage, more than 4,000 homes in Texas are also without power as of Wednesday morning, poweroutage.us reported. Texas department of agriculture officials have also warned that the wildfire may have a significant impact on the state’s agriculture industry. “I am deeply concerned about the devastating wildfires raging through the Texas Panhandle. These fires not only threaten lives and property but also have a significant impact on our agriculture industry,” said the Texas agriculture commissioner, Sid Miller, in a post to Facebook. The main facility that assembles and disassembles America’s nuclear arsenal was also forced to temporarily close on Tuesday as fires raged out of control in the area. The Pantex site in Amarillo in north Texas reopened on Wednesday, according to an announcement on Facebook. Staff were instructed to return to work for normal shift operations after the plant updated that there was no fire at the plant site, NBC News reported. “The Pantex Plant is open for normal day shift operations for Wednesday, February 28; all personnel are to report for duty according to their assigned schedule.” Since 1975, Pantex has been the US main assembly and disassembly site for its atomic bombs. It assembled the last new bomb in 1991. In the time since, it has dismantled thousands of weapons. Pantex is located 30 miles (48km) east of Amarillo. Associated Press contributed to this report | ['us-news/texas', 'world/wildfires', 'us-news/us-news', 'campaign/email/us-morning-newsletter', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/gloria-oladipo', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-02-28T20:33:42Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
technology/2016/jan/21/hoverboard-safety-us-fire-extinguisher | US government: make sure you get a fire extinguisher with your hoverboard | The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) has warned hoverboard owners to have a fire extinguisher nearby while charging or using the self-balancing devices, after launching an investigation into a series of explosions. The CSPC is currently investigating hoverboards made and imported into the US by a range of companies, including Swagway, One Stop Electronic Inc, Glide Boards and 10 others. The investigating is currently focused on the lack of suitable safety features required for the use of lithium-ion batteries. Chairman of CSPC, Elliot Kaye, said: “There are certain basic safety technologies we expect these units to have that should prevent overheating and potential combustion. These are the same readily-available technologies that exist in properly manufactured lithium-ion batteries used in the notebook computers and cell phones we all use every day.” The CSPC is also looking at the control systems and whether they are capable of adjusting their speed and power levels for different weights of riders, following a series of serious rider injuries resulting from unexpected movement of the boards. Kaye said: “We are looking deeper into the design of these products to see if they present a hidden hazard that is leading to fall injuries that should not occur, even on a product that presents some risk of falling. Many people, including children, have ended up with fractures, contusions or head/brain injuries.” There are currently no safety standards for the new self-balancing boards that sold like hot cakes at Christmas, despite some boards being labeled falsely with the Underwriters Laboratories stamp of safety. Kaye warned that such devices with UL labels on the box may be counterfeit and that the use of the mark is, at best, misleading. Kaye’s advice to those who wish to continue using the boards is to “gear up” with a skateboard helmet, elbow and knee pads and wrist guards before riding, to not use the boards on or near a road where it may be illegal, to “charge in an open area away from combustible material” and “have a working fire extinguisher nearby while charging or using these boards”. Australian consumer watchdog warns of danger as hoverboard shapes as hot Christmas gift Hoverboards impounded at UK ports over explosion risk Amazon pulls hoverboards over safety fears UK ‘hoverboard’ crackdown: all you need to know | ['technology/gadgets', 'technology/technology', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/money', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samuel-gibbs'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2016-01-21T10:33:05Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
commentisfree/2017/jun/20/whats-the-best-step-youve-taken-to-reduce-waste-share-your-tips | What's the best step you've taken to reduce waste? Share your tips | For Christina Grogan, it came down to knowing exactly what to do with her rubbish. “Once you’re educated, it’s not hard,” says Grogan, one of the residents of the Sydney suburban street featured in the ABC’s recent three-part series, War on Waste. Along with her neighbours, Grogan tackled her household waste, reducing it from “more than one bin” to just a quarter of a regular-sized bin. The ABC show has been a runaway success, attracting more than 2.6 million metro viewers and, perhaps more importantly, inspiring those viewers to do something about the issues discussed in the show. For example, online community Compost Revolution reports there’s been a surge in people signing up for composting tutorials since being featured in the show. There is a change.org petition, which had more than 140,000 supporters at the time of publication, calling on supermarkets to change the unrealistic cosmetic standards for fresh fruit and vegetables. And since the show highlighted the fact that most coffee cups are not recyclable, Australian reusable cup manufacture KeepCup have seen a 690% spike in sales enquiries. Grogan says she’s witnessed the momentum herself and has been approached in the street and through her children’s school. “I make sure now I always have my reusable cup,” she says. She says just knowing what to do has helped her decrease her household waste. These days she has a recycling bin, a collection of soft plastics that go to the local supermarket for recycling, and a bin to collect food scraps that end up in the compost bin. “When you put those couple of things in place, it’s really easy, it’s not really an extra imposition.” Below Grogan shares some of her recycling tips, but we’d like to know yours too. Include the most effective steps you’ve taken to cut down the waste you send to landfill. We’ll compile the top reader tips in a future column. If you don’t want your name published, please leave it blank. Christina Grogan’s tips: We collect all our soft plastics and return them to Coles. We originally returned them to Woolworths but after the GPS tracker that Craig put into the bags found that the Woolworths contractor was not necessarily recycling the soft plastics as they said they were, we have switched to Coles. We no longer buy bin liners. We use whatever plastic we have had to bring home – sometimes it is unfortunately unavoidable. At the greengrocers, I ask for a box or take my own box to carry home our fruit and vegies. This keeps them better anyway. Composting is fantastic. I didn’t realise how easy the tumble compost was, it’s nice and clean, doesn’t smell, and as yet, has not attracted any nasties. I have a little bin in the kitchen for food scraps, and when it gets fullish, or it starts to smell, I take it outside to the compost bin. Once a week, I get my Stanley knife out and I get all the grounds out of the coffee capsules. I put the lid bit in the bin, the actual capsule bit into the recycling and its done. It takes 10 minutes. Many people don’t realise how much can actually be recycled, so it’s important to check the packaging. The kids take tupperware containers to school and no glad wrap. They also bring home all their soft plastics. If they have a bag of chips or some biscuits in a plastic bag, they bring that plastic home and we put it into the right place, not into the bin at school. And apple cores and things like that all come home and go into the compost. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'lifeandstyle/conscious-living', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/alexandra-spring', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-features'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-06-19T20:00:45Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
sustainable-business/2015/mar/12/disruption-challenge-neoliberalism-commons-political-system | A wave of disruption is sweeping in to challenge neoliberalism | I have always been attracted to the notion that disruption to powerful systems comes not from the heart of the empire, but from the margins. This idea first fired my imagination while I was learning about the role of the monasteries of the early Celtic church, located on the wild and windswept fringes of western Europe, in reseeding the continent with art, literacy and a love of learning that had been eclipsed by the dark ages. Today, I sense a similar wave of disruption sweeping in from various marginal corners of our globalised system, a mosaic of localised responses weaving into what begins to look like a new narrative to challenge the dominant neoliberal hegemony. Who’s in control? In this new conceptual and political space a term whose use was previously restricted mainly to academic anthropology departments has emerged: “the commons” – that realm of community self-organisation that is mediated neither by the market nor the state. Today, “the commons” encompasses the world of seed saving, community-supported agriculture, peer production, fab-labs and hacker spaces, distributed manufacturing, co-production, open source, copyleft (as opposed to copyright), creative commons licenses, the collaborative and sharing economy, and the social and solidarity economy. However, the growth and spread of commons-based regimes face two major obstacles. The first is the ever-present danger that profits generated by commoners are appropriated by conventional for-profit businesses, such as Google and Facebook. As long as most contributors are unable to derive a living wage from their commons-based activities – anecdotal evidence suggests that crowdworkers are paid as little as $2-3 an hour working on microtasks for online crowdworking marketplaces such as Amazon Mechanical Turk – there is a limit to what can be achieved. Second, the role of the state needs to be transformed from that of enabler of market-based development to that of partner in the growth of the reciprocity and commons-based social economy, something which long-time commons activist David Bollier calls “public/commons partnerships”. Shareable cities These may seem like fairly insurmountable obstacles. And yet, from the margins comes news of disruptive innovation. A growing network of cities are following the lead of Seoul in experimenting with municipality-led shareable city initiatives, including city-supported carpools, urban gardens, pro-social procurement, investment and lending policies. Bologna is one of a number of Italian cities to have adopted a “regulation for the care and regeneration of urban commons” as part of the Cities as Commons project. In the words of pioneer Professor Christian Iaione, this initiative “allows citizen coalitions to propose improvements to their neighbourhoods, and the city to contract with citizens for key assistance. In other words, the municipality functions as an enabler, giving citizens individual and collective autonomy.” Also in Italy, the past two decades have seen the flowering of social co-operatives as a new form of collaboration between public authorities and civil society in the provision of social services. According to John Restakis, author and commentator on the co-operative movement, “social co-operatives are inventing models of care that are advancing the values of civil society as a clear alternative to both state and market systems”. Today, there are more than 10,000 social co-operatives providing social services throughout the country, employing 180,000 individuals. Perhaps, what’s most exciting from the perspective of new thinking on the alignment of the state with regards to commons-based civil society is the Flok (Free/Libre, Open Knowledge) project initiated last year by the government of Ecuador. An international team of researchers were charged with creating “a legal, economic and social framework for an entire country that is consistent with principles that are the basic foundations of the internet: peer-to-peer collaboration and shared knowledge”. From passive democracy to radical engagement Out of this initiative has emerged a Commons Transition Plan that aims to provide a roadmap for the transition to a commons-based society enabled by a partner state. While internal political reasons make it unlikely that this initiative will be taken forward in the foreseeable future by the government, the plan has attracted widespread interest and has laid the foundations for ongoing discussions on its application in other contexts. Restakis, for example, is advising the new government of Greece on how to strengthen the social, co-operative economy. The commons movement is highly dynamic and innovative but it is lacking in the kinds of institutional structures that would enable its contributors to derive income from their efforts and exclude for-profit free-riders. Meanwhile, the co-operative movement has developed sophisticated and effective legal structures over its long history, but has lost much of its early dynamism and has been slow to recognise the potential for renewal represented by the digital revolution and the new open-commons models generated by it. The emerging three-way conversation between the commons movement, the co-operative movement and public authorities is opening up space for fresh thinking and a multiplicity of innovations at the level of city, region and now, tentatively, the nation state. These involve an entirely new concept of governance, the role of the state, and citizenship, shifting from a passive form of electoral representative democracy to a generative democracy of radical engagement in the design, development and implementation of public policy. The pieces are now in place for a radical transition to a new kind of political economy. Michel Bauwens and John Restakis will lead a one-week course in mid-April at Schumacher College in Devon where the issues touched on in this article will be explored in more depth The rethinking prosperity hub is sponsored by DNV GL. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled “brought to you by”. Find out more here. Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox. | ['sustainable-business/series/rethinking-prosperity', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'politics/general-election-2015', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'tone/sponsoredfeatures'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-03-12T12:56:06Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
commentisfree/2024/oct/19/landfill-britain-toxic-emissions-health-risks-pollution | The stench of my local landfill points to a massive problem that Britain isn’t solving | Jennifer Sizeland | Last summer, people living around the perimeter of Pilsworth South landfill in Bury, Greater Manchester, couldn’t open their windows because of the elevated levels of hydrogen sulphide in the air. Referred to as “sewer gas”, its rotten-egg stench can be particularly unbearable at night. Even driving past with the windows closed on the M66, as I do regularly to drop my child at a local play centre, I have gagged at the overpowering smell. Including Pilsworth, there are 15 odorous landfills across the UK. Hafod landfill in Wrexham is the latest to hit the headlines. Another in Northern Ireland was so noxious before its decommissioning that it was subject to a supreme court ruling and now an appeal. Meanwhile, several others have breached their licences through overtipping, odour issues or poor management, forcing them to undertake engineering solutions to rectify the problems. These remedial works can make things worse in the short term, with smells created when rubbish is disturbed. But it’s not just the smell that makes living in the vicinity of a landfill site so unappealing. There are myriad environmental risks, such as the potential for severe water and air pollution, land contamination, harm to local wildlife, and unexplained fires that burn for days (in June this year, fire crews had to tackle blazes at multiple landfill sites). From an economic perspective, odour problems discourage people from visiting an area and negatively affect house prices. This is not to mention the appalling effects on human health that come from emitted gases such as methane and other toxic carcinogens. A British Medical Journal report found that 80% of the population live within 2km of a functioning or closed landfill site, and there are a host of ailments associated with living so close. These include nausea, respiratory problems, headaches, stress and insomnia, all of which have been reported by residents in and around Pilsworth. And what about the 21,000 historical landfills – our old rubbish buried underground – across England alone? Recent research has shown how they may release cancer-linked PFAS, or “for ever chemicals”, into the environment – and there is probably one not far from where you live. Does it have to be this way? The obvious route to reducing the use of landfills is to improve recycling. One idea would be for a deposit-return scheme such as the one in Germany. There is a UK plan for such a scheme – but it has been delayed until 2027, four years later than planned, and will only include bottles. Anything recyclable can be intercepted at material recovery facilities, but not all landfills have them. They can cause problems for residents, too: a recycling plant built at a landfill in Kent has provoked ire from people living nearby as a result of the additional air and noise pollution. One alternative is waste-to-energy plants, which burn rubbish and convert it into power, but they remain controversial for the same reasons as landfills: their emissions and carbon footprint. As for landfills, the way to manage odours and leaks is to build gas wells, cap waste, safely extract toxic leachate and closely monitor the air and water around them for toxins. But, with the number of noxious landfills rising, we know these measures aren’t being taken, or simply aren’t enough when a dump reaches the end of its life. They are often left to continue polluting the air, land and sea long after they have closed. Ultimately, waste needs to be cut off at its source: there needs to be less rubbish. This would require the government to take serious action to encourage reuse and repair schemes, incentivise businesses to stop producing and using single-use items and invest in diverse and accessible recycling programmes such as the periodic doorstep collection of products including waste textiles and all types of plastic. These recycling streams are for the most part only available to people who can travel to collection points or pay for schemes where a specific type of waste is sent to a recovery facility. Better management might also save lives. Seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola lived near a lake in a quarry landfill that flooded his house. Firefighters later recorded hydrogen cyanide in the property; his family insist the polluted water led to his death. As climate breakdown makes flooding and the resultant pollution more common, these lakes need flood defences, as well as lining, to prevent the escape of poisonous leachate. We are beginning to wake up to the landfill toll and its awful human cost. Awful smells, environmental disasters in waiting – and an appalling impact on human health: it is time the next government acts on these ticking timebombs. Jennifer Sizeland is a freelance writer living in Manchester | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/landfill', 'environment/waste', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'environment/pollution', 'society/health', 'society/society', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/jennifer-sizeland', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-10-19T10:00:12Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2021/aug/14/industry-and-climate-groups-remain-in-the-dark-when-it-comes-to-australias-emissions-reduction-strategy | Industry and energy groups remain in the dark when it comes to Australia’s emissions reduction strategy | Leading Australian industry groups have warned that the government has failed to consult them on a promised long-term emissions reduction strategy, despite it planning to present it at pivotal climate talks in Glasgow in just 80 days. The government has been saying for more than 18 months that the strategy is in development and has promised to release it publicly and to the UN before the Glasgow talks in November. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has faced increased pressure over his stance this week after the UN’s climate panel released a major report showing “unequivocal” human influence on the atmosphere, ocean and land. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said Australia would experience worsening heat extremes, bushfires, marine and land heatwaves and rising sea levels. The report has intensified calls for the government to introduce policies to drive deeper emissions cuts before 2030. Morrison continued to resist calls to commit Australia to a 2050 net zero emissions target and to improve the government’s six-year-old target to cut emissions by 26% to 28% by 2030 based on 2005 levels – a goal a senior US government climate official this described as insufficient. The government has remained tight-lipped over details of its long term strategy or the timing of its release. The Australian Industry Group, the country’s largest employer group, told Guardian Australia it had not been consulted on the strategy. It said it should include the 2050 net zero goal. Tennant Reed, Ai Group’s climate, energy and environment policy adviser, said it was unusual there had not been consultation with interest groups about the strategy given there had been with climate policy, including the government’s technology investment roadmap, and the target it took to the 2015 Paris climate summit. He said broad consultation was “much more likely to identify the key issues and best solutions, and build consensus around them”. Reed said the long term strategy should include a medium-term emissions goal and a “clear long-term national goal of net zero emissions by 2050 to guide government policy and private investment”. It should assess the economic and social impacts of both climate change and measures taken to lessen its effects, as well as international trends, he said. “That is a tall order, but within the capabilities of the Australian government,” he said. Reed said he expected the government’s technology roadmap – which sets so-called “stretch goals” for reducing the cost of carbon capture and storage, soil carbon and low-carbon steel and hydrogen – would form part of the strategy. Kane Thornton, chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, said the council was yet to be consulted on the strategy, but would welcome being approached. He said council research had found investment in large-scale clean energy projects had fallen to a five-year low, and the country needed a plan to turn that around. “Without a clear plan for emissions reduction, Australia risks not being able to attract the levels of investment seen in many other countries who are experiencing surging investment, particularly in solar and wind,” he said. The primary oil and gas lobby group, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea), also said while it was regularly consulted on climate policy it had not been asked for input into the strategy. Damian Dwyer, Appea’s deputy chief executive, said its position was that gas had fewer emissions than coal when burned for electricity and was used in manufacturing for jobs that “renewables simply cannot do”. He said “the strategy should recognise that “demand for gas is growing and that our product can help Australia and the world reduce emissions”. The International Energy Agency has said there is no room for any new fossil fuel projects, including new gas fields, if the world wants to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Australia’s biggest electricity consumer, the Tomago aluminium smelter in New South Wales, said earlier this week it would be powered almost entirely by renewables by 2029. The government has been saying for more than a year that it is developing the strategy. In February last year, the energy and emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor, said the government would take it to the international Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow which at that time were scheduled for November that year. In late December, the government reiterated its 2015 target as part of a resubmission to the UN of what is known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – the pledge each signatory to the climate convention was expected to make under the Paris agreement, and is being asked to improve before Glasgow. Analysis of Australia’s NDC has founds its targets are consistent with global warming of more than 2C. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Guardian Australia asked Taylor’s office when it planned to release the long-term strategy, if it would include new targets and who had been consulted during its development. A spokeswoman referred to the transcript of a press conference from this week, and to the Hansard record of Question Time proceedings in parliament. None of those contained details of the strategy or when it would be released. At the press conference, Morrison said commitments to reduce emissions “are backed up by plans, and we don’t make them lightly.” He said Australians “deserve to know the implications and the costs and what the plans are”, that he had done that before the last election and “I will do that again as we go into the commitments later this year.” | ['australia-news/angus-taylor', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'australia-news/scott-morrison', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/ipcc', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/environment', 'world/unitednations', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/ipcc | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-08-13T22:03:37Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2021/oct/12/bolsonaro-must-be-held-criminally-responsible-for-assault-on-the-amazon-say-activists | Bolsonaro must be held criminally responsible for assault on the Amazon, say activists | The Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro must be held criminally responsible for a “ruthless” assault on the Amazon that has exacerbated the climate emergency and imperilled humanity’s very survival, activists have argued in a petition to the international criminal court. In a submission to The Hague-based tribunal on Tuesday, legal and scientific experts said the “mass deforestation” unfolding under the rightwing nationalist posed a clear and present danger to Brazil, and to the world. “There is a substantial body of evidence demonstrating the commission of ongoing crimes against humanity within Brazil which requires immediate investigation and prosecution,” the 284-page petition said, pointing to soaring Amazon devastation under Bolsonaro. “However, the impact … extends far beyond the widespread, ongoing loss of life and deep suffering inflicted upon local communities. State-of-the-art climate science demonstrates that consequent fatalities, devastation and insecurity will occur on a far greater scale regionally and globally, long into the future, through the attributable links between the rapid acceleration in deforestation, its contribution to climate change, and the frequency and intensification of extreme weather events,” it went on. “Given the multilateral breadth and depth of its impact, the nature of the attack … constitutes criminality of the very highest order,” the plaintiffs said, adding: “The ICC now has the opportunity – indeed the ICC has the duty – to act.” Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper who has presided over what critics call a historic onslaught against the Amazon and its indigenous inhabitants, has been the subject of three previous ICC complaints since he took office in early 2019. In August, campaigners asked the court to investigate Brazil’s president for the alleged genocide of its indigenous people, partly as a result of Bolsonaro’s anti-scientific response to the Covid pandemic. “He needs to pay for all the violence and destruction he is leading,” the indigenous leader Sônia Guajajara said at the time. Johannes Wesemann, the founder of AllRise, the Vienna-based environmental litigation group behind the latest ICC complaint – the fourth against Brazil’s president – said it sought to add an international dimension to Bolsonaro’s alleged offences by exposing their impact on global heating. Wesemann said: “The government under Bolsonaro directly and indirectly facilitates and thus accelerates the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon. This obviously in turn leads to deliberate and uncontrolled environmental destruction of the ecosystem with catastrophic consequences at a local level … but also with a serious consequence on a global scale.” “Today, we know emissions attributed to the Bolsonaro administration will cause over 180,000 deaths globally until 2100,” Wesemann said, citing a submission from climatologists including Dr Friederike Otto, one of the lead authors of the recent IPCC report on the climate emergency. “Our sole purpose … is to ensure that state, private sector and political actors such as Jair Bolsonaro, and past and present members of his government, who intentionally enable such destruction are held legally accountable,” Wesemann said, noting how mass deforestation had a “serious and scientifically proven impact on the global climate – and thus on our long-term survival.” The Brazilian presidency did not respond to a request for comment on the accusations against Bolsonaro. In recent months Brazil’s government has launched a crackdown on environmental criminals in the Amazon, which critics suspect is designed to convince the international community it is cleaning up its environmental act ahead of the Cop26 climate summit. Last week Bolsonaro’s recently appointed environment minister, Joaquim Leite, told reporters their country wanted to use the Glasgow meeting to show the world Brazil could be “part of the solution” to the climate crisis and was committed to cutting emissions. But environmentalists are unconvinced by the pre-Cop rhetorical softening. “What’s the solution?,” Suely Araújo, the former head of Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama, asked in a recent interview. “Change the president.” | ['world/brazil', 'world/jair-bolsonaro', 'world/americas', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'environment/environment', 'environment/deforestation', 'world/world', 'law/international-criminal-court', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/tomphillips', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/deforestation | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-10-12T06:00:09Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
money/2018/apr/29/recycle-waste-printer-council-environment | How can I recycle my inkjet printer? | We have been running around like headless chickens to find an environmentally responsible way to gift or dispose of two inkjet printers. None of the charitable organisations or companies we contacted is able to help. Our local Space Waye recycling centre (London Borough of Hounslow) will not allow pedestrians to use the facility – you can only drive in, not drop anything off. We do not own a car. The council will not take printers in the recycling collections, as they restrict this to electronic/electrical items that fit into a normal supermarket carrier bag. We now understand why so many people just fly-tip computers and printers. What do we do? CP, London While recycling inkjet cartridges is common – and can even get you discounts on new ones – recycling unwanted printers is less common, even though they have much recyclable content. Craig Stephens, campaign manager with Recycle Now, says: “It’s worth checking the recycling locator on recyclenow.com to find local recycling points for particular items. Alternatively, try contacting the local authority directly; it may be that they will accommodate a printer, given notice, or on the basis that it is, perhaps, just a little bit bigger than the usual electricals collection.” The London-based Restart Project, set up to encourage people to reduce waste, tells us: “Some charity shops, for example Fara, in the greater London area, do accept donations for most electrical and electronics for reuse.” You can always give away stuff on reuse networks like Freecycle, Freegle and Streetbank. Sometimes local Facebook groups can serve this purpose, too. And stores such as PC World and Currys take any unwanted electricals for recycling, irrespective of where they had been bought. Hounslow council says it is one of only a handful London boroughs offering a doorstep small electricals recycling service but adds: “Regrettably, due to the size of CP’s printers they cannot be collected as part of this service.” It points to our suggestions, as above, but also adds: “CP might want to contact community centres or schools to see if they would like to be gifted these items.” We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a -daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to terms and conditions | ['money/money', 'money/series/bachelor-and-brignall-consumer-champions', 'tone/features', 'uk/uk', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/consumer-rights-money', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'profile/rebeccasmithers', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/money', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-money'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-04-29T06:00:37Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2017/nov/07/uk-government-sued-for-third-time-over-deadly-air-pollution | UK government sued for third time over deadly air pollution | The UK government is being sued for a third time over the widespread illegal levels of air pollution, which cause 40,000 early deaths every year. Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have already defeated ministers twice in court, forcing a new pollution plan to be drawn up in July. But ClientEarth believes even the latest strategy does not meet the legal requirement of banishing toxic air in the “shortest possible time”, as EU law requires. “The UK government’s stubborn failure to tackle illegal and harmful levels of pollution in this country means that we have no choice but to take legal action,” said James Thornton, ClientEarth’s CEO. “We need clarity from the government and for that we’ve been forced to go back to court.” ClientEarth sent ministers a pre-action legal letter setting out their concerns in October but deemed the government’s response inadequate. They have now applied to the courts for a legal hearing. The government has already spent £370,000 of taxpayers’ money in failed attempts to fight air pollution court action. Nitrogen dioxide pollution, mostly produced by diesel vehicles, has been illegally high in most urban parts of Britain since 2010. The government’s latest plan was condemned as “woefully inadequate” by city leaders and “inexcusable” by doctors. Air pollution causes an estimated 23,500 early deaths every year from NO2, rising to 40,000 when other pollutants are considered. In September, the UN’s special rapporteur on pollution said the government was “flouting” its duty to protect the lives and health of its citizens and in October a major pollution report estimated the number of premature deaths in the UK at 50,000 per year. Oliver Hayes, at Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s shameful that the government has to keep being taken to court to try to force it to protect the health of its citizens.” ClientEarth believes there are several grounds for judicial review, including backtracking in the latest plan on “clear air zones” in Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton. These zones, which would use charges to deter polluting vehicles from city centres, were mandatory in previous plans but are now only “expected” to be implemented. ClientEarth also say it is unacceptable that the plan requires no action in 45 local authorities with illegal levels of air pollution. These include Leicester, Oxford, Liverpool, Cheltenham and Sunderland, with the government arguing toxic air will fall to legal levels without enforced action. However, Leicester and Oxford city councils have written to ministers saying that the government has seriously underestimated pollution levels and that by requiring no action, they are stopping the councils getting access to funding to cut pollution. Oxford is planning to ban all petrol and diesel vehicles in the future. Some motoring groups are campaigning against a crackdown on diesel cars, but the latest data shows car buyers are abandoning the technology, with sales down by 30% in October year-on-year. The government’s own analysis shows charging zones to deter dirty cars are by far the most effective policy but ministers have told councils they should only be the option of last resort. “It’s time ministers came clean about the size of the problem and the difficult decisions needed to solve it,” said Thornton. He said the forthcoming budget should use tax changes to make diesel cars less attractive and that the motor industry should be made to contribute funding. “The car industry helped get us into this mess so they should be helping get us out of it by contributing to a clean air fund, as they have done in Germany,” Thornton said. The German government recently secured €250m (£220m) from the car industry to help cities reduce pollution. A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We have put in place a £3bn plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions. We will also end the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2040, and next year we will publish a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy which will set out further steps to tackle air pollution.” The decision to take the government back to court came as four air pollution protesters were jailed for staging a series of direct action demonstrations against toxic air in the capital. The fouractivists are from the environmental group Stop Killing Londoners, which has been stepping up its campaign calling on the government and the mayor of London to do more to tackle air pollution. Camberwell magistrates court heard on Tuesday that the group had spray-painted “Cut Air Pollution” on City Hall on Monday night before sitting down and waiting to be arrested for criminal damage. Roger Hallam, 51, Stuart Basden, 34, Ian Bray, 50, and Genny Scherer, 71, were under strict bail conditions not to go within 50m of the building after they graffitied it earlier this week. The four all deny criminal damage. In a statement released after the hearing, the group said at least two of those imprisoned would go on hunger strike while being held on remand. It said Monday’s arrests were the fifth action in the past week by the campaign amid growing anger at the air pollution crisis. They have demanded a meeting with environmental secretary Michael Gove and London mayor Sadiq Khan. In a statement they added: “Today, the four of us are being sent to prison because we apparently care too much. We care about the 25 people who are killed every day in London by the illegal levels of air pollution. We care about the children who will endure a lifetime of suffering due to shrunken lungs. We care, because each breath we take is harming us, and puts even more strain on the NHS as it struggles to cope with unnecessary cuts.” The chairwoman of the bench, Finola Gowers, remanded the protesters in custody for seven days and said they faced a possible custodial sentence if convicted. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/pollution', 'society/health', 'politics/conservatives', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-11-07T18:30:25Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2015/jan/20/inquiry-into-unjust-convictions-caused-by-undercover-operations-to-last-longer-than-expected | Inquiry into unjust convictions caused by undercover operations to last longer than expected | For many months a leading barrister has been delving into the secrets of the police’s long-running undercover infiltration of political groups. What he turns up could well prove to be highly embarrassing to police chiefs. Since last March, Mark Ellison QC has been investigating whether campaigners have over the decades been unjustly convicted because key evidence gathered by undercover police units was concealed from their trials. More than 50 campaigners have already had their convictions overturned or were wrongly prosecuted. (The cases involved undercover officers Mark Kennedy and Jim Boyling). Ellison’s inquiry has official backing as it was commissioned by home secretary Theresa May. When she originally announced the inquiry’s remit, it appeared that his deadline to complete his inquiry was March 31 this year. But now it seems that his inquiry will take longer than expected. On Friday, the Home Office said in a parliamentary answer that Ellison is now only “intending to provide a progress report” by the end of March. It appears that this progress report is likely to estimate how many convictions of activists could be unsafe and outline reasons that may have caused the miscarriages of justice. It is unclear when he is due to complete his inquiry. It may be that his inquiry is taking longer because he is uncovering a lot of unsafe convictions of activists. This blog examines how Ellison was commissioned by the home secretary after he had aired misgivings about the conduct of the undercover police during his previous inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence case. He had found that the undercover police operated as if the legal rules requiring them to disclose evidence to ensure fair trials did not apply to them. He had also suggested that the undercover police knew that evidence advanced by prosecutors against campaigners was false but did nothing, hid vital evidence, and could have encouraged others to commit crimes. According to its official remit, his inquiry has been initially focussing on the Special Demonstration Squad and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), but could be broadened out to scrutinise other covert work. Friday’s parliamentary question was asked by Green MP Caroline Lucas, who - with her Green colleague Jenny Jones - has been one of the few politicians pursuing the truth about the undercover operations. Potential miscarriages of justice will be sent to the official watchdog, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, to see if they should be referred to the appeal courts. Mike Penning, the policing minister, declined to tell Lucas how many cases have been sent to the CCRC so far. | ['uk/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans', 'uk/undercover-police-and-policing', 'uk/police', 'law/law', 'uk/mark-kennedy', 'uk/peter-francis', 'world/espionage', 'environment/activism', 'uk/uk', 'law/uk-civil-liberties', 'politics/theresamay', 'world/protest', 'uk/metropolitan-police', 'uk/london', 'uk/ukcrime', 'uk/series/justice-on-trial', 'uk/police-and-crime-commissioners', 'law/court-of-appeal', 'environment/climate-camp', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'politics/caroline-lucas', 'politics/jenny-jones', 'uk/lawrence', 'uk/doreen-lawrence', 'world/race', 'law/criminal-cases-review-commission', 'law/criminal-justice', 'type/article', 'tone/blog', 'profile/robevans'] | environment/climate-camp | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2015-01-20T11:36:28Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2007/apr/11/climatechange.climatechangeenvironment1 | Climate change threatens world's natural wonders, report warns | Hundreds of the world's most precious natural and cultural sites, including the Great Barrier Reef, Mount Kilimanjaro and Venice, are under threat from climate change, a UN report warned today. Rising sea levels, increased flooding risks and depleted marine and land biodiversity could have disastrous effects on the 830 designated Unesco world heritage sites, the study said. "The international community now widely agrees that climate change will constitute one of the major challenges of the 21st century," Koichiro Matsuura, the director general of Unesco, said in a foreword to the report. "[Its] impact on the world's cultural and natural heritage is also a subject of growing concern." Unesco researchers said 70% of the world's deep sea corals could be in danger from changing conditions related to rising temperatures and increased oceans acidification by 2100. The Great Barrier Reef, in Australia, is likely to suffer frequent bleaching outbreaks - cases in which corals turn white and may die because of rising sea temperatures - putting its fish population under threat. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas and Africa are also likely to wipe out rare species, the report said. The habitat of the rare snow leopard in Sagarmatha (Everest) national park in Nepal is at risk, and human settlements are threatened by catastrophic flooding from glacial lake surges. Three of London's world heritage sites - the Palace of Westminster, the Tower of London and the riverbank buildings of Maritime Greenwich - face a significant threat from "more intense and frequent flooding" of the River Thames, the Unesco report warned. Scientists predict rising sea levels and changing North Sea storm patterns could combine, leaving the Thames barrier unable to cope with the effects of climate change after 2030. The Unesco report featured 26 case studies, focusing on five areas likely to be affected by climate change - glaciers, marine biodiversity, land biodiversity, archaeological sites and historical settlements. Meanwhile, it emerged that a $150m (£76m) bond has been issued by an arm of the German insurer, Allianz, to protect itself from claims that could arise from companies affected by floods in the City of London and Canary Wharf. "The chance of a UK flood is lower than a US hurricane ... but our models show that there [would be] a bigger loss exposure," Amer Ahmed, the Allianz Global Corporate and Speciality chief risk officer, said, according to the Financial Times. In a separate development, the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, warned that he was considering a temporary suspension of tourist permits to the heavily-visited Galapagos islands and enforcing rigorous population restrictions to prevent further environmental harm. "We are pushing for a series of actions to overcome the huge institutional, environmental and social crisis in the islands," Mr Correa said after signing an emergency decree. Thousands of visitors travel to the volcanic islands, which inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and are 625 miles west of Ecuador's coast. A growing population, illegal fishing of sharks and sea cucumbers and internal bickering at the national park have all taken their toll. Professor Richard Keynes, the retired emeritus professor of physiology at Cambridge University and great-grandson of Charles Darwin, said tourism was interfering with the ecological life on the archipelago. "The Galapagos are in danger of being overoccupied by tourists and for a long time I have been worried about it. The number of visitors used to be under control and they could only land when conservationists were with them. Now there are so many tourists that they want to land a 1,000 people at a time and you simply cannot do that without destroying the islands. "The president is right to control numbers. They will not make money if they lose the islands." John Harris, the executive director of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, said the recent growth in tourist numbers was a major concern. "They have a wildlife that is untouched by the outside world, but the outside world is coming to them. It is a special experience, but by visiting them, you destroy them. People live there only because of the tourism." Mr Harris said the human population put stresses on the islands' ecosystem, creating demand for water and other infrastructure needs. "The government needs to be stricter on what is allowed there as pressure on Galapagos grows," Martin Wikelski, a biologist at Princeton university, said. "It is one of the world's most unique ecosystems ... and continues to be one of the most important laboratories for evolution studies." Centenarian tortoises and blue-footed boobies live alongside 18,000 islanders who earn a living from fishing and a growing tourism industry. Around 15,000 people are believed to live in the islands illegally, government officials said. | ['environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'environment/great-barrier-reef', 'type/article', 'profile/jamessturcke'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2007-04-11T16:46:08Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
uk-news/2016/dec/28/sellafield-tory-conservative-byelection-cumbria-unions-copeland | Sellafield unrest could dent Tory byelection chances, unions warn | “Serious industrial unrest” at Europe’s biggest nuclear site could threaten the Conservatives’ chances of winning a forthcoming byelection, unions have warned. The byelection in the marginal Cumbrian seat of Copeland has been described as “Theresa May’s to lose”. But the Conservative candidate hoping to overturn Labour’s 2,564 majority will have to explain to thousands of workers at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site why the government is trying to downgrade their final-salary pension scheme. Trade unions representing many of Sellafield’s 10,000 workers have written to the government warning they cannot support either of the options being considered. The Guardian has seen a letter sent shortly before Christmas to Lady Neville-Rolfe, minister of state at the business department. It comes from the Prospect union, which represents more than 5,000 Sellafield engineers and specialists. The letter, signed by Prospect’s deputy general secretary, Dai Hudd, on behalf of his union, the GMB, Unite and Aslef, tells the minister “serious industrial unrest” cannot be ruled out by workers employed by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The NDA is the public body that owns Sellafield, a huge site in Copeland that processes nuclear waste from the old Windscale nuclear power station, where a fire in 1957 caused the UK’s worst nuclear accident. It says: “Employees across the NDA estate fought hard to secure the statutory pension protections that currently apply. There will be an understandable adverse reaction with any proposals that trample over those protections. “They will certainly not respond well to a raid on their pension benefits intended to achieve arbitrary savings agreed between the NDA and the Treasury, and agreement to which the workforce and their representatives played no part. “If the NDA proceeds with its proposed consultation in its current form there will inevitably be a significant reaction from the members affected. The likelihood of serious industrial unrest cannot be ruled out.” The two money-saving proposals on offer involve either a series of changes including increasing the pension age from 60 to 65 or state pension age (whichever is higher), or breaking the final-salary link for the pension scheme, according to Prospect. A 60-day consultation period on the options opens on 9 January. According to Hudd, either proposal will affect thousands of Sellafield employees as well as thousands of employees at other nuclear sites, some of which are also in the constituency. Each member of the scheme would lose tens of thousands on average, he claimed. “I expect the reaction will be particularly robust because this group of members were granted statutory pension protection in the legislation that effectively privatised the industry and these proposals would mean overriding those protections,” he told the Guardian. “There are few constituencies where a single industry (indeed employer) is as significant as the nuclear industry and Sellafield is to Copeland. For the government of the day to attack the pension terms for the employees in this industry in the run-up to a crucial byelection, there is incredibly bad timing to say the least.” A spokesman for the NDA said: “Government policy is that all public sector final-salary pensions schemes should reformed by 2018, and 4 million public sector workers have already moved to new pension arrangements. “Specific decisions on how to change the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s estate pension schemes have yet to be taken. We expect to begin formal consultation in the new year.” More than 10,000 people are employed at the Sellafield site, which measures 6 sq km and is the largest nuclear site in Europe, containing more than 1,000 nuclear facilities. Almost half of the UK’s nuclear workforce is based at Sellafield, which is home to among the largest inventories of untreated waste in the world. The NDA purpose is to deliver the decommissioning and cleanup of the UK’s civil nuclear legacy in a safe and cost-effective manner. | ['uk-news/industrial-action', 'uk/uk', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'politics/byelections', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helenpidd', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2016-12-28T13:46:51Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2015/jul/22/solar-power-subsidies-to-be-cut-under-plans-to-reduce-green-energy-costs | Solar power subsidies cut might save just 50p on average electricity bill | The government has unveiled plans to slash subsidies to solar power projects in an attempt to drive down annual household electricity bills, but later admitted it might save customers just 50p a year. Industry executives warned the latest attack on renewables would take Britain “back to the dark ages”, hitting jobs and investment while damaging David Cameron’s credibility on tackling climate change. Ministers have targeted larger solar installations of less than 5 megawatts – enough to power 2,500 homes – in a consultation on the early closure of the renewable obligation (RO) subsidy in April 2016. The government also announced a review of another subsidy, the feed-in tariff, to make further significant savings in a move that could threaten state support for solar panels on roof tops. In addition, ministers are to remove the guaranteed level of subsidy for coal or other fossil fuel power plants that switch to greener fuels such as biomass – generated by burning plants or wood pellets. The government says the move could save £500m a year from 2020 onwards. Amber Rudd, the energy and climate change secretary, said the aim overall was to bring costs under control and she denied it would chase away investment. She added: “My priorities are clear. We need to keep bills as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses while reducing our emissions in the most cost-effective way. “Our support has driven down the cost of renewable energy significantly. As costs continue to fall it becomes easier for parts of the renewables industry to survive without subsidies. We’re taking action to protect consumers, whilst protecting existing investment.” The government said its initial objective was to reduce a £1.5bn cost overrun in the amount of subsidies being paid to the renewable energy sector by 2020/21 but indicated that more measures would follow to slash costs. The cost overrun, it admitted, had been caused by a variety of factors including low power prices and larger than expected investment in solar and other “green energy” projects. But the planned cuts to subsidies for solar would only net between £40m and £100m by 2020, the equivalent of 50p to £1.20 a year off the average electricity bill, according to government background documents. The attack on solar follows government attempts to end onshore wind subsidies and speculation that widespread cuts of energy efficiency subsidies will come later this year. Michael Grubb, professor of international energy and climate change policy at University College London, said the announcement was a pivotal moment in UK energy policy that gave the impression of two different governments running the country’s energy policy. “One is ... pressing for strong international action on climate change, which signed an unambiguous cross-party pledge to phase out unabated coal, reiterated its carbon targets and which committed in its manifesto to deliver clean renewable energy as cost-effectively as possible. “The other is a government which has moved to prematurely end supports for the cheapest of the UK’s main renewable resources, which has injected fear and uncertainty into renewable energy investors and which seems set to also scrap energy efficiency programmes which have helped to cut consumer bills and avoided the need for billions of pounds of new fossil fuel investments.” Richard Kirkman, technical director of environmental services group Veolia UK expressed grave concern about the government plans, saying: “We appear to be entering another dark age where we will return to total fossil fuel reliance, power cuts, low confidence in UK investment, opening the door for fracking activities to maintain energy security.” Lord Oxburgh, a former chairman of the Shell, said ministers should remember the example of the North Sea oil industry, which took consistent Treasury aid to get off the ground. “If we’re serious about building a new, clean energy industry in the UK, including our unique offshore wind resource in the North Sea, that also needs stable, long-term support from government,” he said. Angus MacNeil MP, the SNP chair of the energy and climate change committee, said the proposals would evade scrutiny because they had been unveiled during the parliamentary recess. Rudd had hinted at her stance on renewable energy subsidies at a meeting of MacNeil’s committee on Tuesday. She argued onshore wind farms could be built in Britain without any kind of financial aid. | ['environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'money/energy', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/household-bills', 'money/money', 'environment/windpower', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2015-07-22T15:40:56Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2024/feb/08/whats-eating-europes-farmers-inside-the-9-february-guardian-weekly | What’s eating Europe’s farmers? Inside the 9 February Guardian Weekly | If you live in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland or Greece, you may well have already run into one of the numerous roadblocks or protests formed in recent weeks by furious farmers. If you’re in Spain and Italy, take cover – because they are coming to you soon, if not already. In this week’s cover story, we explore what has proved to be the final straw for Europe’s farmers. A combination of rising costs, environmental rules and grievances over EU policies, coupled with more localised complaints, seem to be the factors driving the convoys of tractors. But far-right and anti-establishment parties, who could make major gains in forthcoming European parliament elections, have also picked up on the protests as part of their agenda against EU influence. Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis and Europe correspondent Jon Henley delve into the protests (if not the piles of steaming dung being dumped on the continent’s roads, as illustrated wonderfully by Neil Jamieson on this week’s cover), and ask what can be done to placate them. *** Five essential reads in this week’s edition 1 Middle East | Could a new region emerge? Julian Borger examines how US president Joe Biden hopes to recast the Middle East via diplomatic incentives, while gaining political capital at home in an election year 2 Europe | England’s councils in crisis A Guardian special investigation detailing the financial crisis hitting England’s local councils and what it means for the communities they serve 3 Feature | Can anything stop the AI deepfakes? With Taylor Swift the latest victim of AI-generated porn, Emine Saner asks whether renewed pressure on social media companies could force them to take it seriously. 4 Opinion | It’s a plutocrat’s world – and dissenters are swiftly crushed Around the world, those who challenge rich corporations are being hounded and crushed with ever-more inventive penalties, argues George Monbiot. (Do you agree? Tell us what you think on our Letters page.) 5 Culture | The triumphant return of the Pet Shop Boys After four decades at the pinnacle of pop, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe talk to Laura Snapes about their forthcoming 15th album. *** What else we’ve been reading Since the start of the year, Guardian columnist Rhik Samadder has been charting his attempts to break his phone addiction. Looking back on his detox, he concludes: “The shiny, infinite-content machine is not a muse, cold lover or nemesis. It’s a tool. More than anything else, it’s a barometer of my discontent.” Clare Horton, Guardian Weekly assistant editor This thought-provoking feature on a successful intergenerational care facility in the north of England really brightened up my lunch break. Quite simply, older residents spending time with young nursery children has led to improvements in all of their lives and I hope it’s still up and running when it’s time for me to down tools! Emily El Nusairi, Guardian Weekly deputy production editor I greatly enjoyed Donald McRae’s interview with Warrington darts wunderkind Luke Littler. It perfectly captured the bemusement and joy of a teenage prodigy upending the established pillars of a professional sport. Graham Snowdon, Guardian Weekly editor *** Other highlights from the Guardian website • Audio | The disposable vape ban • Video | Rowdy Flock: a daughter, her dreams, and a sheep farm in Norway • Gallery | Ali Smith’s 90s New York punk scene – a photo essay • Interactive | Men’s transfer window January 2024 – all deals from Europe’s top five football leagues *** Get in touch We’d love to hear your thoughts on the magazine: for submissions to our letters page, please email weekly.letters@theguardian.com. For anything else, it’s editorial.feedback@theguardian.com *** Follow us • X: https://twitter.com/guardianweekly • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guardianweekly • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guardian_weekly/ Get the Guardian Weekly magazine delivered to your home address | ['theguardian/series/inside-guardian-weekly', 'environment/farming', 'world/eu', 'world/europe-news', 'world/protest', 'environment/food', 'world/france', 'world/germany', 'world/belgium', 'world/netherlands', 'world/poland', 'world/greece', 'world/spain', 'world/italy', 'type/article', 'profile/grahamsnowdon', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-guardian-weekly-commissioning'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-02-08T11:00:11Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2011/jul/28/plastic-bag-rise | Plastic bag use on the rise after years of decline | British consumers are packing away their green credentials along with their weekly shop, as last year an increasing number of us bundled our purchases into single-use plastic carrier bags instead of seeking out environmentally friendly alternatives. Plastic bag use plunged after 2006, when the government, retailers and green campaigners spearheaded a push to cut down on the 11bn plastic carriers Britons used each year, most of which find their way into landfill or – much more damagingly – into waterways and the sea, where they are a hazard to marine life. By 2009, bag use was down by about 40% to under 6.5bn. But last year, that downward trend was reversed. Perhaps owing to recessionary worries, people forgot their hessian sacks and filled up on plastic again - more than 6.8bn were used, up about 5% on the previous year, according to the government's Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap). Recycling minister Lord Henley said: "This isn't good enough. Retailers need to take responsibility and lift their game to cut down on the number of single use carrier bags they hand out. If results do not improve we will consider additional measures to make this happen, including legislation." The British Retail Consortium said part of the increase was likely to be down to shoppers making more short trips to stores, rather than a single big weekly shop. But the retail trade body said the small increase should be put in context of the "massive" progress made since 2006, and said plastic bags were only one of the many ways in which retailers were cutting their environmental impact. Bob Gordon, head of environment at the British Retail Consortium, said: "It's encouraging to see the majority of consumers are continuing to reuse their carrier bags and are taking as few new bags as possible. We urge customers to keep that up, particularly when changing shopping habits, including more trips to stores, present a challenge to maintaining the progress made in recent years." He rejected calls for a bag ban or charges, which could penalise shoppers at a time of financial hardship. "The overall numbers remain the sort of result other environmental campaigns can only dream of," he said. "But it's time to accept bags are not the be-all and end-all of environmental issues." Plastic bag data is difficult to compare over the past five years, because of changes in the way the statistics are collected. Between 2008 and 2009, the data was collated on a mid-year basis, from June to May, but from last year Wrap decided to return to presenting it on a calendar year basis. In 2006, nearly 11bn single use carriers were used, but after campaigning this fell to 10bn the following year and was down to just over 7bn by 2008-09 before bottoming out at under 6.5bn by 2009-10. But for the full year of 2010, bag use rose again to 6.8bn. The campaign against disposable plastic bags, which green campaigners have pursued for years but which gained traction from 2006 when Wrap collated its first comprehensive statistics, enjoyed a high profile for several years. In 2007, it received a massive boost from the launch of Sainsbury's stylish cotton shopping bag from designer Anya Hindmarch, emblazoned with the legend "I'm not a plastic bag". The product – which sold for £5 in the supermarket – went on to have a lucrative after-life on eBay, reportedly changing hands for as much as £200 a time. But while retailers say they are continuing their efforts to reduce bag use, there is less publicity around the issue. However, in some parts of the UK, legislators are taking an interest. In Wales, shoppers will be charged 5p per bag from this October, and a consultation on charging for bags kicked off in Northern Ireland last week. Scotland shelved its proposals for a charge, but they could yet be revived. In Wales, the imminent charge may have helped to cut bag use – the total was down by 7% last year, compared with the rise in England and Scotland. John Griffiths, Welsh environment minister, said a charge was the best way to drive down carrier use, as voluntary agreements with retailers would not achieve enough. He said: "These figures show a real difference between carrier bag use in Wales and that in other parts of the UK where no mandatory charge is planned. This proves that the carrier bag charge, which is due to be introduced in Wales on 1 October, is the only way to ensure a real and lasting reduction in the use of carrier bags." | ['environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'type/article', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2011-07-28T11:17:33Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
media/greenslade/2012/oct/30/paywalls-hurricane-sandy | US papers suspend paywalls in the face of hurricane Sandy | Q. When should newspapers tear down their own paywalls? A. When a hurricane arrives. Three New York-based papers - the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Newsday - opened up their websites as the storm advanced, as did the Boston Globe and the Baltimore Sun. The NY Times told readers it was providing "free unlimited access" to coverage of the effects of hurricane Sandy. And a spokeswoman for the paper, Eileen Murphy, confirmed to Poynter that "the gateway has been removed from the entire site and all apps", adding: "The plan is to keep it that way until the weather emergency is over." Looking at the NY Times's site, there is certainly a great deal of storm coverage with terrific graphics. There are also some 350 pictures sent in by readers. Many show empty streets in Manhattan, cars crushed by trees and people braving the rain and floods in apparent high good humour. The reader's picture I've chosen here, showing a notice on a snowboarding store, also illustrates the humorous response to the oncoming storm. Sources: Poynter/New York Times | ['media/greenslade', 'media/media', 'tone/blog', 'tone/news', 'media/paywalls', 'us-news/hurricane-sandy', 'media/new-york-times', 'media/wallstreetjournal', 'media/boston-globe', 'us-news/new-york', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/boston', 'type/article', 'profile/roygreenslade'] | us-news/hurricane-sandy | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-10-30T09:50:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2011/sep/15/new-atlas-climate-change | New atlas shows extent of climate change | If you have never heard of Uunartoq Qeqertaq, it's possibly because it's one of the world's newest islands, appearing in 2006 off the east coast of Greenland, 340 miles north of the Arctic circle when the ice retreated because of global warming. This Thursday the new land – translated from Inuit as Warming Island – was deemed permanent enough by map-makers to be included in a new edition of the most comprehensive atlas in the world. Uunartoq Qeqertaq joins Southern Sudan and nearly 7,000 other countries and places added or changed since the last edition of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, reflecting political change in Africa, administrative changes in China, burgeoning cities in developing countries, climate change, and large infrastructure projects which have changed the flow of rivers, lakes and coastlines. The world's biggest physical changes in the past few years are mostly seen nearest the poles where climate change has been most extreme. Antarctica is smaller following the break-up of the Larsen B and Wilkins ice shelves. But the Aral Sea in central Asia, which had previously shrunk to just 25% of its size only 80 years ago, is now larger than it was only five years ago, thanks to Kazakhstan redirecting water into it. Elsewhere in Asia, islands are appearing off the mouths of the Ganges and the Yangtze rivers as the amount of silt brought down from the Himalayas and inland China changes. Sections of the Rio Grande, Yellow, Colorado and Tigris rivers are now drying out each summer. In Mongolia, the Ongyin Gol has been redirected to allow gold mining, while the Colorado river these days does not reach the sea most years. "We are increasingly concerned that in the near future important geographical features will disappear for ever. Greenland could reach a tipping point in about 30 years," said Jethro Lennox, editor of the atlas. • This article was amended on 20 September. A reference to Greenland "having lost around 15%, or 300,000 sq km, of its permanent ice cover" was removed after a statement posted by the Atlas' publisher said the figure was incorrect. | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'world/arctic', 'world/world', 'science/geography', 'science/science', 'tone/news', 'environment/poles', 'environment/rivers', 'environment/mountains', 'world/greenland', 'education/geographyandenvironmentstudies', 'environment/water', 'environment/sea-level', 'environment/sea-ice', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal'] | environment/poles | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2011-09-15T10:46:27Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2024/feb/24/antarctica-sea-ice-reaches-alarming-low-for-third-year-in-a-row | Antarctica sea ice reaches alarming low for third year in a row | For the third year in a row, sea ice coverage around Antarctica has dropped below 2m sq km – a threshold which before 2022 had not been breached since satellite measurements started in 1979. The latest data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center confirms the past three years have been the three lowest on record for the amount of sea ice floating around the continent. Scientists said another exceptionally low year was further evidence of a “regime shift”, with new research indicating the continent’s sea ice has undergone an “abrupt critical transition”. Antarctica’s sea ice reaches its lowest extent at the height of the continent’s summer in February each year. On 18 February the five-day average of sea ice cover fell to 1.99m sq km and on 21 February was at 1.98m sq km. The record low was 1.78m sq km, set in February 2023. Whether the current level represents this year’s minimum won’t be known for another week or two. “But we’re confident the three lowest years on record will be the last three years,” said Will Hobbs, a sea ice scientist at the University of Tasmania. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Antarctica’s sea ice reaches its peak each September, but last year’s maximum extent was the lowest on record, easily beating the previous record by about 1m sq km. Scientists were shocked at how much less ice regrew last year, falling well outside anything seen before. Coverage appeared to recover slightly in December as the refreeze progressed, but then fell away again to the current levels. There are no reliable measurements of how thick Antarctic sea ice is, but Ariaan Purich, a climate scientist specialising in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean at Monash University, said it was possible the ice that did regrow was thinner than usual. “It seems plausible, and thinner sea ice could melt back more quickly,” she said. Scientists are still investigating what is causing the decline in sea ice, but they are concerned global heating could be playing a role – in particular by warming the Southern Ocean that encircles the continent. Sea ice reflects solar radiation, meaning less ice can lead to more ocean warming. Walt Meier, senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said that since most of the ice melts completely each summer “much of the ice is only 1-2 metres [thick]” – and even less near the ice edge. “With the very low maximum last September, the ice was probably thinner on average in many areas, but it’s hard to say how much of an effect it has had on the rate of melt and the approaching minimum,” he said. Antarctica’s ecosystems are tied to the sea ice, from the formation of phytoplankton that can remove carbon from the atmosphere to the breeding sites of penguins. Purich led research last year that said the continent’s sea ice could have undergone a “regime shift” that was probably driven by warming of the subsurface ocean about 100 metres down. Research led by Hobbs and colleagues at the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership and other institutions has added evidence to support this claim. In a paper published this month in the Journal of Climate scientists examined changes in the extent of sea ice and where it was forming each year. Looking at two periods – 1979 to 2006 and 2007 to 2022 – the researchers found the amount of sea ice had become much more variable, or erratic, in the later period. This change could not be explained by changes in the atmosphere – mostly winds – which have previously dictated most of the year-to-year variability of the ice. The study concludes an “abrupt critical transition” has occurred in Antarctica, but Hobbs said they could not say why. “We don’t know what the driver of change is. It could be ocean warming or a change in ocean salinity,” he said. But it was also possible the change was a natural shift. Scientists have warned the loss of sea ice is just one of several major changes being observed in Antarctica that is likely to have global consequences – in particular, its loss is exposing more of the continent to the ocean, accelerating the loss of ice on the land, which can push up global sea levels. Scientists have been increasingly vocal in calling for governments to take the Antarctic changes more seriously and have lamented the comparative lack of data from on and around the continent. Hobbs said: “What we need is sustained measurements of ocean temperature and salinity underneath the sea ice. We need improvements in our climate models. And we need time.” • The image on this article was replaced on 26 February 2024 to show sea ice, rather than part of the Antarctic landmass as was illustrated on a previous version. | ['world/antarctica', 'environment/poles', 'environment/ice', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/poles | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-02-24T19:00:36Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
animals-farmed/2022/mar/09/animals-farmed-an-egg-a-day-for-everyone-avian-flu-vaccines-and-dairy-cruelty | Animals farmed: an egg a day for everyone, avian flu vaccines and dairy cruelty | News from around the world Climate scientists have issued a warning on the dangers of heat stress for animals and farm workers. Increasing levels of exposure will be harmful for animal health and reduce meat and dairy production in many parts of the world, according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of the world’s leading climate scientists. The world’s first octopus farm looks set to open in the Canary Islands as government officials carry out an environmental assessment on plans for a facility starting in 2023. Animal rights activists have protested against the plans, with octopuses known to be intelligent and inquisitive as seen in the Netflix film My Octopus Teacher. One egg a day for everyone on the planet is the aim of an initiative to double global egg consumption over the next decade. Mexico and Japan lead the way at present with a per capita consumption of more than 300 eggs a year. Almost all of Japan’s egg producers use battery cages as it continues to resist international pressure to improve welfare conditions for chickens. Europe’s largest egg producer, France, has banned the slaughter of male chicks. The industry has until the end of 2022 to comply. Farmers will be required to look at alternative methods to ensure male chicks are not born, including the use of technology that enables the sex of the embryo to be identified before they develop into chicks and hatch. France is also trialling avian influenza vaccines as countries across Europe battle one of the worst winters for the disease on the continent. Any vaccine is complicated by the numerous strains of bird flu and the bans some countries have on importing poultry meat from countries that vaccinate birds. An outbreak of a deadly pig disease African swine fever was covered up by officials in Thailand, it has been claimed. The government denies the accusation and said most pig deaths were from another deadly disease, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. Meanwhile, the World Bank is funding a project to scale-up intensive pig farming in Vietnam. A provision to ban commercial mink farms in the US has been added to a bill making its way through Congress. Most countries in the EU have now banned fur farming, with the UK the first country to do so in 2000. China is on its way to becoming the world’s biggest producer. UK news Farmed fish should have the same legal protection as other farmed animals, say animal welfare activists. The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, which has the prime minister’s wife Carrie Johnson as a patron, says fish deserve to be treated with the same care as cows, pigs, sheep and other livestock because they experience stress and pain. Herefordshire county council is asking residents if their health and wellbeing has been affected by intensive chicken farms. Of the 1.1 billion broiler chickens slaughtered each year in Britain, about 25% are raised in Herefordshire and Shropshire. A surge in poultry farms means there are 70 times more chickens than people in the two counties. Vets have described undercover footage showing cows from a Welsh dairy farm being kicked, hit with shovels and mistreated as “abuse” and “totally unnecessary”. The farm was stripped of its membership of the red tractor assurance scheme, which admitted that some welfare breaches are not always detectable during its inspections. The UK may no longer move ahead with a ban on the import and sale of fur and foie gras, according to reports. The ban had been proposed in the Conservative’s 2019 manifesto. British farmers have been banned from making foie gras – created by force-feeding ducks or geese – since 2000. The use of critically important antibiotics on UK dairy farms fell by 98% between 2018 and 2021, according to an industry study. The vast majority of farm antibiotics in the UK are used in the pig and poultry sectors, both of which have reported significant reductions in recent years. From the Animals farmed series Satellite data shows more than 400 sq miles (1,000 sq km) of Amazon rainforest has been cleared for cattle and maize on farms growing soya, undermining claims crop is deforestation-free. US president Joe Biden’s pledge during Cop26 to reduce methane emissions by almost one-third has not, apparently, resulted in any limits on one of the country’s biggest emitters: the beef sector. Industry figures admitted they had escaped “relatively unscathed”, but observers warned the US would never meet Biden’s 2030 climate reduction goals without regulation. There have been renewed calls in the US to ban “cruel” on-farm killing methods as the country braces itself for an increase in bird flu outbreaks. Using firefighting foam to suffocate animals and ventilation shutdown, in which animals are killed with extremely high heat and steam, are still permitted in the US, despite being labelled “inhumane”. And finally, in this beautiful photo essay, renowned photographer Bruno Zanzottera and anthropologist Elena Dak spent a year following a shepherding family and their flock across mountainous pastures in the Dolomites, Italy. Share your stories and feedback Thank you to everyone who continues to get in touch to share their thoughts on the series. Bruce Danckwerts from Zambia writes: I fully agree that there is a very strong case against factory farming of all animals (not just ruminants) … that we must find a much more ethical way of slaughtering our animals … that there is too much meat (and waste) in the modern American diet. However, the evidence suggests that without livestock, our soils will continue to deteriorate. We must be careful not to ban the good ways, just because we want to eliminate the bad ways. Please do send us your stories and thoughts to us at: animalsfarmed@theguardian.com. And sign up for this Animals farmed monthly update to get an email roundup of some of the biggest farming and food stories across the world and keep up with our investigations. | ['animals-farmed/series/animals-farmed-update', 'environment/series/animals-farmed', 'uk/uk', 'environment/farming', 'environment/farm-animals', 'world/animal-welfare', 'type/article', 'profile/tom-levitt', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-03-09T11:20:15Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2016/jan/07/victoria-police-track-300-potential-arsonists-many-from-stoppers-tips | Victoria police track 300 potential arsonists, many from Crime Stoppers tips | Victoria police believe 300 people throughout the state are at high risk of committing arson, and all of them are being tracked to protect the public and prevent devastating bushfires. Although there are a separate 56 people in the state’s prisons for arson-related offences, police are also focusing heavily on prevention, largely thanks to public tipoffs to the independent and anonymous crime reporting hotline, Crime Stoppers. Acting detective senior sergeant Eric Harbis, from the Victoria police arson and explosives squad, said those being monitored by police were believed to be at high risk of arson, and were a mixture of former offenders and those who had not committed arson but were acting suspiciously. “The monitoring has increased over the warmer months, especially in the lead-up to severe, extreme and code-red bushfire days, and it is a dedicated, high-visibility bushfire arson prevention and detection operation,” Harbis said. “We conduct intelligence-led patrols targeting people of interest. We doorknock some of these people; we conduct curfew checks. We rely very heavily on intelligence-style policing.” Data suggests the increased monitoring, involving police from commands throughout the state, is paying off. The number of offenders in Victoria charged with intentionally causing a bushfire rose from nine in 2012-2013, to 39 in 2014-2015. The vigilance of the public had contributed to this increase, Harbis said. “Calls to Crime Stoppers is a very important component to all of this, and we rely on the public to provide info to us when we can’t be there.” Dr Paul Read, a natural disasters researcher, was commissioned by Crime Stoppers to uncover what encourages or discourages people from reporting suspected arsonists to the organisation or to police. Read, a senior research fellow with Monash University, said about half of all bushfires were caused through arson, making public tip-offs about suspected perpetrators vital. He released preliminary findings from the world-first study this week. “We found things people worried about, and which stopped them from reporting potential arson, were not having enough evidence, being afraid of going to court, or fear of revenge,” Read said. “We also found that as communities got smaller and more dangerous with higher crime rates, people became more scared to report. We knew that after the Black Saturday bushfire disaster in 2009 that a lot of people in the local community had information, even if it was just a suspicion, but weren’t necessarily reporting this information to the police or Crime Stoppers.” However, the research also found that a campaign after those fires to educate people that Crime Stoppers’ 24-hour crime-reporting hotline was anonymous led to a 290% increase in arson tip-offs. Crime Stoppers Victoria;s chief executive, Samantha Hunter, said there were still some pockets of the state, such as the Yarra Ranges and Victoria’s surf coast, where people reported some reluctance to use Crime Stoppers. “We’re unsure of the reasons, but we’re changing our communication strategy to try to address this,” she said. “But overall I think the research shows a great community confidence in Crime Stoppers.” Read said that although the motivations of arsonists varied, they seemed to fall into distinct age groups. About 32% were over the age of 40, 40% were aged between 15 and 20, and 14% were children below the age of 15. “Many perpetrators are an older male, over 40, often with alcohol and other substance abuse problems and with a violent criminal past,” he said. “The men who fall into this category are also unintelligent and dopey, but they can also be incredibly angry and bitter, and they are usually living on the edge of society. They often can’t give reasons for committing the crime, saying things like ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I felt like it’.” Last week a 47-year-old Sunbury man was arrested over two bushfires in Sunbury on Christmas Day and 29 December, and was taken to Sunshine hospital for observation. Some child perpetrators had autism and a fascination with fire, which led to fires accidentally getting out-of-hand, Read said. Others were children who lit fires after being victims of sexual abuse or neglect. “Often, the fire-starting is a response to their abuse, where instead of self-harming, they are setting fires as a form of release,” Read said. “We know from research chidren are also more prone to light fires when they have a history of family violence or alcoholism in their parents. “But the the group we’re really worried about are those with all the hallmarks of being juvenile psychopaths, and who show little remorse. That’s why we’re working to develop a world first treatment system for child fire-starters, which we will begin testing next year.” Crime Stoppers can be called 24 hours a day, Australia-wide, on 1800 333 000. | ['australia-news/bushfires', 'australia-news/crime-australia', 'australia-news/police-policing-australia', 'australia-news/victoria', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'world/wildfires', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/melissa-davey'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-01-07T05:53:05Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
sport/2022/nov/26/wayne-pivac-remains-defiant-over-future-despite-another-wales-defeat | Wayne Pivac defiant over future after Wales blow huge lead to lose again | Wayne Pivac remains defiant about his position as Wales’s coach after his side blew a 21-point lead against Australia in the last 25 minutes of what ended up as their ninth defeat of the calendar year. Nine defeats equals their previous worst in 2010. Inevitably, the calls for his head have grown in recent weeks and will not abate after this. “That is a question for someone else,” he said. “I’m contracted through to the World Cup [in France next year].” His predecessor, Warren Gatland, something of a legend in these parts, was in the stadium on media duty and would not be drawn himself on the question of the Wales job, simply replying “no” when asked if any of his former paymasters had been in touch. It had looked less live as a question during the game’s opening hour or so. Pivac preferred to focus on that, after the horror of their defeat to Georgia the week before. Pivac said: “I thought we played some excellent rugby. We were very pleased round the 50-minute mark, but then it went a little bit pear-shaped. It’s gutting from our point of view, because the players had wanted to go out on a very good note - and I thought for large parts of that game we did.” One of the many turning points, perhaps the crucial one, was the yellow card for Justin Tipuric in the 67th minute for a trip on Pete Samu, but Wales’s captain rued the moment as an innocent mistake. “Sometimes you do them on purpose,” he said, “but that one, I was literally turning and hit his foot. In the past, as a back-rower, you do put in a few bits of dirty work and deserve your yellow cards. But sometimes when things aren’t going your way, you get calls like that.” The reverse is also possible, as Pivac acknowledged. “There’s a little bit of luck in this game,” he said. “When we won the Six Nations [last year], a lot went our way. It just feels at the moment, in tight situations, it hasn’t. We’ve just got to keep believing. I think everyone would agree, that particular performance was a marked improvement.” Tipuric agreed. “The Six Nations is a weird tournament. In the past, you go in as underdogs and you come out as champions, or you go in as favourites and end up with a wooden spoon. That’s why it’s so exciting. When we get written off from the start we normally play our best rugby.” | ['sport/wales-rugby-union-team', 'sport/australia-rugby-union-team', 'sport/autumn-nations-series', 'sport/australia-sport', 'sport/rugby-union', 'campaign/email/the-breakdown', 'sport/sport', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/michaelaylwin', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/sport', 'theobserver/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/wales-rugby-union-team | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-11-26T19:00:28Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
society/2023/aug/14/home-economics-a-recipe-to-beat-obesity | Home economics: a recipe to beat obesity | Brief letters | Re your editorial (13 August) on the hazards of ultra-processed foods, one response to the obesity crisis would be to make home economics a national curriculum subject. Being able to buy good food and cook it well are life skills we all need. Without them, all of us, but especially our young, remain at the mercy of big food corporations. Susan O’Halloran Retired consultant paediatrician, Ormskirk, Lancashire • Prof Pete Dorey makes a valid point about the second jobs MPs could do (Letters, 10 August). But volunteering at Citizens Advice does take serious training, and given the woeful understanding of the benefits system shown by so many MPs, I fear our clients would end up worse off from any encounters with them. Catherine Utley Citizens Advice volunteer, London • The government has said that “Greenpeace’s criminal activity demonstrates that they are not a serious organisation” (Report, 10 August). Given lockdown fines, does that mean Rishi Sunak doesn’t believe his government is a serious organisation? William G Connon Hastings, East Sussex • As a cyclist, I too am affected by potholes (Letters, 8 August). The more attention you have to give to the road surface, the less you have for everything else. But if motorists are worried about what potholes might do to their cars, why are they so ready to charge up kerbs and on to pavements? Margaret Pelling Oxford • Re the digital divide (Editorial, 6 August), my local village of Broadford has opened a smart new toilet facility. Entry by smartphone only. Clearly elderly bladders are not welcome. John Cayley Ardvasar, Isle of Skye | ['society/obesity', 'food/food', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'education/curriculums', 'education/education', 'education/schools', 'environment/greenpeace', 'environment/activism', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/rishi-sunak', 'science/ageing', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'uk/uk', 'science/food-science', 'business/fooddrinks', 'world/road-safety', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/greenpeace | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2023-08-14T16:02:32Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2019/nov/08/country-diary-water-is-everywhere-in-this-rainforest-like-ravine-hareshaw-linn-northumberland | Country diary: water is everywhere in this rainforest-like ravine | To the north of the village of Bellingham, the Hareshaw Burn cuts a winding ravine deep into the land. The trees that grow in this sandstone gorge – pedunculate oak, elm, ash and hazel – are remnants of woodlands that were once more extensive. The moist air, the cycles of growth and rot, allow the survival of mosses, liverworts, ferns and more than 50 species of lichen. For this, and its rich flora, the area is designated as a site of special scientific interest. Linn is Northumbrian for waterfall, and the wood is called Hareshaw Linn after the dramatic cascade where the river descends from surrounding moorland. It’s remarkable that this place feels so untouched. In the mid-19th century a massive stone dam was thrown across the lower end of the burn. It supplied water to an ironworks, sited here to exploit four key resources: water power, iron ore, limestone and coal. There were two blast furnaces, 70 coke ovens, 24 roasting kilns, a water-powered engine and a blacksmith’s shop. But the works lasted less than 20 years, failing from lack of a railway to transport the resulting pig iron, and part of the dam wall is all that remains. Damp glistens on haws, elderberries and brambles as we enter the wood. The path is bordered by dog’s mercury, woodruff, wild raspberry and wood sage, indicators of the age of this plant community. Plump hazelnuts lie on cushions of emerald moss, and herringbone fronds of hard fern luxuriate in the wet air. Wood sorrel grows on decomposing logs, and lianas of honeysuckle droop from branches laden with epiphytic ferns, adding to the rainforest feel. Water is everywhere – crossing our path in stone channels, running in tiny streams among fallen rocks, thundering down the main river in coffee-brown swoops and curves. Six bridges cross the Hareshaw Burn. We stop at each to watch bubbles and white foam spinning between boulders. As the cliffs rear taller, there’s a feeling of expectation and, round a bend, there is the Linn itself, powering down in creamy pulses into a large pool. Water drips from overhanging ledges on honey-coloured cliffs. I’ve seen the Linn iced up, all 30 feet of its restless movement frozen into candlewax accretions. Today, clouds of misty drizzle dampen my clothes but benefit the rare plants that flourish here. | ['environment/rivers', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/forests', 'lifeandstyle/walking', 'uk-news/northumberland', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/susie-white', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-11-08T05:30:20Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/blog/2010/apr/22/earth-day-2010-google-doodle-forest | Earth Day 2010 grows a Google Doodle forest for its 40th birthday | Adam Vaughan | Fire up Google today and you'll be greeted by the Google logo as a lush forest - the web giant's nod to and celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. This so-called Google Doodle appears to depict a collection of six parrots, which I'm taking - Google doesn't provide explanatory gallery notes - to be a reference to the fact that 2010 is also the International Year of Biodiversity, to be marked on 22 May. This isn't the first time Google has given over its logo for Earth Day. Last year, it ran an illustration of a waterfall and a rainbow of marine life (quite cool), in 2008 it plumped for the logo as a pile of rocks with vegetation growing on it (slightly random), and in 2007 depicted the Google logo as melting polar ice (very apt seeing as the loss of Arctic ice that summer left experts "stunned"). Beyond the natural world, it has also previously celebrated Earth Day by taking a look at the solutions to some of our environmental problems: 2006 featured solar panels atop the famous logo with a wind turbine in the background. Earth Day, of course, is a bit older than Google, with the first taking place in the US in 1970, thanks to Gaylord Nelson, a US senator and Democrat, who died in 2005. In the words of its organisers, it is designed to "[activate] individuals and organizations to strengthen the collective fight against man's exploitive relationship with the planet." No mean feat then. It's very much a product of the burgeoning environment movement of its time, and a clear forerunner to modern green coalitions, such as TckTckTck for the ongoing international climate talks, Ask The Climate Question for the election, along with countless other groups and invididuals. Robert Stone, a film-maker who recently released a documentary called Earth Days on the genesis of the environment movement and the founding of Earth Day, seems to think the "day" has done its job. He told the New York Time's Andy Revkin this week: "The environmental movement in the late 60s and early 70s was driven by a strong sense of urgency that I think you see conveyed in the footage of those times. The movement now is sort of a victim of its own success in that our environment as a whole seems pretty good." I'm not sure which environment Stone is looking at. Perhaps the one where extinction has overtaken evolution or the one where the talks to reign in habitat-threatening global warming are in disarray? If you think there's still a need for an Earth Day, there are hundreds of events going on globally — including a rally this Sunday (25 April) on the mall in Washington — alongside the "people's climate summit" taking place this week in Bolivia. And Google, with its investments in renewable energy, talk of need for a strong carbon price and other green philanthropic efforts – is well-placed to help awareness of such green days. This is unlikely to be the last eco Google Doodle either for 2010 – any guesses for what a Google logo might look for the UN's World Environment Day on 5 June? | ['environment/blog', 'technology/google', 'environment/environment', 'technology/technology', 'environment/biodiversity', 'science/science', 'tone/blog', 'environment/ethical-living', 'type/article', 'profile/adam-vaughan'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2010-04-22T09:48:56Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2009/mar/05/pakistan-cricket-board-attacks-broad | Pakistan hits back over Sri Lankan team security | Pakistan's embattled cricket authorities launched a searing attack today on Chris Broad, the English match referee who criticised the security provided for the ill-fated Sri Lanka test match in Lahore. The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board called a special press conference, seemingly just to respond to Broad, who yesterday castigated the Pakistani authorities, accusing the security services of fleeing the scene and leaving the visitors as "sitting ducks". "If there was no security then how come six policemen died at the scene and 10 were injured?" said a furious Ijaz Butt, chairman of the PCB, at today's press conference. "Chris Broad was saved. A commando jumped on him and he was the one hit by a bullet." Butt said Broad's allegations were "totally fabricated". The Pakistani board is to lodge a formal complaint over Broad to the International Cricket Council, the sport's governing body. Broad had come to Pakistan as a neutral match referee for the series against Sri Lanka. Among Broad's criticisms was the fact that the Pakistani team did not leave the hotel at the same time as the Sri Lankans and the cricket officials, but instead left later. "After this happened, you start to think, did someone know something and held the Pakistan bus back?" Broad said, further criticising the police present for not returning fire or capturing anyone. According to Butt, the Pakistan team bus always travelled some way behind the Sri Lankans during the tour. Butt said Broad was "all praise" for the security for the one-day Sri Lanka-Pakistan game, which took place in January. The same security was in place this week, Butt said, when the terrorists struck. "Now that same Chris Broad, I think he's gone dizzy in the head. He's saying such wrong things. He hasn't said one thing that's correct ... These were obnoxious comments by him." Broad was travelling in a minibus immediately behind the Sri Lankan bus. The driver of the minibus was killed, while a Pakistani umpire in the vehicle was critically wounded. Broad and two Australian umpires in the minibus were not hurt. The Australians have also been highly critical of the security arrangements. Six police died in the ambush and around 16 were injured, including six members of the Sri Lankan team and an English assistant coach. "Our people were injured, our policemen died," said Butt. "If someone is complaining who emerged without a scratch, he has no business doing so." | ['world/pakistan', 'world/srilanka', 'world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack', 'world/world', 'sport/sri-lanka-cricket-team', 'sport/pakistancricketteam', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'tone/news', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'type/article', 'profile/saeedshah'] | world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2009-03-05T13:27:43Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
media/2012/sep/07/marie-claire-october-issue-video-ad | Marie Claire claims UK first with October issue to feature video ad | Marie Claire is claiming a UK first with the publication of a display advert featuring video content. The ad, for a fragrance from the luxury fashion label Dolce & Gabbana, is appearing in a few thousand copies of the 396-page October issue. Pages 34 and 35 feature a 45-second video ad featuring a pair of models posing near a coastal scene. The ad was paid for by Procter & Gamble, the company licensed to produce the fragrance. The ad includes music and is embedded on the page in an insert. When the page is opened the advert begins to play. The technology used for the ad was developed by the US firm Americhip, which has already used it in foreign titles including Russian Vogue. But this is believed to be the first time a UK glossy has used the technology. "It is made out of harder material, and heavier stock and we are delighted with it," said Marie Claire's publishing director Justine Southall. The company declined to reveal how many copies contain the video but it is believed to be in the low five figures. The title currently has a monthly circulation of about 255,000 copies. Most of the copies that contain it are understood to be subscriber issues but Southall said that there was already excitement among readers about getting the video ad. "It is a bit like getting the golden ticket in the Wonka bar," she said. Southall added that she was open to using the technology in future ad deals for the magazine. "This is massive and it's a huge change," she said. "It is expensive but the cost will come down in time and it will become a more accessible part of what we do." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. | ['media/ipc', 'media/magazines', 'media/pressandpublishing', 'media/digital-media', 'media/media', 'fashion/fashion', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'technology/technology', 'technology/digitalvideo', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/bendowell'] | technology/digitalvideo | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2012-09-07T15:12:09Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
australia-news/2020/jan/13/up-to-100000-sheep-killed-in-kangaroo-island-fires-as-farmers-tally-livestock-losses | Up to 100,000 sheep killed in Kangaroo Island fires, as farmers tally livestock losses | Up to 100,000 sheep were killed in bushfires on Kangaroo Island and at least 25,000 more livestock perished in fires on mainland Australia, farming groups have said. Kangaroo Island farmers ordered thousands of rounds of ammunition to shoot animals that were critically injured in a catastrophic bushfire that has burned through half of the island’s landmass, devastating a significant koala population and thousands of other wildlife and killing up to one-sixth of the sheep population. “A gun dealer was told to get as much ammunition as he could to shoot sheep and wildlife,” said Kevin Butler, the founder and president of the volunteer rural bushfire recovery organisation BlazeAid. “He left [mainland SA] with 50,000 rounds and he ran out of ammunition. “One farmer lost 7,000 first-cross ewes. The whole lot, gone.” BlazeAid has volunteers standing by to go to Kangaroo Island, once the fire, which is still flaring up, has been declared safe. It organises between 20,000 and 100,000 volunteers nationally to help farmers replace fencing and other infrastructure. Similar volunteer camps will be set up in East Gippsland, and north-east Victoria, southern New South Wales and other regions hit by the New Year’s Eve fires. Eighteen other camps have already been established to help rebuild after earlier fires in the Adelaide Hills and northern NSW. “I have got farmers ringing up now that have just walked in with a rifle from shooting sheep,” Butler said. “If we don’t get help in there quick, something bad is going to happen.” Butler said he needs more volunteers and more donations to cope with demand. The Kangaroo Island mayor, Michael Pengilly, said the exact number of sheep killed had not been counted, but “I don’t think there’s any doubt that we have probably lost 100,000 sheep”. The cattle population fared better, but some were still found burned. Pengilly said ammunition ran low in the days immediately following the fire, but the department of primary industries helped ensure animals were euthanised in a timely manner. “I had 800 rounds of .22 at home and I just gave that to a bloke who needed them, and that helped him out,” he said. There were between 600,000 and 700,000 merino and crossbred sheep on Kangaroo Island. Some farmers lost their entire flock when the fire flared up on 2 and 3 January. “I know one bloke who is my age, he lost every head of sheep on the place,” Pengilly said. “He lost 9,000. And that is pretty common.” Pengilly said he feels guilty that his own farm did not burn. At least 13,120 head of livestock have been euthanised or confirmed dead as a result of bushfires in NSW, the NSW Farmers Association said. Early estimates from Victoria are for a similar number of losses, but both figures are expected to rise. About 6,000 beehives have also been lost, and a further 10,000 damaged. The oyster industry is also facing losses due to water quality and transport issues and the horticultural industry is still assessing the level of damage to orchards. About 10,500 tonnes of fodder has been distributed to farmers in fire-affected areas, including dairy farmers on the south coast. Much of that fodder was sent from Victoria, where the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has begun a fodder drive to support farmers in East Gippsland and the upper Murray region. “The generosity of some of our people who are in drought themselves and have offered to send fodder from all over the state is amazing,” the NSW Farmers Association president, James Jackson, said. “There’s a real community and a unity of purpose if you like. These crises bring out the best in people.” That included dairy farmers in the southern highlands who clubbed together to donate $1m to the bushfire effort, and a schoolgirl in Victoria who raised $500 from a cake stall and donated the proceeds to the VFF’s fodder fund. | ['australia-news/bushfires', 'environment/farming', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/kangaroo-island', 'australia-news/south-australia', 'australia-news/victoria', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/calla-wahlquist', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-01-13T07:24:55Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2021/sep/30/electricity-from-clive-palmers-coal-power-station-would-cost-four-times-current-price-report-says | Electricity from Clive Palmer’s coal power station would cost four times current price, report says | Electricity produced by Clive Palmer’s remote coal power station would be four times more costly than the current market price, an analysis commissioned by conservation groups claims. Palmer’s company Waratah Coal has taken the unusual step of lodging a development application for the power station with the Barcaldine regional council, rather than the Queensland government. While the mayor of Barcaldine has said that it is “peculiar” for a project worth $3.5bn to be left with local government, Waratah insists there is nothing unusual about the process. “This is absolutely a normal process,” a spokesperson for the company has said. The company has had approval since 2013 to build a massive 40m tonne coalmine 30km north of the tiny town of Alpha – population 335 – and 450km west of Rockhampton. While Waratah Coal has made no physical progress on the mine, the mining magnate’s company has drawn up plans for a 1.4GW coal-fired power station on an adjacent cattle station. The Queensland planning minister and deputy premier, Steven Miles, has powers to “call in” the power station proposal. He has publicly expressed scepticism about the project, describing it as a “thought bubble”. “I try to not get too worried about anything Clive says or does,” Miles told reporters last week. “It was a while ago now he announced we’re to be getting a Titanic, we still don’t have a Titanic. It was a while ago he announced we’d be getting a dinosaur park, we still don’t have a dinosaur park.” There is concern among conservation groups that seemingly uneconomic coal power proposals could be made viable by politically-loaded government policy, where subsidies or market concessions were offered on the basis the power generated would providing baseload capacity. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning The Queensland government says no additional coal-fired generation is needed in the state. Its own fleet of coal-fired power stations, the youngest in Australia, is facing an uncertain future and is forecast to stop paying dividends within two years. The Queensland Conservation Council report into the Palmer proposal, seen by Guardian Australia, says the assessment documents significantly underestimate the cost to build such a power station. Waratah Coal has put the cost of the project at $3.5bn. Using the Australian Market Energy Operator’s standard assumptions, the QCC analysis says the likely capital cost would be close to $6.4bn. The analysis says the cost of power from the proposed Galilee power station would be about $1/kWh. The current market price in Queensland is 25c/kWh. “In (the last) decade, the capital costs for solar and storage have more than halved, while finance costs for coal projects have increased around the globe. Projected electricity demand growth in Queensland evaporated and rooftop (solar) has massively changed the role for large-scale generation,” the Queensland Conservation Council report says. “The Galilee power station could never compete with new renewables and storage on price.” The QCC director, Dave Copeman, said the proposal anticipated Queensland consumers paying more for power and “possibly looking for federal government support to make the proposal feasible”. He said Aemo reports made it clear Queensland has sufficient generation to guarantee supply until 2030, and that additional investment was planned in wind, solar, batteries and other storage. “Queensland doesn’t need this power station, our premier has said we don’t need this power station, because it does not make economic or environmental sense for it to go ahead.” The Queensland government has previously voiced opposition to new coal-fired power proposals on the basis they are not needed and could put the state’s existing stations out of commission – and their staff out of work – earlier than scheduled. State-run power companies are already looking to potentially wind back coal generation, citing a rapid pivot in the energy market, the low cost of renewables and the difficulty running coal generators in a flexible manner. Palmer was contacted for comment. | ['australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/clive-palmer', 'environment/coal', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ben-smee', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/coal | ENERGY | 2021-09-30T05:08:48Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/feb/06/energyefficiency-waste | Clean battery idea wins green video contest | Posting a video on YouTube rarely nets you more reward than the kudos of being on the most-viewed list, unless you're a makeup artist-turned-Guardian columnist. Two students from the University of California in Irvine, however, have just joined the list of YouTube earners by scooping $25,000 (£17,050) for their entry in a green video competition by the X-Prize Foundation (the folk who previously awarded a $10 million prize for putting a private spaceship into orbit). Bryan Le and Kyle Good's winning video (above) proposed a contest to design a new generation of batteries based on capacitor technology that's free of hazardous chemicals, capable of recharging half a million times, and powerful enough to propel an electric car for 100 miles. The capacitor battery idea beat off 133 initial entries and two other finalists' videos by bagging the majority of 4,200 votes cast by the public. Kyle's team reportedly plan to spend their cash on studying in Europe and taking a spiritual trip to India. Now all that remains to be seen is whether the X-Prize Foundation will take up the battery baton and make it a reality - as Ecogeek notes, only one of the X-Prize's five challenges has been achieved so far. What do you think? Did Good and Le deserve to win? Here's the video of the awards ceremony: | ['environment/environment', 'tone/blog', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/waste', 'environment/green-living-blog', 'type/article', 'profile/adam-vaughan'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2009-02-06T11:53:35Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
news/2016/may/11/rail-hotline-study-buckle-sag-steel-cables-early-summer-train-delays | Rail hotline: study pins down the buckle and sag of summer timetables | Train delays are not unusual in the UK, but you may notice that they become even more frequent when warm spring weather arrives. Even moderately low spring temperatures of 20C can cause our railways to flag. A new study shows that the greatest number of heat-related incidents tends to occur early in the summer season, and, by high summer, when temperatures are at their peak, trains are running smoothly again. Heat causes a number of problems for railways. Steel rails (which are attached directly to concrete sleepers) expand and buckle, risking derailment of trains. Overhead electric lines also expand and start to sag, sometimes causing electric trains to lose their connection to the power supply. And electrical signalling equipment also struggles to cope with overheating. In theory, UK rail infrastructure should be able to cope with temperatures up to 27°C or so, but in practice it only takes one poorly maintained section of line to cause delays up and down the country. Emma Ferranti, from the University of Birmingham, and her colleagues, studied such heat-related incidents in south-east England and found that over half were to do with signalling problems, and a fifth with track failure. In the journal Weather, Climate and Society, the authors show how most of these incidents happen early in the season. They postulate that by late summer most of the dodgy bits of track and ropey signalling systems have been fixed. All of which suggests that some well-targeted railway maintenance earlier in the year could prevent many of these heat related delays. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'uk/rail-transport', 'business/network-rail', 'politics/transport', 'uk/transport', 'travel/railtravel', 'environment/spring', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/kate-ravilious', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-05-11T20:30:08Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
politics/2010/jul/19/business-quangos-scrapped-coalition-cuts | Business quangos scrapped in coalition cuts | The government is to axe four business quangos, which cost more than £8.6m a year to run, as part of its post-election cull of the public sector. Business secretary Vince Cable said the work of these publicly funded non-governmental bodies would be taken over by government departments, making them more accountable and reducing administrative costs. However, the independent thinktank the Institute for Government warned last week that "cutting the number of arm's-length bodies will not necessarily lead to savings". The Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property Policy (SABIP), Simplifying International Trade (SITPRO) and the WEEE Advisory Body (WAB) will all close within the next year, and the British Shipbuilders Corporation will be abolished in 2011. The functions of SABIP will pass to the Intellectual Property Office, and the work carried out by the remaining organisations will be taken on by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The number of quangos that will be abolished, merged or receive no more funding has now increased to 17. Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property Policy SABIP was established by the Labour government in 2008 with a remit to "provide strategic, independent and evidence-based advice to government on intellectual property policy, covering all types of intellectual property rights". Some see SABIP's abolition as further evidence that the coalition government does not believe intellectual property is that important. In May, the position of minister for higher education and intellectual property was abolished. Last year, David Lammy, the then IP minister, announced the launch of a research programme designed to explore the economic benefits IP brings. There are now question marks over a range of studies that were to be co-ordinated by SABIP and the IPO. Simplifying International Trade The UK's trade facilitation body is dedicated to simplifying the international trading process by cutting red tape. For the past four decades, it has engaged in activities ranging from "grassroots" problem-solving on behalf of UK businesses to advising the government. On its website SITPRO provides advice to companies of all sizes, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, that are venturing abroad – from drawing up an export strategy to how to deal with the required documents and procedures. WEEE Advisory Body The WAB was set up to review the collection, treatment and recycling facilities for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and to improve the effectiveness of the WEEE regulations to ensure the UK is seen as a leader in this field in Europe. The Department for Business website says the disposal of small household WEEE remains a prevalent issue. WAB was scheduled to undertake a study of individual producer responsibility – under which the makers of electrical equipment are supposed to be involved in its proper disposal and recycling – this year. British Shipbuilders Corporation In 1983 the public corporation that owned and managed all the shipbuilders that were nationalised by the 1977 Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act was privatised. It sold off its various divisions but continues to exist in statute in order to be accountable for any liabilities. | ['politics/quangos', 'society/public-sector-cuts', 'business/business', 'environment/recycling', 'politics/vincentcable', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'society/public-finance', 'type/article', 'profile/juliakollewe', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2010-07-19T13:03:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
technology/2016/aug/02/samsungs-galaxy-note-7-is-waterproof-and-has-iris-scanning | Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 7 phablet you can unlock with your eyes | Samsung’s latest Galaxy Note 7 phablet is one of the first smartphones to ship with an iris scanner that can read your eyes and let you into your phone in seconds. Having invented the phablet in 2011 with the original Galaxy Note, Samsung has skipped the Note 6 to bring the Note line up to numerical par with its popular Galaxy S7 line. The new phone features the same high-end, premium design and build that made the Galaxy S7 Edge popular, with a fit and finish better than any of the Korean firm’s other smartphones. But its biggest selling feature is a new biometric option in the form of an infrared iris scanner that takes just seconds to set up and unlock the phone with a glance of either eye. It still has a fingerprint scanner under the home button, which glasses-wearers will appreciate as they may have to remove their glasses or contact lenses to make the iris scanner work. The Note 7 also features similar specifications to the Galaxy S7 Edge, including its IP68 rating making it waterproof to depths of 1.5m for 30 minutes, a 12-megapixel camera on the back, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, with a microSD card slot for adding more. The phablet has a 5.7in quad HD screen, USB-C, and the integrated S-pen stylus, which is now waterproof and will work when the screen is wet. Samsung has also made the screen ready for the new high dynamic range video standard which is rolling out across high-end televisions, supported by content from Amazon’s Prime video service, among others. Samsung has also made changes to the Note 7’s Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software, including the ability to turn video into gifs directly from the screen, and various other stylus-related tools, including the ability to write on the smartphone’s screen when it’s asleep without having to wake it up. The Note 7’s USB-C port requires a new version of the company’s Gear VR headset, which Samsung says it has reworked to be more comfortable to wear and use. The new Gear VR also has an accessory port on the side and revamped controls. Samsung said that it has more than 1 million users of various incarnations of its Gear VR headset, with 500,000 sold in the EU, which makes it one of the best-selling VR headsets. Samsung is locked in a battle for the top-end smartphone space with arch rival Apple, which only recently began to sell phablets. As larger-screen smartphones have become more and more popular - the fastest growing segment in Europe - companies have struggled to differentiate their high-priced phablets with multiple functions from the cheaper large-screened smartphones primarily designed for media consumption. The Korean firm will hope that its focus on stylus functions, premium materials and it’s Knox security platform, which using both fingerprint and iris scanners claims to be one of the most secure and easy to use smartphones available, will lure customers from cheaper alternatives. The Galaxy Note 7 will be available in the UK on 2 September. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review: this is the smartphone to beat | ['technology/galaxy-note-7', 'technology/samsung', 'technology/smartphones', 'technology/phablets', 'technology/android', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/technology', 'technology/mobilephones', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samuel-gibbs', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-technology'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2016-08-03T07:30:06Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
commentisfree/2024/jan/23/the-guardian-view-on-environmental-protest-dissent-is-vital-to-protect-democracy | The Guardian view on environmental protest: dissent is vital to protect democracy | Editorial | In the last few years, environmental protesters in Britain have pulled off some striking – and strikingly irritating – acts of civil disobedience. These have caused indignation and aggravation, especially by disrupting people’s lives. But their actions grabbed our attention. The purpose is to denounce an injustice by intentionally breaking the law in a non-violent way. The justification is a climate emergency that threatens humanity’s future. There is nothing new in this: the suffragettes smashed windows and set buildings alight. Today we honour their cause and courage. Yet the government appears intent on criminalising protest, a move rightly criticised by Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders. He warns that a pillar of democracy – the right to protest – is under threat in Britain. The demonisation of environmental activists and the erosion of civil rights without adequate scrutiny from lawmakers, or protection by the courts, are undermining the UK’s guarantees of freedom and the rule of law. It had been almost unheard of since the 1930s for demonstrators to be imprisoned for peaceful protest in the UK. Last month, he said, a climate protester got six months behind bars for slow-walking on a road. The UK would like to swat away such criticism – as it did last August when another UN special rapporteur warned that lengthy jail time for activists could curb freedoms. But the British government has to tread more carefully. Mr Forst’s statement is an invitation to aggrieved parties to complain to him directly. He is empowered by an international treaty signed by the UK and could take it up with ministers. An unsatisfactory response from them could see Britain declared as acting unlawfully. There’s plenty that Mr Forst sees as wrong. He was aghast to learn that some environmental defendants in criminal trials were forbidden from explaining their motivation for participating in a given protest, or from mentioning climate change when their liberty was at stake. A jury’s power to acquit had been seen for decades as a “constitutional safeguard” – insurance that the criminal law should conform to the ordinary person’s idea of what is fair. That notion is held in contempt, evidently, by ministers. Juries have for years acquitted activists after listening to their rationale for seemingly unlawful protest. It is Orwellian to think the answer would be to abolish their role. Yet Gail Bradbrook, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, was found guilty last year of criminal damage after the judge banned her from explaining her motivation. Worse could follow if the attorney general, Victoria Prentis, wins a test case in the court of appeal next month. She wants to narrow the defences available in climate protest cases about criminal damage. She may win. Judges sided with her predecessor, Suella Braverman, by saying that the toppling of a statue of the slaver Edward Colston was not a “proportionate exercise” of the right to protest, removing a defence for protestors. Democracies are easily broken. They need political leadership that prizes the rule of law and a truthful media. But they also depend on a public determined to retain their freedoms. Since 2016, Brexit has fuelled a reckless attitude toward Britain’s democratic structures. Dissent is urgently needed, as is the ability for a jury to know the reasons for that dissent. Once in possession of the facts, people are likely to be more impressed with climate activists than with the condescension visited upon them. The modern world is increasingly complex. It needs a politics of tolerance, not intolerance. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/activism', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'world/protest', 'environment/environment', 'law/law', 'type/article', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2024-01-23T19:22:59Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2024/oct/17/young-americans-climate-change | Overwhelming majority of young Americans worry about climate crisis | The overwhelming majority of young Americans worry about the climate crisis, and more than half say their concerns about the environment will affect where they decide to live and whether to have children, new research finds. The study comes just weeks after back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, pummeled the south-eastern US. Flooding from Helene caused more than 600 miles of destruction, from Florida’s west coast to the mountains of North Carolina, while Milton raked across the Florida peninsula less than two weeks later. “One of the most striking findings of the survey was that this was across the political spectrum,” said the lead author, Eric Lewandowski, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “There was no state sample where the endorsement of climate anxiety came in less than 75%.” The study was published in the Lancet Planetary Health, and follows a 2021 study covering 10 countries. Both the previous and current study were paid for by Avaaz, an advocacy group. The new study was conducted by researchers from NYU School of Medicine, Stanford University, Utah State University, the University of Washington and George Washington University, among others. In an online survey, researchers asked young people aged 16-25 from all 50 US states to rate their concerns, thoughts and emotions regarding the climate crisis; about their political affiliation and about who has responsibility for causing climate change. Researchers conducted the survey online from July to November 2023. An overwhelming majority of young people said they were worried about the climate crisis – 85% said they were at least moderately worried, and more than half (57%) said they were “very or extremely” worried. Nearly two-thirds endorsed the statement: “Humanity is doomed,” and more than half of the sample (52%) endorsed: “I’m hesitant to have children.” “I often hear adults say that our generation, gen Z, will fix what they have broken. What they may not understand is the pressure this puts on all of us,” said Zion Walker, a student and member of the Climate Mental Health Network’s Gen Z Advisory Board, in a statement. “Yes, we are taking steps and fighting for the future, but many of us are overwhelmed by the daily reality of climate disasters – waking up to news of wildfires engulfing homes and hurricanes taking lives.” Large majorities of both main political parties – 92% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans – said they worried about the climate. Respondents also said they had negative thoughts about the climate and had planned action to respond to their concerns, including voting for political candidates who would pledge to support “aggressive” action. Using a statistical technique called a regression model, researchers also found that young people who reported more exposure to more climate-related disasters were more likely to want a plan for action. “One of the findings we talk about in the text was the proportion of people who want this to be talked about,” said Lewandowski. He added that more than 70% of young people want the climate to be a subject of discussion, “and for older generations to try to understand how they feel.” The new research represents an emerging topic in mental health stressors. The relationship between mental health impacts and natural disasters – such as Helene, Milton and even Covid-19 – is well established. Researchers have even found a dose-response relationship, with more reported depression symptoms associated with greater exposure to disaster. Climate anxiety, such as worry about the future of the planet, is an area of emerging research. “Stressors like divorce, unemployment, having your kids do poorly in school, having a hard time looking after your ageing parents are all associated with worse mental health,” said Dr Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, who was not involved in the research. Although less studied, Galea said, “having stressors around climate, worsening of the planet, fear of things like conflict – those are all very plausibly associated with poor mental health.” | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'society/youngpeople', 'us-news/us-news', 'society/mental-health', 'environment/environment', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jessica-glenza', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-10-17T22:31:05Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2015/jun/24/renewable-energy-target-senate-sits-late-to-pass-bill-without-amendment | Renewable energy target: Senate sits late to pass bill without amendment | Legislation to reduce the renewable energy target from 41,000 gigawatt hours to 33,000gWh has passed both houses of parliament. The Senate sat late on Tuesday to pass the bill. Labor and the Coalition struck a deal on the target in May after a months-long standoff that the renewables industry said undermined investment. Plans to review the RET every two years and to include the burning of native wood in the target proved to be sticking points for Labor in the negotiation of the deal. The government eventually dropped plans for biennial reviews. “The 33,000 gigawatt hour renewable energy target will not be reviewed until 2020,” said the environment minister, Greg Hunt. “This will give the renewable energy industry the certainty it needs to grow.” The government won the support of some Senate crossbenchers for plans to include wood waste in the target by promising to appoint a windfarm commissioner. A letter from Hunt, revealed last week by Guardian Australia, shows that the commissioner’s main function will be to respond to complaints about wind turbines. Hunt told ABC radio on Wednesday morning that the cost of the new role would be absorbed in his department’s existing budget. Advocates of renewable energy said the role was nothing more than a political exercise. “The Abbott government has done another deal on the side to strangle the wind industry with unfair regulations, which don’t apply to industries with genuine health impacts, like coal and gas,” said the Greens deputy leader, Larissa Waters. Victoria McKenzie-McHarg from the Australian Conservation Foundation said: “The introduction of a ‘wind commissioner’ adds a completely unnecessary layer of bureaucracy to the development of wind power, which is already the most over-studied and over-regulated energy source in Australia. “There is a much stronger case for a ‘coal commissioner’, considering the known health impacts from mining, transporting and burning coal, not to mention the health problems that result when a coalmine catches fire, as happened 18 months ago at the Hazelwood mine in Victoria.” The RET legislation was passed without amendment despite Labor, the Greens and two crossbenchers proposing changes. Labor wanted native wood waste excluded and the Greens wanted states to be able to set their own more ambitious renewable targets if they so wished. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a longtime critic of the larger target, welcomed the deal as the surmounting of a “major hurdle”. “The reduction of the target from 41,000 gigawatt hours is a sensible reform that acknowledges the changed circumstances of lower overall demand for energy than originally anticipated,” said its chief executive, Kate Carnell. Labor said the deal “returns certainty” to the renewables sector. In a joint statement, the shadow environment minister, Mark Butler, and the shadow resources minister, Gary Gray, said the conclusion of the deal was a relief. “We did not make this deal with any sense of joy, but with relief that it will bring an important industry back from the brink, even in the face of Tony Abbott’s senseless verbal attacks in recent days,” it said. This month the prime minister described wind turbines as “visually awful” and went against scientific evidence by agreeing that they may have health impacts during a radio interview with the conservative commentator Alan Jones. | ['environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/windpower', 'australia-news/greg-hunt', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australian-greens', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'profile/shalailah-medhora'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2015-06-24T00:03:13Z | true | ENERGY |
uk-news/2019/jun/26/cressida-dick-calls-for-public-consent-on-data-use-to-help-battle | ‘Woefully low’: Cressida Dick calls for action on crime-solving rates | The Metropolitan police commissioner has hit out at “woefully low” rates for solving crimes, with courts “emptying” despite some offences rising. Cressida Dick used a keynote lecture to call for better use of data and public consent to avoid charges of a “police state”. Talking to an audience in London at the thinktank the Police Foundation, Dick said she was not proud of low detection rates for some crimes. Official figures for England and Wales show rape down to a 4% detection rate, and an overall detection rate for all recorded offences of 9%. Dick compared those low figures to the Met’s 90% detection rate for homicides in London and said: “Overall, police detection rates nationally are low, woefully low I would say in some instances, and the courts are emptying, not filling. So what magic wand would it take for us to be able to apply what we can do in murder to so many other cases?” The Met commissioner said growing availability of data from phones and CCTV cameras may hold the answer. She said: “A very, very large proportion of crimes that currently occur could be prevented or at least successfully investigated in the reasonably near future by the use of data that is already theoretically available and technology that is already developed.” She said cases were becoming increasingly complex and in the future police would need more resources in terms of people and investment in technology, and more skills to handle and analyse data. Dick was setting out one of the battlegrounds in modern society: growing technology offering law enforcement greater opportunities to boost crime-fighting and detection, set against privacy groups and civil libertarians calling for limits and tough rules to stop a Big Brother state developing. The Met is one of several forces trialling facial-recognition technology, which is proving controversial. Earlier this week figures revealed that across England and Wales the number of detectives in homicide and major crime units had fallen by 28% since 2010, when the Conservative government began cutting funding to the police. Homicide clear-up rates across England and Wales also fell in the same period. | ['uk/police', 'uk/metropolitan-police', 'uk-news/cressida-dick', 'uk/london', 'uk/uk', 'world/privacy', 'law/uk-civil-liberties', 'technology/facial-recognition', 'technology/technology', 'technology/data-protection', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/vikramdodd', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | technology/facial-recognition | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2019-06-26T17:32:07Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2021/aug/27/single-use-plastic-plates-and-cutlery-to-be-banned-in-england | Single-use plastic plates and cutlery to be banned in England | Single-use plastic plates and cutlery, and polystyrene cups will be banned in England under government plans, as it seeks to reduce the plastic polluting the environment. A public consultation will launch in the autumn and the ban could be in place in a couple of years. The move was welcomed by campaigners, but they said overall progress on cutting plastic waste was “snail-paced”, with the EU having banned these items and others in July. The average person uses 18 throwaway plastic plates and 37 single-use knives, forks and spoons each year, according to ministers, while the durability of plastic litter means it kills more than a million birds and 100,000 sea mammals and turtles every year around the world. The government will also impose a plastic packaging tax from April 2022. This will charge £200 per tonne for plastic that has less than 30% recycled content, to encourage greater use of recycled material. The government’s plastic bag charge has cut their use in supermarkets by 95% since 2015, and it banned plastic microbeads in washing products in 2018 and single-use plastic straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers in 2020. A deposit return scheme for plastic bottles will not be in place in England until late 2024 at the earliest, six years after being announced by the government as a key environmental policy. “We’ve all seen the damage that plastic does to our environment,” said the environment secretary, George Eustice. “It is right that we put in place measures that will tackle the plastic carelessly strewn across our parks and green spaces and washed up on beaches. We have made progress to turn the tide on plastic, now we are looking to go a step further.” Plastic items from takeaway food and drink dominate the litter in the world’s oceans, according to research published in June, with single-use bags, plastic bottles, food containers and food wrappers the four most widespread. Research in 2020 found that people in the US and UK produced more plastic waste per person than any other major countries. Microplastic pollution has contaminated the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. Will McCallum, at Greenpeace UK, said: “Banning throwaway plastic items like plates and cutlery is a welcome move, but the UK government is simply playing catch up with the EU. After years of talking about being a global leader in this field, the UK government has managed to crack down on a grand total of four single-use plastic items and microplastics. This snail-paced, piecemeal approach isn’t leadership.” McCallum said ministers should bring in legally binding targets to halve single-use plastic by 2025 and ban exports of scrap plastic. “The UK public has long been willing and ready to move on from polluting throwaway plastic,” he said. “Is the government listening?” Hugo Tagholm, at Surfers Against Sewage, said the government’s new proposals were welcome, but long overdue: “This alone will not turn back the plastic tide.” He said the deposit return scheme for plastic bottles must include all bottles. There should also be a focus on reducing waste at source, said Libby Peake from the Green Alliance thinktank: “Alternatives [to single-use plastic plates and cutlery] made from other materials also aren’t necessary and will store up environmental problems for the future. We need to address the root of the problem, redesigning the system and tackling the throwaway society once and for all.” The government intends to make companies pay the full cost of recycling and disposing of their packaging and has consulted on introducing the scheme, called “extended producer responsibility” on a phased basis from 2023. It has also consulted on plans to ensure recycling schemes are consistent across the country, with people often confused by different rules in different places. The government is also taking action to tackle plastic waste through the UK Plastics Pact, which is investigating possible action by 2025 on items including crisp packets, PVC clingfilm, fruit and vegetable stickers and punnets, plastic coffee pods and teabags. | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/plastic-bags', 'environment/pollution', 'uk/uk', 'uk-news/england', 'environment/environment', 'politics/george-eustice', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2021-08-27T21:30:19Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
politics/2021/sep/27/labour-promises-spend-28bn-year-tackling-climate-crisis | Labour promises to spend £28bn a year on tackling climate crisis | Labour would invest £28bn a year in climate measures to protect Britain from disaster, Rachel Reeves has announced in by far the party’s biggest spending pledge to date. The amount would quadruple the government’s current capital investment, and Labour said it would hope to attract a matching sum of private investment in green technologies. In total, the party will commit to spending £224bn on climate measures over the next eight years. Reeves, the shadow chancellor who has stressed the party’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, told Labour’s conference in Brighton she would be “the first green chancellor” and that the costs of climate change would be greater if the government did not invest now. The party is pledging an additional £28bn of green capital investment a year until 2030 – equivalent to more than half the current defence budget. Under Labour, Reeves said, there would “no dither, no delay” in tackling the crisis. Targets for spending would include gigafactories to build batteries for electric vehicles, the hydrogen industry, offshore wind turbines manufactured in Britain and more everyday infrastructure such as home insulation, cycle paths, tree planting and flood defences. Labour said the public spending was justified to prevent costs spiralling further, quoting the Office for Budget Responsibility’s 2021 fiscal risks report, which said delaying significant investment by a decade could double the costs of a green transition. Reeves and the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, will hope the policy provides a definitive answer for swathes of the membership who feel the party has been insufficiently bold in tackling the climate crisis. On Sunday, Starmer was chased by Labour activists from the campaign group Green New Deal Rising, calling for £85bn of infrastructure investment to create green jobs. “Value for money means knowing when and where not to spend,” Reeves told the conference hall. “But it also means knowing when and where to invest – to prevent far greater costs further down the line. “There is no better example of this than in the case of climate breakdown. As chancellor I will not shirk our responsibility to future generations and to workers and businesses in Britain … We will provide certainty and show leadership in this decisive decade. I will be a responsible chancellor. I will be Britain’s first green chancellor.” The announcement came amid a split in Starmer’s shadow cabinet over nationalising energy companies. Reeves and Starmer have said it is not on Labour’s agenda, opening up a divide with the shadow business secretary, Ed Miliband, who wanted to keep the option open. On Sunday, Labour delegates passed a motion calling for a “socialist green new deal” including the nationalisation of the energy sector and the creation of a national nature service, “a government programme creating millions of well-paid, unionised green jobs with publicly owned entities” and “mass investment in green technologies and renewables”. Asked about Starmer’s pledge when he was standing to be Labour leader to put energy companies into “common ownership”, Reeves told the BBC earlier on Monday that the fuel crisis was “not because of nationalisation or privatisation”. Reeves called for more government action to bring in HGV drivers amid the petrol shortages. “We’ve got to plug those gaps,” she said. “We’ve been saying for quite a while now that the government should refer this to the migration advisory committee about skill shortages. But then, they need to be training up more British workers to have the skills to be able to do these jobs, and improve particularly the conditions, and also the pay, for HGV drivers.” Asked whether the crisis was a consequence of Brexit, Reeves said Labour had always noted “a number of gaps in the deal” signed by Boris Johnson but would only seek solutions to bring in outside workers as needed, not a more general return to the free movement of people. | ['politics/labour-conference-2021', 'politics/labour', 'politics/rachel-reeves', 'environment/green-politics', 'politics/politics', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jessica-elgot', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-09-27T11:27:21Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2021/jan/31/hs2-tunnellers-legal-action-euston-safety-regulators | HS2 tunnellers start legal action against safety regulators | The environmental activists in the network of tunnels in front of Euston station in central London have launched an emergency legal action against safety regulators. It has been confirmed that there are nine protesters in the tunnel constructed as a protest against the high speed rail link HS2, which is due to terminate at Euston when it is completed. The small network was secretly dug over a number of months in a busy London square without apparently attracting the attention of police or security. The activists and their supporters above ground have repeatedly complained that the way that HS2 bailiffs are trying to evict the tunnellers is putting their lives at risk. HS2 has accused the activists of putting their own lives at risk by remaining in the tunnel while the eviction work continues. Activists have blamed five internal collapses and a stream of liquid mud pouring into their tunnel network on the HS2 eviction team. In a video dispatch from inside the tunnel in the early hours of Sunday morning, the tunneller Larch Maxey, 48, said: “They have just started raining a shower of soil down on us.” He said that some of the bailiffs who seemed to be “sympathetic human beings” had given some of the protesters in the tunnel protective goggles to protect their eyes from the soil raining down on them. The legal action against the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) calls on the safety regulator to immediately inform the environmental activists’ legal team of steps being taken to ensure the safety of protesters both above ground and underground. HSE has overall responsibility for ensuring the safety of the site, according to the protesters, with independent oversight over what both the protesters and HS2 are doing on the site. They are now asking how many times HSE has visited the site, who they have spoken to when they are there, what guidance and direction they have given. John Cooper QC, who is leading the legal action and has represented activists in other high-profile cases such as the protest outside St Paul’s Cathedral in the City, has asked to see the HSE documentation on risk assessment of the eviction. They have asked for a response by noon on Sunday and say that if no response is forthcoming by the deadline they could seek a protection order from the courts. A HSE spokesperson said: “Concerns have been raised with HSE and these are being looked into. We remain in contact with HS2 in order to review any plans that would affect workers, protesters or rescue personnel.” HS2 issued a statement on Saturday about safety on site and again accused the protesters of putting themselves in danger. “The activists at Euston have dug a crude and poorly constructed tunnel. In the past 24 hours the weather has worsened and further heavy rain and sleet is forecast, which could lead to the tunnel becoming even more unstable. “We are concerned that the occupants of the tunnel are now impeding efforts to help them, shutting themselves off underground, and preventing us from checking air quality as we supply them with air. As carbon dioxide can build up in the tunnel, they are putting themselves in even greater danger. “Highly experienced and specialist skilled professionals are leading this operation. HS2, paramedics and the Metropolitan police have all spoken to those in the tunnel to warn them of the dangers they have put themselves in, but still they refuse to come out. The London fire brigade have attended site to prepare any rescue plans. “These activists have had multiple opportunities to remove themselves from the danger they have put themselves in. For their own safety and the safety of our staff and the emergency service personnel at Euston, we urge them to get out of the tunnel.” | ['environment/activism', 'environment/environment', 'uk/hs2', 'uk/uk', 'uk/london', 'world/protest', 'uk/rail-transport', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/dianetaylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2021-01-31T11:02:50Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2021/sep/14/leaked-eu-anti-deforestation-law-omits-fragile-grasslands-and-wetlands | Leaked EU anti-deforestation law omits fragile grasslands and wetlands | The fragile Cerrado grasslands and the Pantanal wetlands, both under threat from soy and beef exploitation, have been excluded from a European Union draft anti-deforestation law, campaigners have said, and there are many other concerning loopholes. The European Commission has pledged to introduce a law aimed at preventing beef, palm oil and other products linked to deforestation from being sold in the EU single market of 450 million consumers. But campaigners said a leaked impact assessment reveals “significant omissions” in the plans, including the exclusion of endangered grasslands and wetlands, as well as products that raise environmental concerns, such as rubber and maize. The long-awaited draft regulation, expected to be published in December, will be limited to controlling EU imports of beef, palm oil, soy, wood, cocoa and coffee, according to a report seen by the Guardian. Under the plans, countries that sell these commodities into the EU, such as Russia, Brazil and the United States, would be classed as high, standard and low-risk, with controls on relevant exports depending on their status. According to the 182-page document, these measures would “decisively contribute to saving biodiversity” and prevent 71,920 hectares of forests being chopped down each year by 2030 – an area roughly half the size of Greater London. Campaigners said the EU risks getting it wrong. They criticised the exclusion from the proposals of rubber, leather, maize and other kinds of meat, linking pigs and chickens to “embedded deforestation” through the use of soy as animal feed. EU officials concluded that maize and rubber only account for a small fraction of deforestation, while overall trade in these goods is large, meaning that “a very large effort” will generate “little return in terms of curbing deforestation driven by EU consumption”. But a 2019 EU paper cited maize and rubber as part of the problem, while the latest leaked document acknowledges concern about deforestation being caused by demand for animal feed. The document also reveals a rebuff to calls to include grasslands, wetlands and other ecosystems under the protection of the upcoming law. Last year, a coalition of 160 nongovernmental organisations, including Greenpeace and WWF, organised nearly 1.2 million people to take part in an EU consultation on the proposals. The Together4Forests campaign called for the regulation to ensure protection for all kinds of ecosystems, not only forests. It was one of the biggest public responses to an EU consultation, second only to the outpouring of views on proposals to scrap daylight saving time. According to the current document, the regulation will be limited to forests and will exclude wooded grasslands, such as Brazil’s vast Cerrado region, the largest savannah in South America and home to 10,000 species of plants, half of which are found nowhere else in the world. Other ecosystems will be excluded, even though the EU document concedes that stricter rules to protect the Amazon rainforest “have already been shown to accelerate conversion of Cerrado savannah and Pantanal wetlands for agricultural production”. It also notes that the Cerrado is “a critical region for storing carbon”, a source of water, vegetation and abundant plant life, but concludes that including such ecosystems would make it more difficult to monitor forests. The Pantanal conservation zone in west-central Braziland spilling over into Bolivia and Paraguay, is one of the world’s largest freshwater wetlands and home to endangered species such as the giant armadillo and giant otter. “The ecosystem destruction that the EU is complicit in is not confined to deforestation alone,” said Sini Eräjää, EU agriculture and forest campaigner at Greenpeace. “If this law does not extend its protection to wetlands, savannahs, peatlands and others, then consumption in Europe will continue to devastate natural areas that provide livelihoods for indigenous people, homes for countless species and essential defence against climate breakdown.” The document also reveals that the law “will not specifically target the financial sector”, a blow to campaigners who argued that European banks play a role in fuelling deforestation through their lending. While the EU agreed a plan to tackle illegal logging in 2003, the bloc has been slower to try to prevent deforestation caused by legal trade. As Europe plants more trees at home, politicians have come under increasing pressure to tackle how the EU’s appetite for beef, cocoa, coffee and palm oil drives deforestation beyond its borders. EU consumption of such commodities is behind 10% of global deforestation, according to the commission. The European Commission, which does not usually comment on leaked documents, did not respond to a request for comment. The draft regulation will have to be agreed by MEPs and environment ministers before it becomes law. | ['environment/deforestation', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'world/european-commission', 'world/eu', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/forests', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'world/europe-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jennifer-rankin', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-09-14T06:01:05Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
football/2022/jul/21/germany-austria-womens-euro-2022-quarter-final-match-report | Magull and Popp strike to sink Austria and send Germany into semi-finals | Germany march on, but not as emphatically as appearances suggest. The eight-times champions were given an almighty fright by Austria, who contributed hugely to a pulsating contest, and they may be glad of such a test by the time Wednesday’s semi-final comes around. It will take an outstanding opponent to dislodge Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side but France, the Netherlands and, for that matter, England will have been encouraged by some of the weaknesses that were exposed here. They would have been prised wide open if one of Austria’s near-misses had brought greater reward. The underdogs struck the woodwork three times and, while Germany did so on two occasions of their own, it was testament to the way they carried the fight. It was also a reminder that Austria are not really minnows any more: after finishing third on their debut in 2017 they matched their celebrated neighbours for long periods here and it is unthinkable that their days challenging at this level are over. In the end Germany were simply more clinical and, when given a helping hand, showed no inclination to be polite about it. The Austria goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger will feel desolate about her part in both goals. A late clearance hammered against Alexandra Popp, the ricochet flying past her and confirming the outcome, will make the blooper reels but she also played an unfortunate part in Lina Magull’s opener. While Germany’s attack still had plenty to do when Zinsberger rushed a kick under pressure, they would not have had the opportunity to go through the gears if she had successfully launched it upfield. “We fought very hard and managed to dominate the game in parts,” said the Austria coach, Irene Fuhrmann. “In the end we just made a couple of mistakes too many, an opponent at this level capitalises on that, but I’m very proud of my team’s performance.” The farcical nature of the second goal must not detract from the fact that this felt like a proper tournament game: another high-quality ding-dong between two bright, inventive sides who wanted to have a go. Germany have overwhelmed all comers with their intensity down the flanks but Austria took it upon themselves to push them back, coming close even before Marina Georgieva headed a corner against an upright in the 13th minute. Had that gone in the complexion would have altered deliciously. Instead a harsh lesson followed quickly, all the more frustratingly because Germany had yet to get going. Just as she would to more glaring effect later, Popp forced Zinsberger into a snatched kick and the ball ended up with the left winger Klara Bühl. There have been few more electric performers this month than the 21-year-old from Bayern Munich and she sped down the flank again, cutting across a centre that Popp left intelligently for Magull to convert crisply on the run. “Klara has a big heart, she is incredible,” Voss-Tecklenburg said. Further openings came and went for Germany, Svenja Huth threatening twice and Giulia Gwinn clipping the same post as Georgieva shortly after half-time. But perhaps the defining moment came in the 53rd minute when Zinsberger’s opposite number, Merle Frohms, undercooked a clearance of her own in a similar position. Barbara Dunst, a player who can travel home from these championships with her head held high, seized possession but floated an audacious 40-yard effort against the crossbar. While Germany had worked the fine margins in their favour, Austria had fallen cruelly short. Nonetheless Fuhrmann’s players kept coming and quickly thudded a post again through Sarah Puntigam. At this point the pace was relentless and the goalmouth action almost unstinting, but Germany gradually asserted a stranglehold and operated with a measure of the composure Voss-Tecklenburg felt had deserted them in the opening period. “I felt we were deserved winners,” she said. “It was a great game for the fans: respect and compliment to Austria, because they did exactly what we expected them to do. They played good football, had a clear plan and a great mentality. In the beginning we weren’t courageous enough, but we became a bit calmer.” Bühl dipped a wicked 20-yarder against the bar as time ticked away, and missed a sitter before being substituted. Then Popp, whose finishing in more conventional situations had been off beam, gained the prize her prodigious workrate deserved and took Germany nearer to another shot at supremacy. “There will be bigger and bigger challenges the closer we get,” Voss-Tecklenburg said. England may yet provide the ultimate test at Wembley. | ['football/women-s-euro-2022', 'football/germany-womens-football-team', 'sport/austria-womens-football-team', 'football/womensfootball', 'football/football', 'sport/sport', 'type/article', 'tone/matchreports', 'profile/nick-ames', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/austria-womens-football-team | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-07-21T21:03:35Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2017/jul/23/drop-in-wind-energy-costs-adds-pressure-for-government-rethink | Drop in wind energy costs adds pressure for government rethink | Onshore windfarms could be built in the UK for the same cost as new gas power stations and would be nearly half as expensive as the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, according to a leading engineering consultant. Arup found that the technology has become so cheap that developers could deliver turbines for a guaranteed price of power so low that it would be effectively subsidy-free in terms of the impact on household energy bills. France’s EDF was awarded a contract for difference – a top-up payment – of £92.50 per megawatt hour over 35 years for Hinkley’s power, or around twice the wholesale price of electricity. By contrast, Arup’s report found that windfarms could be delivered for a maximum of £50-55 per MWh across 15 years. ScottishPower, which commissioned the analysis, hopes to persuade the government to reconsider its stance on onshore windfarms, which the Conservatives effectively blocked in 2015 by banning them from competing for subsidies and imposing new planning hurdles. Keith Anderson, the firm’s chief operating officer, told the Guardian that onshore wind could help the UK meet its climate targets, was proven in terms of being easy to deliver, and was now “phenomenally competitive” on price. “If you want to control the cost of energy, and deliver energy to consumers and to businesses across the UK at the most competitive price, why would you not want to use this technology? This report demonstrates it’s at the leading edge of efficiency,” he said. The big six energy firm believes that with a cap on top-up payments so close to the wholesale price, onshore windfarms would be effectively subsidy-free – but the guaranteed price would be enough to de-risk projects and win the investment case for them. “What we are asking for is a mechanism that underpins the investment risk,” said Anderson. The group believes that any political sting for Tory MPs concerned about public opposition to turbines in English shires would be removed because such a low guaranteed price would see only the windiest sites coming in cheap enough – which means windfarms in Scotland. “You put these projects in the right place, you will get the correct level of resource out of them to keep the costs down and you will get public acceptance of people liking them,” Anderson said, citing the example of the company’s huge Whitelee windfarm near Glasgow. Dr Robert Gross, director of the centre for energy policy and technology at Imperial College, said: “Onshore wind has been coming in at remarkably low prices internationally, so a contract for difference price of around £50-60 per MWh looks perfectly feasible for a good location in the UK, one of the windiest countries in Europe. “Windfarms generally need fixed price contracts in order to secure finance, otherwise volatile electricity prices can make investing in wind risky.” The Conservative manifesto was seen by some in industry as softening the party’s stance on onshore wind, saying that it did not believe “more large-scale onshore wind power is right for England” but not mentioning Wales and Scotland, which have some of the best potential sites. The party also promised a review of the cost of energy which the Guardian revealed last week was likely to be led by the University of Oxford economist Dieter Helm, a critic of the cost of today’s renewable and nuclear power technologies. However, Anderson said he saw the report, due in October, as a good opportunity. “I would find it surprising if anybody else doing a costs review of the energy sector comes to a fundamentally different argument [to the Arup report],” he said. Leo Murray, of climate change charity 10:10, said: “It looks increasingly absurd that the Conservatives have effectively banned Britain’s cheapest source of new power.” | ['environment/windpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'money/energy', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/household-bills', 'money/money', 'business/edf', 'uk-news/hinkley-point-c', 'business/gas', 'uk/uk', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-vaughan', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2017-07-23T17:03:35Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2009/mar/05/lahore-terror-attacks-chris-broad | Police left us like sitting ducks, says referee | Chris Broad, the ex-England batsman turned match referee who escaped injury in Tuesday's attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers, castigated Pakistan yesterday for not providing the promised "presidential-style security" and accused the security services of fleeing the scene and leaving the visitors as "sitting ducks". As Pakistani police began investigating whether the gunmen were planning to take the whole squad hostage, Broad arrived at Manchester airport with scathing remarks about the way Pakistani police had handled the attack. "After the incident there was not a sign of a policeman anywhere," said Broad. "They had clearly gone, left the scene and left us to be sitting ducks. I am extremely angry that we were promised high-level security and in our hour of need that security vanished and we were left open to anything that the terrorists wanted. "Questions need to be asked of Pakistan security. At every junction there are police with handguns controlling traffic, so how did the terrorists come to the roundabout and these guys do nothing about it?" Sri Lanka's team captain, Mahela Jayawardene, appeared to side with Broad, saying that the gunmen fought a one-sided battle. "They were not under pressure ... nobody was firing at them," he said. But Pakistani officials were aghast at the suggestion. Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan cricket board chief, said: "How can Chris Broad say this when six policemen were killed?" The assailants were carrying enough arms, ammunition, food and medical supplies to hold out for a prolonged period, perhaps several days. Pakistani police believe they could have been planning to board the bus and then put on the suicide vests that some were carrying, which would have enabled them to hold the entire team captive. It may just have been the quick wits of the driver, who managed to speed the bus away, that averted a dramatic hostage situation. "From the inventory we have recovered, it seems they did not just mean to ambush the cavalcade," said Mushtaq Sukhera, the head of the investigations department of the Lahore police force, in an interview with the Guardian. "It all suggests that they had planned something else, otherwise why were they carrying all these things?" Sukhera would not speculate on the hostage plan, but other police officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said taking the bus seemed the most likely. A huge quantity of firearms, grenades and other equipment was recovered from rucksacks dumped by the attackers, and from an abandoned car. There were also rocket-propelled grenade launchers, meaning that the terrorists were at least as heavily armed as the men who attacked Mumbai for three days in November. The assailants carried significant quantities of food, bandages and antiseptic liquid. Each of the gunmen wore a bulky rucksack. Sukhera said each rucksack contained half a kilo of almonds, half a kilo of dried fruit, biscuits and water bottles, enough to keep them going for days. Police yesterday made sweeping arrests, detaining some 50 people, though reports suggested none were the gunmen involved and they had only vague connections to the incident. Sketches of four of the attackers were issued by the police. CCTV footage emerged showing how calmly the gunmen left the scene. The images showed the terrorists strolling through a nearby market after the attack, machine guns still in hand. The authorities for the first time admitted security lapses yesterday. The top official in the Lahore administration, Khusro Pervaiz, said the "security gaps are very vivid, very clear". He said the outer cordon of the Sri Lankan team's police escort was missing or did not respond. He also said the vehicles being used by the escort were inappropriate. | ['world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack', 'world/pakistan', 'world/world', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/davidhopps', 'profile/saeedshah', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2009-03-05T00:01:00Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2019/sep/09/australia-cleared-77m-hectares-of-threatened-species-habitat-since-introduction-of-environment-act | Australia cleared 7.7m hectares of threatened species habitat since introduction of environment act | More than 7.7m hectares of habitat have been cleared since the introduction of Australia’s national environment act, according to new research that finds 93% of land cleared was not referred to the federal government for assessment. The study, led by researchers from the University of Queensland and three environment organisations – the Australian Conservation Foundation, WWF Australia and the Wilderness Society – warns that Australia’s high extinction rate will increase “without a fundamental change” in how environment laws are enforced. The scientists used publicly available spatial data to quantify the amount of clearing of potential habitat for 1,638 listed threatened species and ecological communities – which are groups of species that form a single habitat – between 2000 and 2017. They used the federal government referral record to calculate how much of the clearing had been referred to the government for assessment. The study examined two types of habitat – forests and woodlands – and excluded clearing that had occurred before the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act came into force in 2000 and any clearing that was due to natural causes such as fire. They calculated that the land cleared included 7.7m hectares of potential habitat for terrestrial threatened species, 64,000 hectares of habitat for terrestrial migratory species, and 330,000 hectares for threatened ecological communities. The researchers found that clearing had affected potential habitat for 84% (or 1,390) of the species studied and that the overwhelming majority of that clearing (93%) had not been referred to the federal government for scrutiny under the EPBC Act. “This noncompliance means that potential habitat for terrestrial threatened species, terrestrial migratory species and threatened ecological communities have been lost without assessment, regulation or enforcement under the EPBC Act,” they wrote. Some species suffered more habitat loss than others. According to the study, the Mount Cooper striped skink lost 25% of its potential habitat, the Keighery’s macarthuria, a plant native to Western Australia, lost 23% and the southern black-throated finch lost 10%. The researchers found that 1.1m hectares of potential habitat for koalas had been cleared. “These are the species threatened with extinction,” said Michelle Ward, the study’s lead author from the University of Queensland. “If we don’t stop their habitat loss, they’re going to go extinct.” Queensland was the location of the highest levels of clearing – the state had nine of the 10 species that lost the most potential habitat. A statutory review of the EPBC Act is due to begin this year. Ward said the researchers would be submitting comments based on their research. Their paper says Australia’s national environment laws have been “ineffective” at preventing habitat loss and calls for amendments that require critical habitat, where possible, to be mapped and monitored for threatened species and ecological communities, and for protection of that habitat to be enforced. “We think that the act should be amended so that critical habitat is mapped, available to stakeholders and fully protected from further destruction,” Ward said. James Trezise, a policy analyst at the Australian Conservation Foundation and a co-author on the study, said the research highlighted how national laws had “systematically failed to protect threatened species and their habitats”. “To potentially have more than 93% of threatened species habitat loss unregulated is completely unacceptable and demonstrates a massive compliance failure under the EPBC Act,” he said. “These findings should be a wake-up call to the federal government as it gears up to review the EPBC Act and as it enters negotiations for a new global framework for protecting nature through the UN.” New post-2020 targets for nature are due to be established next year under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Another co-author on the study, James Watson, of the University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society, said a review of the EPBC Act was essential. “Australia is about to get a boot up the arse with the global post-2020 biodiversity agenda because the core part of that is stopping species extinction and Australia is doing dismally,” he said. “It’s globally embarrassing. The quicker we get a review and get it working, the better.” | ['environment/deforestation', 'environment/forests', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/deforestation | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-09-08T23:00:54Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2013/may/16/statutory-limits-response-communities-climate-risk | Statutory limits prevent effective response to communities at climate risk | Robin Bronen | It is now two decades since the community of Newtok, a village of around 350 people on the west coast of Alaska, first documented the need to relocate. But despite the concerted efforts of at least 25 tribal, governmental and non-governmental organisations, including the herculean efforts of the Newtok Traditional Council, progress has been painfully slow. Significant statutory limitations prevent the government from responding effectively and dynamically to the climate-induced environmental changes that are forcing communities like Newtok to relocate in Alaska. In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose activities are defined by the 1988 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, is the federal agency responsible for hazard mitigation and disaster relief in the US. The act requires a presidential disaster declaration to access federal funding for post-disaster recovery as well as most hazard-mitigation activities. Under the Stafford Act, the president is authorised to declare a disaster for natural catastrophes such as hurricanes and tornados. Drought is the only gradual environmental process listed in the statute as a potential catalyst for a presidential disaster declaration. Erosion, the principal reason Newtok must relocate, is not included in the list of major disasters in the Stafford Act. As a consequence, the Newtok Traditional Council is not now eligible for disaster relief funding despite the fact that erosion is causing an ongoing disaster and a humanitarian crisis in the community. This post-disaster recovery and hazard mitigation statutory framework encourages rigid responses to specifically defined random extreme weather events and is primarily aimed at rebuilding and repairing infrastructure in place and protecting them from future hazards through erosion and flood protection. However, the standard, defensive adaptation strategies to protect coastal communities, such as rock walls and sandbags, have been largely unsuccessful in Alaska despite government spending millions of dollars. This fact is best illustrated by the experience of Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo community located north of Newtok and the Arctic circle. In September 2006, after finalising the construction of a multimillion dollar seawall, federal government leaders arrived to celebrate its completion. But before the celebrations could begin, a storm damaged the seawall and caused the officials to cancel the celebration. One year later, in September 2007, a storm, with a forecasted 12 to 14-foot surge for the 10-foot elevation village, threatened the community. Residents feared that the seawall would not protect them, and 250 Kivalina residents evacuated their community in search of safety. The inability of technology to protect people who reside in vulnerable risk-prone coastal and riverine communities is an issue that could affect millions of people all over the world. Disaster-relief and hazard-mitigation measures are important when protection in place is possible. However, this approach may be futile when climate-induced environmental changes repeatedly alter ecosystems, damage or destroy public infrastructure, and endanger human lives, in which case community relocation involving permanent population displacement may be the only viable adaptation. The need to relocate entire communities as a result of climate-induced environmental change is an extreme form of adaptation. If climate-induced environmental change renders entire communities uninhabitable, it is critical to understand the governance tools and human rights protections that can foster community resilience. Newtok's relocation provides an example of a model governance structure where the Newtok Traditional Council is leading the community's relocation effort and federal, state and tribal governmental and non-governmental organisations are providing the community with the technical assistance needed to build the infrastructure at the relocation site. However, despite this model working group, the institutional barriers to the relocation process have been enormous. For these reasons, climate-induced forced migration requires a governance framework that is based in human rights doctrine and that can respond quickly to communities at risk. Adaptive governance, in this context, means that institutions need a range of options, including post-disaster recovery, protection in place (seawall/shoreline protection), hazard mitigation, and relocation, to respond to the humanitarian needs of communities. Human rights protections must be embedded in this governance framework because the failure to fully consider the welfare of the population and empower people of a community to make decisions about issues such as site selection and community lay-out, are the principal reasons that relocations have been unsuccessful. Amendment of US federal policies such as the Stafford Act to include gradual and recurring climate-induced environmental processes and creation of a relocation institutional framework are critical first steps to facilitating the relocation of communities threatened by climate-induced environmental change and unable to be protected in place. The creation of this institutional framework in the US could be a model for other countries needing to design and implement a response for climate-induced relocations. | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/sea-ice', 'environment/sea-level', 'environment/poles', 'environment/environment', 'world/arctic', 'us-news/alaska', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/robin-bronen'] | environment/sea-ice | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2013-05-16T07:00:01Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk-news/2021/mar/14/new-anti-protest-bill-raises-profound-concern-human-rights-groups-say | New anti-protest bill raises profound concern and alarm, human rights groups say | More than 150 organisations have warned ministers that a new law handing police tougher powers to crack down on protesters would be “an attack on some of the most fundamental rights of citizens” as Labour vowed to oppose it and officers’ handling of a vigil for Sarah Everard continued to draw criticism. The groups, including human rights charities, unions and faith communities, said on Sunday the wide-ranging legislation would have a hugely detrimental effect on civil liberties, and called for the government to “fundamentally rethink its approach”. In a letter to the home secretary, Priti Patel, and the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, seen by the Guardian, they claim the 307-page police, crime and sentencing bill – being debated on Monday and Tuesday before a vote – is being rushed through parliament before people have “been able to fully understand its profound implications”. Some of the new police powers are draconian, they said, cautioning that the new law would also increase penalties for those breaching police conditions on protests and the ease with which they can be found to have done so. They said it raised “profound concern and alarm” and would also threaten access to the countryside and criminalise Gypsy and Traveller communities, adding that the legislation is being “driven through at a time and in a way where those who will be subject to its provisions are least able to respond”. Signatories to the letter include Liberty, Big Brother Watch, Unite, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Unlock Democracy, Cafod and Extinction Rebellion local groups. The letter comes after the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, made a significant intervention on Sunday, telling his MPs to vote against the bill. Sources said it was a switch in tactics from the previous plan to abstain. He said the bill contained “next to nothing” on countering violence against women and girls, after complaints that police at a vigil for Everard in south London on Saturday were too heavy-handed. Starmer lamented that the legislation said “lots of stuff on statues” – new offences are being created for those who destroy or damage a memorial – and called it a missed opportunity for the government. The Conservatives hit back, with the party’s co-chair Amanda Milling claiming that voting against the bill would block “tough new laws to keep people safe, including many vital measures to protect women from violent criminals” and “tougher sentences for child murderers and sex offenders”. In a sign of growing anger, Jess Phillips called Milling’s response a “disgusting and untrue statement”. “The Conservative government’s bill does absolutely nothing currently to increase sentences for rapists, stalkers, or those who batter, control and abuse women,” the shadow domestic violence minister said. “It does nothing about street harassment and assaults. The bill is full of divisive nonsense like locking up those who damage statues for longer than those who attack women.” Some Tory MPs have serious reservations about the bill, which they plan to raise in the debate this week, the Guardian understands – but there is unlikely to be a substantial enough rebellion to bring a defeat for the government. One Tory backbencher said the legislation was necessary as it had been drawn up in response to protests by Extinction Rebellion and covered many areas, from child sexual abuse offences to ensuring that vehicles could enter and leave the parliamentary estate. The part of the bill that has caused opponents most concern will give the home secretary powers to create laws to define “serious disruption” to communities and organisations, which police can then rely on to impose conditions on protests. The Home Office said it was needed to counter “highly disruptive tactics used by some protesters” that “cause a disproportionate impact on the surrounding communities” and said Extinction Rebellion’s “April uprising” cost the Metropolitan police more than £16m. It denied that freedom of expression would be undermined by the bill, saying: “The majority of protests in the England and Wales are lawful and will be unaffected by these changes. These measures will balance the rights of protesters with the rights of others to go about their business unhindered. They will achieve this by enabling the police to better manage highly disruptive protests.” Labour MP and former solicitor general Harriet Harman is meanwhile trying to amend the bill to outlaw kerbcrawling and stop women’s previous sexual history being used in evidence in court. She urged the government, after it reopened its consultation into countering violence against women and girls, to create a “bespoke” bill, saying: “We will achieve much greater progress if we work by consensus.” | ['uk/police', 'world/protest', 'politics/labour', 'society/charities', 'law/uk-civil-liberties', 'uk/ukcrime', 'law/law', 'politics/keir-starmer', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/jess-phillips', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'uk-news/sarah-everard', 'profile/aubrey-allegretti', 'profile/maya-wolfe-robinson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2021-03-14T22:00:42Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2021/mar/11/budget-cuts-and-collapse-in-tourism-revenue-pose-severe-threat-to-nature | Budget cuts and collapse in tourism revenue pose 'severe' threat to nature | Job cuts in nature reserves and environmental rollbacks by governments during the Covid-19 pandemic could undermine global efforts to conserve biodiversity and tackle the climate crisis, according to new research. Budget cuts and a collapse in ecotourism revenue have forced national parks and conservation organisations to make staff cuts and reduce activities such as anti-poaching patrols, with Asia and Africa severely affected. Brazil, India and the US have also emerged as “hotspots” for cuts to environmental protections during the pandemic, with all three among several countries considering proposals to allow mining and fossil fuel extraction in protected areas. Examples included in the report are proposals by the Brazilian government to allow mining and fossil fuel extraction in indigenous reserves, new permits in Russia that allow deforestation in natural areas for transport and infrastructure, and progress on plans to explore and drill for oil and gas in the US Arctic. The findings come in a collection of research papers published in a special issue of the journal Parks by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which seek to understand the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the environment. Brent Mitchell, co-editor of the journal, said: “What we learnt from our 150 contributors is this: if the shock of Covid-19 is not enough to make humanity wake up to the suicidal consequences of the destructive course of much misguided development, with its onslaught on nature, then it is hard to see how further calamities – far worse than the current pandemic – can be avoided.” His comments echo those of the UN secretary general, António Guterres, who has warned: “Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal.” A survey of park rangers in more than 60 countries found that about one in five had lost their jobs because of pandemic-related budget cuts, with those in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia worst affected. More than half of protected areas in Africa reported that they had had to stop or reduce field patrols and anti-poaching operations. While many protected areas have maintained core operations, communities living near nature reserves and national parks have been particularly hard hit by the economic consequences of the pandemic and drops in visitors. “While the global health crisis remains the priority, this new research reveals just how severe a toll the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on conservation efforts and on communities dedicated to protecting nature,” said Dr Bruno Oberle, director general of the IUCN. A review of Covid-19 economic recovery plans implemented or advanced between January and October 2020 found that while some governments included conservation areas and extra funding for nature, many have diminished environmental protections. Rachel Golden Kroner of Conservation International, the lead author of the study on impacts of government stimulus packages, warned that the current crisis could not be allowed to further damage natural environments. “If we are to build a sustainable future, rollbacks of environmental protections must be avoided, and recovery measures need to be planned in a way that not only avoids negative impacts on biodiversity, but charts a more sustainable and equitable way forward,” she said. Reacting to the research, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, head of the Global Environment Facility, an independent financial organisation that helps fund countries to meet environmental targets, said: “Investing in nature conservation and restoration to prevent the future emergence of zoonotic pathogens such as coronaviruses costs a small fraction of the trillions of dollars governments have been forced to spend to combat Covid-19 and stimulate an economic recovery.” | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/brazil', 'world/russia', 'world/africa', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'world/americas', 'world/world', 'world/india', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'type/article', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-03-11T07:00:47Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
film/2012/oct/21/beasts-southern-wild-review | Beasts of the Southern Wild – review | There have been a number of movies dealing with the gulf coast of Louisiana after the disaster of hurricane Katrina, the most notable being Spike Lee's four-hour documentary When the Levees Broke made in 2006, and the oddest being Werner Herzog's cop movie, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, three years later. The setting apart, neither has much in common with the low-budget independent production Beasts of the Southern Wild, a fable set in a remote corner of the bayou where a mixed-race community of eccentrics live on floating huts or primitive houses raised on stilts. They get around on improvised boats and share their homes with the domestic animals they feed off. The central character is the six-year-old Hushpuppy who lives with her ailing father Wink, a hard-drinking fisherman. Everything is filtered through her wondering mind, and she acts as a precocious, puzzled commentator. An eloquent, apocalyptical schoolmistress, who teaches all the local kids in the one-room schoolhouse, has fed her ideas about the interdependence of everything in the world and the imminent possibility of radical change in the environment through global warming. In a tale where stark realism, surrealism and dream intermingle, she survives the Noah-like deluge, is forcibly taken in by well-meaning doctors and social workers, and escapes to recover her old life and take off on a journey in search of her mother. Ending much like Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, which also moves from the prehistoric to the apocalyptic, the film is variously poetic, mysterious and opaque, a bit like the work of the African director Souleymane Cissé but without the depth. The non-professional actors Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry are persuasive as Hushpuppy and Wink, and I'd assumed that they were from backgrounds similar to that of the characters they play. Henry is in fact a successful baker and deli proprietor in New Orleans, while Wallis is a nine-year old Miley Cyrus fan, whose passions include reading, video games, basketball and cheerleading. | ['film/drama', 'film/film', 'culture/culture', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'tone/reviews', 'type/article', 'profile/philipfrench', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/new-review', 'theobserver/new-review/critics'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-10-20T23:01:09Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2021/jul/26/chinas-nuclear-power-firm-could-be-blocked-from-uk-projects | China’s nuclear power firm could be blocked from UK projects | China’s state-owned nuclear energy company could be blocked from building a nuclear reactor due to rising security concerns over Chinese involvement in critical national infrastructure. Ministers are reportedly looking for ways to move ahead with plans for EDF Energy to build the £20bn Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast without China General Nuclear (CGN), which owns a one-fifth stake in the project. Whitehall sources have confirmed the report, first published in the Financial Times, which has emerged amid deepening concerns over China’s security risk after the Huawei scandal last year. CGN holds a minority stake in EDF’s Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset, as well as the Sizewell C project, but it hopes to use the pair as a springboard to building a Chinese-designed reactor at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex. It has submitted its reactor design for scrutiny by the UK’s nuclear authorities, but industry sources have warned that even if CGN wins approval for its reactor, a Chinese nuclear plant within 30 miles of London would be “politically unpalatable”. “A minority Chinese interest in a nuclear project could probably be tolerated,” one Whitehall source said. “But the direction of travel towards a Chinese-owned project at Bradwell is no longer tenable.” EDF Energy and CGN both declined to comment. The government said late last year it had restarted talks with EDF Energy over how to finance its Sizewell C nuclear project, including ways to include institutional investors or even for the UK government to take a direct stake in the project. These options could help the French company proceed with Sizewell without CGN’s financial support, according to one source. “There are ways for EDF to attract other investors onboard,” said a source. “By wiping their hands of the Chinese they could open up the opportunity for investment from the US, for example. There are many ways to cook this pie.” The government reopened talks with EDF months after plans to build a £20bn reactor at Wylfa in Wales fell apart after Japanese conglomerate Hitachi rejected the government’s financing deal, in a blow to the government’s new nuclear ambitions. The UK had hoped to build at least six new nuclear power plants across the country but three have been cancelled, leaving only the projects with Chinese involvement: Hinkley Point, Sizewell and Bradwell. A spokesperson for the Nuclear Industry Association warned that by 2030 all but one of the UK’s existing nuclear power stations will have been retired, “so it is vital that the UK invests in new reactors – both large and small modular designs – to help meet our climate targets and create good jobs across the country”. “Achieving net zero by 2050 will require four times as much zero carbon power as we have today – that means more nuclear, more wind and more solar,” the spokesperson said. The fresh fears over Chinese involvement in the UK’s nuclear future have emerged amid deepening tensions between China and western governments, and weeks before a ban on all Huawei equipment in the UK’s 5G networks takes effect from September. Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, told the Reuters news agency that the UK government should “earnestly provide an open, fair and non discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies”. “It is in the interests of both sides to conduct practical cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit and a win-win result,” he said. A spokesperson for the UK government did not comment directly on the claims that ministers would seek to forge a nuclear programme without CGN, saying “all nuclear projects” must comply with “robust and independent regulation” in order to meet the UK’s “rigorous legal, regulatory and national security requirements, ensuring our interests are protected”. | ['environment/nuclearpower', 'uk/uk', 'world/china', 'environment/energy', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jillian-ambrose', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2021-07-26T13:43:05Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2021/aug/05/cargo-bikes-deliver-faster-and-cleaner-than-vans-study-finds | Cargo bikes deliver faster and cleaner than vans, study finds | Electric cargo bikes deliver about 60% faster than vans in city centres, according to a study. It found that bikes had a higher average speed and dropped off 10 parcels an hour, compared with six for vans. The bikes also cut carbon emissions by 90% compared with diesel vans, and by a third compared with electric vans, the report said. Air pollution, which is still at illegal levels in many urban areas, was also significantly reduced. Home deliveries have soared in recent years, spurred by online shopping and the coronavirus pandemic. Vans can travel along clear stretches of road at higher speeds than cargo bikes but are slowed by congestion and the search for parking. Cargo bikes bypass traffic jams, take shortcuts through streets closed to through traffic and ride to the customers door. Carbon emissions from transport have barely fallen in the past decade and pose a significant challenge for the UK in meeting its targets to combat the climate crisis. The government recently announced a 30% rise in funding to make cycling and walking easier. The report’s authors said the government should consider cutting the VAT rate on cargo bike deliveries and allow more powerful e-bikes to be used. “Recent estimates from Europe suggest that up to 51% of all freight journeys in cities could be replaced by cargo bike,” said Ersilia Verlinghieri at the Active Travel Academy at the University of Westminster and lead author of the report. “So it’s remarkable to see that, if even just a portion of this shift were to happen in London, it would be accompanied by not only dramatic reduction of CO2 emissions, but also contribute to a considerable reduction of risks from air pollution and road traffic collisions, whilst ensuring an efficient, fast and reliable urban freight system.” Hirra Khan Adeogun at the climate charity Possible, which commissioned the report with funding from the KR Foundation, said: “We’ve seen home deliveries skyrocket during the Covid lockdowns and that trend is likely to continue. We urgently need to put on the brakes and reevaluate how goods move through our cities. Cargo bikes are one solution that we need to get behind.” The study used GPS data from the cargo bike company Pedal Me, which operates within a nine-mile radius of central London. The researchers compared deliveries on 100 randomly chosen days across the seasons with the routes that vans would have taken to get the parcels to customers. They found the cargo bikes saved nearly four tonnes of CO2 across the period, even when accounting for the food the riders consumed. “These benefits are not just specific to London, with the 100,000 cargo bikes introduced in Europe between 2018 and 2020 estimated to be saving, each month, the same amount of CO2 needed to fly about 24,000 people from London to New York and back,” the report said. Other research has shown that cargo bikes are more cost-effective than vans when delivery distances and parcel sizes are small. Electric vans are becoming more common, but still make up a very small number of the 4m vans on the road, 96% of which were diesel in 2019. Vans and HGVs were also involved in one in three fatal collisions in London between 2015 to 2017. Steve Gooding, the director of the RAC Foundation, said: “When we last looked into van use we found that while delivery vehicles made up only a small part of the van fleet they covered a disproportionately high number of miles. “While businesses are driven by economics, they are increasingly being held to account for their environmental and safety performance too. Cargo bikes will tick – and carry – a number of boxes for companies looking to thread their wares through our crowded city streets, and so help us all breathe more easily.” | ['world/road-transport', 'politics/transport', 'lifeandstyle/cycling', 'uk/transport', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2021-08-05T05:00:47Z | true | EMISSIONS |
australia-news/2019/apr/26/labors-support-for-carbon-disaster-in-betaloo-basin-condemned | Labor's support for 'carbon disaster' in Beetaloo basin condemned | Labor’s support for unlocking the gas supply from the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin has drawn the anger of environmental groups, who say its emissions would dwarf those from Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine. Earlier this week Labor announced it would replace the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility with a different fund to finance infrastructure projects of national significance in the north of the country. The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said up to $1.5bn of Labor’s fund would be earmarked to unlock gas supply in Queensland’s Galilee and Bowen basins and to connect the Beetaloo sub-basin – about 28,000km sq south of Katherine and part of the McArthur basin – to Darwin and the east coast. But environment groups say that would undermine Labor’s target of reducing carbon emissions by 45% of 2005 levels by 2030. In August 2017, a Northern Territory inquiry into hydraulic fracturing heard the McArthur basin could release four to five times the volume of greenhouse gas emissions as the Carmichael mine, if fracked. The gas-rich Beetaloo basin alone would dwarf Adani’s expected emissions, said Tim Forcey, a chemical engineer with decades of experience in the petrochemicals industry. And the emissions figures may be underestimated, he said. The final report from the NT inquiry suggested McArthur gas extraction could contribute more than 6% of Australia’s emissions. It also noted the life cycle of greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas-generated electricity are 50%–60% of that from coal-generated electricity. Naomi Hogan, a spokeswoman for the Lock the Gate Alliance, said unlocking it could “unleash a carbon disaster which would make it impossible for Australia to meet our Paris targets”. “Fracking the gas out of the Beetaloo basin has been measured to be the pollution equivalent of building and operating at least 50 new coal-fired power stations,” she said. “Federal Labor has ruled out Naif funding for the climate-wrecking project of Adani, how can it justify propping up an industry that will trash the Northern Territory with fracking?” Dan Gocher, from the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, said all fossil fuel expansion subsidies should be ruled out. “This would be a terrible investment for the Australian people and makes a mockery of the ALP’s climate commitments,” he said. “We call on the ALP and Bill Shorten to reverse this position.” Labor’s announcement showed the political system remained “fully in the thrall of the fossil fuels industry”, he said. Questioned on the incongruity of the two policies on Wednesday, Shorten said gas would be “a transition-baseload energy source of the future”. “What we also need to do as we move towards 45% [is] make sure we’ve still got an Australian manufacturing sector,” he said. “Therefore, opening up the gas reserves will ensure cheap domestic gas for Australia, so we can keep tens of thousands of people in their jobs in the south-east and indeed in Darwin and Brisbane.” His earlier announcement had said opening up the Beetaloo could provide up to 400 years of domestic gas supply. The Coalition’s federal budget included $8.4m to open the Beetaloo sub-basin for exploration and development, after the federal and NT governments signed a memorandum of understanding to guide the area’s development. The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, said his party would seek to block legislation of the Beetaloo project in the Senate. “We are in the middle of a climate emergency and we can’t be opening up any more coal, oil or gas fields if we are going to hand over a sustainable environment to our children and grandchildren,” said Di Natale. “The Greens will use our numbers in the new Senate to exclude any Naif funding for fossil fuel projects because taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to continue subsidising polluting industries.” The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association has previously rejected warnings of the cost of offsetting fracking emissions, saying they ignored the positive impact on emissions of gas replacing coal. It welcomed the bipartisan support for unlocking the Beetaloo sub-basin and rejected Lock the Gate’s figures as “grossly inflated”. The APPEA chief executive, Andrew McConville, noted the NT inquiry had found submissions from the Australia Institute – which did not comment on this week’s Labor announcement – to be “highly inflated”. McConville said the inquiry echoed previous reports, including the Finkel review, in “highlighting the positive role natural gas can play in reducing emissions”. “Access to a reliable and affordable gas supply is in the interest of all Australians given its direct use for heating, electricity generation and as a feedstock in manufacturing,” the NT report said. Origin and Santos both have interests in the Beetaloo, and intend to develop it now the moratorium on fracking has been lifted. The NT inquiry recommended the practise could go ahead with appropriate safegurds, and handed down 135 recommendations for the government. Before the moratorium, Origin Energy had found an estimated 6.6tr cubic feet of dry gas resources at its project site in the Beetaloo. Citi market analysis has found there could be 100tn cubic feet (2.8tn cubic metres) in the sub-basin. The question has been hugely divisive in the NT. Apart from the matter of emissions, there are also widespread concerns about the potential environmental risks to the aquifers and rivers, but these have come up against the need for the estimated billions of dollars the fracking industry could bring to the struggling NT economy. | ['australia-news/northern-territory', 'australia-news/labor-party', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'business/adani-group', 'environment/coal', 'environment/fracking', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helen-davidson', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/fracking | ENERGY | 2019-04-25T18:00:13Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2022/sep/18/hurricane-fiona-puerto-rico | Flooding and landslides in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona knocks out power to island | Most of Puerto Rico is without power after a category 1 hurricane bringing heavy rains and dangerous winds made landfall on Sunday evening, causing severe flooding and landslides and damaging infrastructure. Hurricane Fiona was causing “catastrophic flooding” in Puerto Rico early on Sunday evening, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Several landslides had been reported, government officials said. The storm forced the closure of roads while a highway bridge in Utuado town in the island’s center had been washed away by a flooding river. Lights went out across Puerto Rico just after 1pm, leaving only those households and businesses with rooftop solar or functioning generators with power. Electricity was initially completely out across the island, said Luma Energy, operator of the island’s grid. Some power had begun to be restored on Sunday night, with priority given to hospitals and other critical community services, energy officials said, but reconnecting the whole island would take several days. “This has been catastrophic,” Puerto Rico’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, told reporters in San Juan on Sunday night. “We are responding to the emergency as weather conditions permit.” The health minister confirmed earlier that a major cancer hospital in the capital of San Juan was without power after its backup generator failed. An emergency shelter in Sabana Grande in the south-west, where dozens of locals including some infirm residents had sought refuge, was also without power after its generator failed, according to Ruth Santiago, an environmental lawyer and campaigner for Queremos Sol, a grassroots movement to transition the island away from a centralized energy grid to rooftop solar. “The only thing that can save us this time is that Fiona is not as strong as Maria because so little has changed – the whole transmission system is down,” Santiago said from Salinas, a town being battered by gusty winds and torrential rains. “The Fema money [federal funds to rebuild the energy system after Maria] should have been spent on rooftop solar … if people die, the Biden government will have blood on its hands.” Fiona’s center made landfall on Puerto Rico’s south-western coast near Punta Tocon at 3.20pm ET (19.20 GMT) on Sunday with maximum sustained winds of about 85mph (140km/h), the NHC said. The storm was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane on Sunday morning. Ports are closed and flights out of the main international airport have been canceled. Flash floods, landslides and high winds have already damaged crops in the south of the island, with more dangerous conditions forecast through Monday. Torrential rains and mudslides were also forecast for the Dominican Republic, where the hurricane made landfall in the early hours of Monday morning as it progressed north-westward. The Turks and Caicos Islands likely face tropical storm conditions on Tuesday, the NHC said. By Sunday night aid agencies in the Dominican Republic began evacuating residents from high-risk areas in the country’s east. President Luis Abinader postponed a trip to New York to participate in the United Nations general assembly. Puerto Rico is a tropical archipelago and US territory located a thousand miles or so south-east of Miami. The main island is mostly mountains surrounded by narrow coastal plains where the majority of the 3 million habitants reside in towns and cities. It is one of the most vulnerable places on the planet to extreme weather caused by the climate crisis. It was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017, when the delays in federal government help contributed to the high death toll and slow recovery. The US president, Joe Biden, has already declared a federal disaster for Puerto Rico, mobilizing the delivery of aid to the island. Parts of Puerto Rico could see up to 25 inches of rain on Monday, which the NHC warned “pose an extreme life-threatening flooding risk”. Storm surges could cause flooding of 1-3 ft above normally dry ground along the eastern and southern coast of the main island and the smaller ones of Vieques and Culebra, according to the NHC, which is part of the national weather service. Fiona is likely to further damage Puerto Rico’s fragile centralised electricity grid, which Hurricane Maria exposed and exacerbated, and continues to fail residents with frequent power outages and extortionate bills. It headed to US territory after battering several eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe late last week. On Sunday, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said France would recognise a state of natural disaster for the island. Meanwhile, almost 5,000 miles away in Alaska, residents were waking up to a trail of destruction caused by a historic storm that impacted almost 1,000 miles of Alaska’s coastline over the course of Friday and Saturday. The governor, Mike Dunleavy, issued a disaster declaration on Saturday after the powerful storm, the remnant of Typhoon Merbok, forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes as seawater surged as high as 50ft in some areas, with heavy rainfall and wind gusts up to 90mph. No loss of life has been reported. On Sunday, Dunleavy said the state needed to move quickly to assess and repair damage to infrastructure like roads and bridges, as freezing Arctic temperatures are likely to hamper efforts within a few weeks. Reuters contributed to this report | ['us-news/puerto-rico', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/americas', 'world/hurricanes', 'world/dominicanrepublic', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/nina-lakhani', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-09-19T08:47:57Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2011/mar/17/wind-cheaper-nuclear-eu-climate | Wind power cheaper than nuclear, says EU climate chief | Generating energy from wind turbines at sea would be cheaper than building new atomic power plants, Europe's climate chief has said, in the latest challenge to the crisis-stricken nuclear industry. Connie Hedegaard, the EU climate change commissioner, said: "Some people tend to believe that nuclear is very, very cheap, but offshore wind is cheaper than nuclear. People should believe that this is very, very cheap." Offshore wind energy has long been seen as an expensive way of generating power, costing about two to three times more than erecting turbines on land, but the expense is likely to come down, while the costs of nuclear energy are opaque, according to analysis by the European commission. The nuclear crisis in Japan has led the UK, France and other countries to tell their nationals to consider leaving Tokyo, in response to fears of spreading nuclear contamination. The crisis also prompted the EU's energy commissioner, Günther Oettinger, to say: "There is talk of an apocalypse, and I think the word is particularly well chosen." Hedegaard told the European Wind Energy Association's annual conference in Brussels that the problems facing nuclear power put renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar power, back in the spotlight. "There are 143 nuclear power plants in Europe and they are not going to disappear," she said. "But when it comes to new energy capacity that discussion is likely to be very much influenced by what is happening in Japan." She suggested that the Japanese nuclear incidents, which have not yet been brought under control, would "automatically" turn attention to renewable power. However, she was careful to insist that it was up to member states to decide on their energy mix, as long as they adhered to the Europe-wide targets of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 and generating 20% of energy from renewable sources by the same date. Hedegaard published a "roadmap to 2050" this month that showed the EU was on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% if current policies are implemented. She said this strengthened the case put by some member states that the EU's current target of cutting carbon dioxide by 20% by 2020 should be toughened to 30%. China and Germany have put nuclear projects on hold after the incidents at several Japanese nuclear reactors. Europe's biggest nuclear operator, EDF of France, insisted that plans to build a new generation of reactors in Britain should not be held back by the problems in Japan. Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy, said: "While we understand the importance of adjusting the timetable to take into account the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate report [on the Japanese crisis], it is also equally important that establishing the framework for new nuclear should not be subject to undue delay. The events in Japan do not change the need for nuclear in Britain." He said meetings this week with local authorities regarding places such as Hinkley Point in Somerset, where EDF wants to build a new reactor, had still been positive. De Rivaz told the Nuclear Development Forum, including the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, that there was "local determination to press ahead with our project, and the strong feeling that whilst we should learn any lessons we may need to from Japan, we should not delay our progress". | ['environment/windpower', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'business/edf', 'business/business', 'world/eu', 'world/world', 'world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2011-03-17T18:57:33Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2011/aug/10/german-nuclear-shutdown-forces-eon-to-axe-11000-jobs | German nuclear shutdown forces E.ON to axe 11,000 staff | The financial effects of the Fukushima nuclear power crisis continued on Wednesday as Germany's E.ON announced that plans by its government to shut the country's reactors in response to the Japanese disaster would result in up to 11,000 job losses. As fears mounted that the nuclear shutdown would significantly increase Germany's industrial operating costs – weakening its competitiveness in an already fragile global economy – E.ON announced a swing into the red, a dividend cut, the redundancies and profits warnings for the next three years. Germany's biggest utility, which on Friday announced an average 15% price rise for its five million domestic UK gas and electricity customers, took a €1.9bn (£1.7bn) charge relating to plant closures and a new tax on spent nuclear fuel rods, pushing the group to its first quarterly loss in 10 years – a second-quarter deficit of €1.49bn. E.ON was reporting a day after German rival RWE reported its own swing into deficit, reporting that €900m of decommissioning and tax costs dragged it to a €229m loss. This week's utility results are adding to concerns about the cost of closing all 17 of Germany's nuclear reactors by 2022 and making up the shortfall by doubling renewable energy output. The German government finalised a package of bills in July that will phase out nuclear power plants which generated 23% of the country's total energy use last year, while increasing renewable output from 17% of power consumption to 35%. The move overturned Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in September last year to extend the life of existing nuclear plants into the 2030s. It will turn Germany from a net exporter of energy to a net importer, making its economy less independent. Opponents have warned that decommissioning nuclear plants and investing in renewable technologies will cost billions of euros, prompting an increase in Germany's already high energy prices. Furthermore, renewable energy generation can be intermittent, making it less reliable than fossil fuels and prompting fears of blackouts damaging to industry. Christian Schulz, senior European economist at Berenberg Bank, said estimates suggested the nuclear shutdown would increase Germany's energy bill by a fifth, which will hit the country especially hard since its economy relies heavily on its energy-intensive manufacturing industry to propel growth. Manufacturing accounts for a quarter of the German economy, compared with 15% of Britain's. "This is very significant for the German economy, particularly in energy intensive industries such as steel production, chemicals and carmaking. As a proportion of its overall economy, you could say that this move is 50% more important than it would be in Britain, because of Germany's reliance on manufacturing," Schulz said. Bayer, the German pharmaceuticals and chemicals firm, warned at the weekend that the country's electricity costs, already the highest in the EU, were making the country unattractive for the chemicals industry. "It is important that we remain competitive. Otherwise a global company like Bayer will have to consider relocating its production to countries with lower energy costs," said Marijn Dekkers, its chief executive. His comments came shortly after Robert Hoffmann, head of communications company 1&1, complained that taxes to subsidise renewable energy sources were too high in Germany. Hoffman said he was looking at locations where "green electricity exists without the extra costs". German households pay twice as much for power than in France, where 80% of energy is generated by nuclear plants. Klaus Abberger, senior economist at the Ifo institute for economic research at the University of Munich, said energy prices had already gone up since plans to end nuclear power generation and would stay at high for at least the next five years. E.ON in effect issued three profits warnings as the company reduced its net profit forecast for this year by 30% to about €3.35bn and said it expected "results in 2012-2014 to be on a much lower level than 2010" as a result of the overhaul of the power generation industry. The company cut its full-year dividend target by 23% to €1 a share and announced plans to cut as much as % of its global workforce, mostly in administration. | ['business/energy-industry', 'business/utilities', 'business/business', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'world/japan', 'world/world', 'world/germany', 'world/europe-news', 'tone/news', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/tom-bawden', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2011-08-10T17:01:07Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2007/oct/01/nuclearindustry.nuclearpower | BHP Billiton shareholders call for moral stand on lucrative trade | The world's biggest mining company is facing a revolt from shareholders who want the group to stop excavating uranium. Activist plan to use the annual meeting of BHP Billiton, which last year made record-breaking profits of $13.4bn (£6.7bn), to force the company to take a "moral stand" and pull out of the highly profitable trade in uranium, which has soared in price as demand for nuclear fuel has grown in the past decade. Led by John Poppins, a retired engineer whose family controls more than A$1m (£434,000) worth of stock in the company, the BHP Billiton Shareholders for Social Responsibilities group hope to enlist support from conservationists, churches and unions on the shareholder register. Mr Poppins has 60 of the 100 signatures he needs to get the issue on the agenda of the AGM in Adelaide next month, with more pledged. "BHP Billiton's outstanding commercial success and market pre-eminence carries an equally large moral obligation to provide leadership on issues of uranium production and nuclear proliferation," he said. BHP Billiton's profits have boomed 27% in the past year from burgeoning sales of iron ore, copper, aluminium, manganese and natural gas, and it owns the world's biggest known deposit of uranium, at its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. Figures from BHP Billiton say it contains more than 2m tonnes of uranium oxide. With recent prices reaching as high a $68,000 a tonne, the value of the deposit is more than $1bn. BHP Billiton has long-term contracts for the sale of uranium oxide concentrates to the UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada and the US. "There are major strategic tensions between some of these countries, along with Israel and Pakistan, all of which have the capacity to manufacture nuclear bombs," Mr Poppins said. He is concerned that the Australian government has recently declared its support for uranium sales to Russia and India. And the notion that uranium was a clean fuel was wrong, he said. "Claims that uranium is 'carbon-free' completely ignore the substantial carbon costs of its mining, processing, power station construction, protection and disposal," he said. Mr Poppins was an engineer in computing and aviation before retiring to take up ethical investment issues. BHP Billiton said that shareholders were free to raise any issues at AGMs. | ['business/business', 'environment/environment', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'uk/uk', 'business/mining', 'business/antofagasta', 'business/bhpbilliton', 'business/rio-tinto', 'business/lonmin', 'business/xstrata', 'business/vedantaresources', 'business/kazakhmys', 'business/merrilllynchworldminingtrust', 'environment/mining', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2007-10-01T14:02:39Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2013/jun/01/renewable-energy-clean-cheap-uk | Renewable energy is clean, cheap and here – what's stopping us? | Ashley Seager | The report from the Committee on Climate Change arguing that investing in renewable energy would eventually save consumers a lot of money is spot on. We are regularly told by conventional utility companies, many politicians and commentators that energies such as solar and wind are hopelessly expensive and reliant on enormous subsidy. But this is simply wrong. Renewables have seen such dramatic price falls in the past few years that they are threatening to upset the world as we know it and usher in an almost unprecedented boom in the spread of cheap, clean, home-produced energy. Solar will be the cheapest form of power in many countries within just a few years. In places such as California and Italy it has already reached so-called "grid parity". Onshore wind, on a piece of land not constrained by years of planning delays, is already the cheapest form of energy on earth. These are not wild claims – those are figures from General Electric, Citibank and others. Solar PV, the area in which my company operates, is a case in point. Three years ago firms like ours were paying about €3,600 per installed kilowatt of solar capacity on barn roofs in Germany. Today it can be done for just over €1,000 – a staggering 70% fall. That is seriously cheap and will just keep getting cheaper. Thanks to a surge in global production to 60 gWp annually, (enough to supply British households – not offices or factories – with all their electricity) solar power has dropped dramatically in price. But there is more to come. Cambridge IP, a global innovation and intellectual property firm, says there is a surge of interest and R&D into two new forms of solar power which are likely to be available commercially by the end of this decade. Newly built solar plants are already considerably cheaper than new nuclear plants per kilowatt hour of electricity produced and we are almost at the stage where we don't need a guaranteed price (known as a feed-in tariff) because solar energy will compete head on with conventional energy. True, there is an ongoing cost from the German government's previous support for solar, but is much lower than the subsidies pumped by the western world into nuclear, coal, oil and gas over the past decades. It is always amazing how a tax cut announced by George Osborne for North Sea oil and gas industry is greeted as somehow being good for Britain whereas any support for renewables is immediately dubbed a subsidy by the conventional energy companies wedded to their dying business model. A tax cut is a subsidy by another name. And remember the estimated £100bn plus cost to future taxpayers of disposing of Britain's dangerous pile of nuclear waste. And solar is starting to pay its subsidy back. Germany now has more than 30 gigaWatt peak (gWp) of solar plants installed, such that on almost all days in the spring, summer and autumn, solar energy surges into the grid at a time when demand is at is strongest (air conditioning etc is running like mad) and when spot market energy prices are at their highest. This peak price is being forced down by solar, helping to reduce wholesale prices. The big energy companies hate this because this peak is where they make their money. Solar in Germany is almost down to wholesale prices – in sunnier countries it already is. This brings me on to a really exciting development . Our company is starting to sell power directly from the barn roofs we have our plants on to the farmers who own the roofs and nearby towns wishing to rescue themselves from the grasp of the RWEs and E.ONs of this world. Why? Because we can produce power at around half of what farmers are paying. This so-called "distributed" (ie non-grid) energy is where the real revolution is taking place. Distributed energy not only saves on the huge amount of energy lost in grid distribution, but it helps lighten the load on the grid. Whole German towns are going completely renewable. The citizens get cheaper, cleaner power. If only Britain would get this. Just to be clear – Germany (Europe's biggest economy) now gets 25% of its electricity from renewables – a proportion that is increasing by the month. This is twice the level of the UK, although, interestingly, similar to that of Scotland on its own. Germany is also leading on figuring out how to overcome the problems of "intermittency" by storing renewable energy. I agree with the sceptical environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg that much of the world's efforts to reduce emissions in the past couple of decades have been a waste of time. I also agree with him on the need for a surge in R&D to provide a cheap, renewable-energy-powered future. It is just that I think that future is already here, not decades away. And nuclear power is already a thing of the past. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/ethical-living', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/ashleyseager'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2013-06-01T10:00:08Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2013/apr/19/starbucks-coffee-resuable-cups | Starbucks introduces reusable cups | The coffee chain Starbucks is introducing a reusable cup which UK customers can keep, in a move designed to encourage them to be more environmentally conscious while saving money. The reusable cup is based on the design of the brand's distinctive white and green paper cups and will cost £1. Customers who use their reusable cup will receive a 25p discount off their Starbucks drink every time they use it. The cup is made of a high-quality material which is lighter than the Starbucks ceramic tumblers, which will still be available. The reusable cups will be available in selected stores nationwide from today but will be rolled out gradually elsewhere. Reusable. Recyclable. Re-enjoyable. Coming soon to your local store. twitter.com/StarbucksUK/st… — Starbucks UK (@StarbucksUK) April 19, 2013 The US coffee giant has pledged to press ahead with a major expansion plan in the UK – aiming to open 300 new stores and create 5,000 extra jobs by 2016 – amid ongoing controversy over its failure to pay UK corporation tax over the past three years. Ian Cranna, vice-president of UK marketing for Starbucks, said: "We know that our customers really care about saving money and doing their bit for the environment; between 2008 and 2012 the number of people using a Starbucks reusable tumbler increased by 235% and our new reusable cup is a low-cost, high-impact way to help make a difference on reducing waste." Globally the chain is aiming for 5% of drinks made in its stores to be served in reusable cups by 2015 and the company says its move in the UK is a key step towards reaching this goal. | ['environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'food/coffee', 'food/food', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'business/starbucks', 'business/fooddrinks', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'environment/recycling', 'type/article', 'profile/rebeccasmithers'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2013-04-19T05:30:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2014/nov/18/crossbench-senators-back-another-inquiry-into-wind-power | Crossbench senators back another inquiry into wind power | Senators opposed to wind energy are set to establish yet another inquiry into its alleged effects on power prices, human health and wildlife – but the government is insisting they have to abolish an existing inquiry to set it up. On the list of inquiries that could go is an investigation of the Abbott government’s budget cuts or the Palmer United party-instigated inquiry into “Queensland government administration”. The new inquiry – the latest in a long list of investigations into renewable energy and wind power – is proposed by crossbench senators David Leyonhjelm and Bob Day and Liberal Chris Back, all of whom have argued for the abolition of the renewable energy target, which underpins wind energy in Australia. It is also supported by Palmer United party senator-in-exile, Jacqui Lambie, despite the Palmer United party’s strong support for renewable energy and the renewable energy target, and South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, who argues wind energy is crowding out other forms of renewable power. It is also backed by Motoring Enthusiast senator Ricky Muir. This gives it enough votes to pass. Lambie is voting against all government bills because she is angry at the below-inflation pay deal for the defence forces, but she appears to be moving further away from the Palmer United party – removing its logo from her website and having no contact with any of her fellow PUP senators. The proposed committee will look at a long list of arguments regularly used by opponents of wind energy – including that it drives up power prices (effectively making this yet another inquiry into the RET), that it might have health consequences and that wind turbines pose a danger to birds and planes fighting fires or spraying crops. A spokesman for Leyonhjelm confirmed a vote to set up the committee had been deferred until Monday because the government had said there could only be four Senate select committees, which meant an existing one would need to be abolished to make room for the new investigation. As well as the inquiry into “Queensland administration” and the budget cuts, existing Senate select committees include an inquiry into health policy and administration and one into the national broadband network. Leyonhjelm’s spokesman said the decision about which committee would be axed was “still being negotiated”. Xenophon said he saw a “real distinction between the efficiency of solar compared with wind” and believed there was a “genuine concern the government hasn’t followed through on promises to do independent research” on the alleged health effects of windfarms. Muir said: “I am supportive of the establishment of a select committee on wind turbines. I am a keen supporter of renewable energy, however, there are a lot of questions and concerns and claims from people living within the vicinity of windfarms. The establishment of the committee is a good way to get some clarity surrounding these claims.” The idea that the RET is significantly pushing up prices has now been challenged by several sets of modelling. ACIL Allen modelling done for the government’s own review shows the current RET target will increase the average household bill by an average of $54 a year between now and 2020, but will reduce bills by a similar annual amount over the following decade compared with what they would be if the RET were repealed. That modelling used assumptions highly unfavourable to renewable energy, including that coal and gas prices would remain almost unchanged until 2040. Separate modelling for the Clean Energy Council by Roam Consulting – with different assumptions about gas prices – found that bills would be $50 a year lower by 2020 if the RET were retained. Another modelling exercise, commissioned by three business groups from Deloitte, found household bills would rise by at most about $50 a year. But the new committee will still look at the effect of wind power on household power prices. While the PUP block stayed in place, the government did not have the numbers to change the RET, but Lambie has said she is worried about how it will affect her home state of Tasmania. | ['australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/environment', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lenore-taylor'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2014-11-18T08:56:44Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2017/oct/18/turkish-environmentalist-murders-and-the-legend-of-gilgamesh | Turkish environmentalist murders and the legend of Gilgamesh | Letters | There have been many attempts throughout history to preserve the cedars of Lebanon, including a decree against logging by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, but Aysin and Ali Büyüknohutçu are the first to have been murdered since Gilgamesh, a king in ancient Mesopotamia, slew the mythical guardian of the cedar forest, Humbaba, in 2750BC (Murders are a warning, say Turkish activists, 18 October). It is likely that the Epic of Gilgamesh was written to warn against assaults on the natural world, but ancient cedar forests in Lebanon have nevertheless been decimated, not least by the British military when constructing a railway from Haifa to Tripoli, and Cedrus libani is now classified as a near-threatened species. The best-preserved trees are now found in the Taurus mountains of southern Turkey, and it is for these forests that the couple gave their lives. Turkey no longer has an independent judiciary, and there is a menacing link between nationalistic leaders and disregard for the environment. Trump’s attitude to climate change is just as dangerous as Turkish hitmen who murder environmental activists. Dr Robin Russell-Jones Author, The Gilgamesh Gene • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | ['world/turkey', 'tone/letters', 'world/world', 'politics/politics', 'world/lebanon', 'world/middleeast', 'environment/environment', 'environment/activism', 'world/protest', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2017-10-18T18:08:08Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
media/2008/feb/01/digitalmedia.advertising | Microsoft/Yahoo ad threat to rivals | The combined businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo could provide a staunch competitor to Google in key international markets such as Asia and India in the global battle for control of the $80bn-a-year (£40.6bn) online advertising market. Google dominates the search advertising sector in key territories such as the US and UK and has moved in on the global online display ad market with the acquisition of DoubleClick. Microsoft, which has already spent $6bn on aQuantive for its display advertising delivery platform in a bid to catch up, will in one move with a Yahoo deal significantly bolster its business across the globe in a fight where non-US markets are rapidly gaining in importance. "The battleground is increasingly outside the US," said Nick Thomas, European media analyst at JupiterResearch. Thomas added that Google makes 48% of its revenue outside the US, while Microsoft generates 39% and Yahoo just 33%, leaving huge room for growth. Yahoo's overall business has struggled in Europe so a tie-up with Microsoft would in theory provide sterner competition for Google across the continent. "A combination of the two will make one of the most powerful display ad propositions out there - a huge growth area as search advertising also starts to plateau - but it doesn't necessarily solve the issue of Google's search dominance," said Wayne Arnold, the chairman of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's digital group. Google has around 70% of the UK search ad markets, although its share varies across other European countries. Arnold said that the UK advertiser reaction to a potential Microsoft/Yahoo merger would be one of "mild caution". But he added that there was enough competition from media owners for valuable display advertising space to mean it was "not necessarily a worry in the UK". Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have all found China difficult to crack. Local companies such as Baidu are the market leaders in China, but Microsoft will find Yahoo's success in Japan to be a major boost. "Yahoo Japan is the only success story from the main foreign companies in the region," said Arnold. "Google is not as strong in Asian markets and in the next five to 10 years India and China will be increasingly important." Google dominates as the search engine of choice in Australia, with a 70% share according to research firm Hitwise. But it is a different picture on the display advertising front. Arnold said Microsoft has developed a strong presence in Australia through a tie-up with Channel Nine and the ninemsn.com.au portal is a major player. Across smaller markets a combination of Microsoft and Yahoo also makes sense to give economies of scale. Countries such as Brazil, for example, have local players outside the main western internet brands, such as Telefonica-owned portal Terra, which attract big audiences that could be better targeted through a merged operation. "It makes perfect logical sense [to merge] as to automatically gives scale against Google to operate as a gateway of massive size for people using the internet," said Arnold. Yahoo and MSN have already established working relations, having struck a landmark interoperability deal over instant messenger - a huge draw for young internet users resulting in 350m linked accounts. This represents a massive plus for advertisers. If Microsoft and Yahoo do merge there will be question marks over the future business operations of other players battling for a slice of search and display ad revenues. Search engine Ask.com, traditionally the fourth player for search ad money, will find the going extremely tough if the second and third ranked players merge. AOL, which is attempting to rebuild its subscription-focused business as an advertising-led operation, will be mortified by the prospect of competing for display ad money against a powerhouse Microsoft/Yahoo sales proposition. · To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332. · If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". | ['technology/yahoo-takeover', 'media/digital-media', 'media/advertising', 'media/mediabusiness', 'business/business', 'media/media', 'type/article', 'profile/marksweney'] | technology/yahoo-takeover | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2008-02-01T18:04:42Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
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