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world/2018/oct/09/indonesia-orders-foreign-aid-workers-helping-with-tsunami-effort-to-leave | Indonesia orders foreign aid workers helping with tsunami effort to leave | Foreign aid workers who rallied to the island of Sulawesi after the devastating earthquake and tsunami more than a week ago have been asked to leave the country by the Indonesian government. Foreign agencies flew in after a devastating earthquake on 28 September, which triggered a tsunami. The official death toll from the disaster is 1,944, about 5,000 people remain missing, presumed dead. Indonesia’s national disaster management authority (BNBP) issued regulations for international NGOs, including that: “Foreign NGOs who have deployed foreign personnel are advised to retrieve their personnel immediately.” The announcement has prompted concerns that the ability of NGOs to deliver aid will be hampered. Tim Costello, the chief advocate for charity World Vision, called the announcement by the government “very odd” and said it meant that overworked and traumatised Indonesia staff and volunteers were not able to be supported and relieved by fresh foreign staff. “Foreign journalists are free to walk around and report, but humanitarian workers who are foreign and are bringing both the experience and the relief to our staff who lived through the tsunami [are not],” he told the ABC. “They’re demoralised, they’re knocked about, so this is what’s very strange.” Indonesian authorities were criticised for how long it took them to get search and rescue equipment and aid to Palu and other areas affected by the natural disaster. In the aftermath of the disaster, the city of Palu went days without power and clean water, leading to reports of looting, long queues for fuel and desperate scenes at the city’s airport. Countries including Australia, New Zealand and the UK pledged aid. The regulations issued by the Indonesian government are directed toward international NGOs. Large organisations such as World Vision, which are registered as local NGOs in Indonesia, are allowed to remain. Jen Clancy at the Australian Council for International Development (Acfid), Australia’s peak body for aid NGOs, said only a small number of international staff were being allowed on the ground to provide technical assistance. Acfid members on the ground in Indonesia told Clancy the restrictions on the number of foreign aid workers was not hampering the response, however they did note concerns about fatigue and exhaustion of local staff. A senior international NGO worker currently in Indonesia advising on the disaster told the Guardian that Indonesia’s preference for local NGOs over foreign ones was “normal”. “In Australia we don’t have Indonesian NGOs there, so why would they have [Australian NGOs]? There are security issues, tax issues, it doesn’t make sense for a country with enough money to have international NGOs instead of nationalised ones,” the worker said. The worker said that while there were some roles requiring specialist technical skills, these can generally be performed from headquarters and last only for a few weeks, whereas for the bulk of roles, it made sense to hire locally. Clancy said international NGOs had to walk a careful line of not acting paternalistically and taking over aid operations. “There’s pushback against the international community who come flooding in days or weeks later, taking over the response. It’s about taking back that power and saying local organisations have significant capacity.” The Indonesian government, the Indonesian Red Cross and other Indonesian NGOs all have “significant capacity” for providing humanitarian assistance, said Clancy. “Natural disasters aren’t a new phenomenon for Indonesia, unfortunately … They are well experienced in responding to natural disasters.” | ['world/indonesia', 'world/earthquakes', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/tsunamis', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kate-lyons', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | world/tsunamis | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-10-09T06:26:27Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
money/2019/aug/10/extinction-rebellion-volunteer-how-i-spend-it | ‘I’ve waited 25 years for a movement like Extinction Rebellion’ | Name: Larch Maxey Age: 46 Income: £0 Occupation: Full-time volunteer with Extinction Rebellion I’m on a year’s sabbatical, and volunteering full-time with Extinction Rebellion. I’ve always been interested the environment and social justice – I have a PhD in sustainability and was a geography lecturer and post-doctoral researcher for 17 years – and I’ve been a climate-change activist for 25 years. During 1994-5 I lived up a tree for a year as part of the No M65 campaign in Lancashire, which I co-founded. For me that was all about the climate and ecological emergency; I’ve waited 25 years for a movement like Extinction Rebellion (XR) that uses the science of social change so effectively. I met XR at Offgrid Festival last August, and was won over by their focus on system change. The next week I brought XR to the Sunrise festival. Suddenly I was helping out on evenings and weekends, fitting in volunteering around my two jobs as co-founder of a wellbeing charity and co-director of Bright Green Futures, a social enterprise creating eco self-build communities. I took two weeks’ annual leave to volunteer full time with XR in November, but the turning point came when I was unexpectedly arrested for obstruction of the highway on Southwark bridge on 17 November and spent nine hours in a police cell. It gave me the chance to really reflect on my life and priorities. I saw what’s important to me and felt deep regret at not having spent the last 25 years addressing climate chaos full time. I know I was doing the best I could, and I had two kids to prioritise. Now they’re adults and this incredibly effective vehicle that is XR has come along, it became clear to me that I needed to go on sabbatical. I knew now was the time to make a difference before the threat to our existence deepens and leads to societal collapse. We only have this year to start bringing emissions down. But it really is possible if enough people join us. I work about 14 hours, six days a week with Extinction Rebellion. My role involves helping develop and implement our strategy and ideas for actions, and linking up with international groups. This is my life’s purpose, and I couldn’t be happier and more fulfilled. I’m happy to spend every waking moment bringing this change about. I’m currently living off my savings. I have just applied for living expenses through XR and requested £600 a month. No one gets a salary with XR. We don’t ask for the amount we’d like, but how much we need. I have savings as I’ve always saved since I was a child, even if there was nothing particular to save for. A dilemma for me has been digging into savings I’d hoped to give my children, aged 20 and 18, money towards a deposit for a home. But if we don’t turn this emergency around, there won’t be a future. I live for free with my best friend Toby in Brixton. As well as joining XR for our big rebellions and actions, he supports XR by giving me a free room. I’m a relaxed freegan. I keep my eyes open and look for food at every opportunity that would otherwise go to waste. Sometimes that means eating leftover food from whoever I’m hanging out with, or collecting food from a local cafe or market stall before they throw it out. I have a flat in Totnes, where I rent a couple of rooms. My mortgage is £850 a month and is mostly covered by two lodgers. Travel sets me back about £250 a month, with most of it spent on trains to and from Totnes. Travelling by tube is expensive so I cycle around London, which I love as I get exercise and explore the city. I do have a car that I was planning to let go of, but actually XR are going to use it for a tour of Europe, so I just spent £25 to insure someone for it. I tend to find clothing. For example if there’s a sock on the pavement, I’ll pick it up and give it a rinse at home. I’ve just sewn up a pair of trousers. I like to repair stuff. While lifestyle and voting can help, they’re no longer enough. We’re in an emergency and we need system change urgently. Far more important than how we vote or live is that we work together for system change and that requires mass peaceful civil disobedience. Join us. I plan to continue working as a full-time XR volunteer until the government adopts our three demands. We need citizens’ assemblies, ordinary people deciding the policies to solve the crisis. If we don’t sort it out, our children won’t have a future. As told to Suzanne Bearne | ['money/series/how-i-spend-it', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'environment/environment', 'money/money', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/money', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-money'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-08-10T05:59:07Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
world/2017/aug/25/hurricane-harvey-evacuations-under-way-as-monster-storm-heads-for-texas | Hurricane Harvey: evacuations under way as storm heads for Texas | Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, oil refineries are expected to shut down and 700 members of the National Guard are being called up as Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful weather system to hit the US in almost 12 years, barrels towards Texas. Several counties along the Gulf coast, including Nueces county, Calhoun county and Brazoria county, have ordered mandatory evacuations in low-lying areas. The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has activated about 700 members of the state National Guard and put military helicopters on standby in Austin and San Antonio in preparation for search and rescues and emergency evacuations. Harvey, which is due to make landfall late on Friday, would be the first hurricane to hit the Texas coast since Hurricane Ike in 2008. The head of the National Weather Service said the storm posed “a grave risk to the folks in Texas”. Louis Uccellini, the NWS director, said Harvey would bring extremely heavy rainfall that causes inland flooding lasting through to the middle of next week, a large storm surge and high winds. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were moving detained immigrants housed in the projected path of the hurricane. In the Gulf of Mexico, oil and natural gas operators had begun evacuating workers from offshore platforms. The hurricane is heading for the Texas coast with the potential for up to 3ft of rain, 125mph winds and 12ft storm surges in what could be the fiercest hurricane to hit the US in almost a dozen years. Forecasters labelled Harvey a “life-threatening storm” that posed a “grave risk”. Millions of people braced for a prolonged battering that could swamp dozens of counties more than 100 miles inland. Landfall was predicted for late Friday or early Saturday between Port O’Connor and Matagorda Bay, a 30-mile (48km) stretch of coastline about 70 miles north-east of Corpus Christi. The region is mostly farm or ranchland dotted with waterfront holiday homes and has absorbed numerous Gulf of Mexico storms for generations. Harvey intensified on Thursday from a tropical depression into a category 1 hurricane. Early on Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center reported it had become a category 2. Fuelled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it was projected to become a major category 3 hurricane. The last storm of that magnitude to hit the US was Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 in Florida. Superstorm Sandy, which pummelled New York and New Jersey in 2012, never had the high winds and had lost tropical status by the time it struck. But it was devastating without formally being called a major hurricane. “We’re forecasting continuing intensification right up until landfall,” National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Typical category 3 storms damage small homes, topple large trees and destroy mobile homes. As in all hurricanes, the wall of water called a storm surge poses the greatest risk. Once it comes ashore, Harvey is expected to stall, dumping copious amounts of rain for days in areas like flood-prone Houston, the nation’s fourth most-populous city, and San Antonio. The National Weather Service director, Louis Uccellini, said scientists were “looking at a potentially impactful storm over a two, three, four-day period”. Donald Trump on Twitter asked people to get ready for the hurricane and posted links to websites for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Hurricane Center and a Homeland Security site with tips for emergency preparedness. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president was “briefed and will continue to be updated as the storm progresses”. In Houston, one of the nation’s most flood-prone cities, Bill Pennington was philosophical as he prepared his one-storey home for what he expected would be its third invasion of floodwaters in as many years and the fifth since 1983. “We know how to handle it. We’ll handle it again,” Pennington said he told his nervous nine-year-old son. Alex Garcia bought bottled water, bread and other basics in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land after dropping off his daughter at college. He said grocery items were likely more available in Houston than back home in Corpus Christi, where Garcia, a beer distributor salesman, said stores were “crazy”. “We’ll be selling lots of beer,” he said. Kim Fraleigh, of Sugar Land, stocked up with five cases of water, three bags of ice and other supplies at a supermarket. “We’ve got chips, tuna, dry salami, anything that does not require refrigeration,” she said. | ['us-news/hurricane-harvey', 'world/hurricanes', 'us-news/texas', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | us-news/hurricane-harvey | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-08-25T08:04:37Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2009/jul/29/vestas-workers-eviction-court-wight | Vestas workers fight on after eviction attempt fails | Workers occupying a wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight vowed to continue their protest for another week today after a legal attempt to evict them quickly failed. For the past nine days, about 20 workers have occupied the Vestas Wind Systems plant near Newport, which is due to close tomorrow. The company sought a possession order at Newport county court today in an attempt to remove the workers from the factory, where 625 staff are set to lose their jobs. But, adjourning the hearing until Tuesday, the judge, Graham White, said papers had not been properly served on individuals occupying the property. Papers were served last Thursday to Mark Smith, the one worker that the factory's Danish owners know for certain is occupying the factory. In the court papers, Vestas named 13 individuals and "persons unknown" it believed had occupied the office space in the building. Three of those are now thought to have left. However, Adam Rosenthal, representing Vestas, conceded the company could not be sure who else had barricaded themselves inside the property. Urging the judge to use his discretion to fast-track the possession order, Rosenthal said "emotions are running high" at the factory and there was a real risk of disturbance. He said the police presence at the site was evidence of the risk of disorder. Judge White dismissed that argument, saying: "I see no evidence of any threat of violence to property or person by reason of the individuals who are occupying the property remaining there." The judge added he was "distinctly uncomfortable" with the way the company was seeking to bring proceedings, which he described as an attempt to "get around the rules". "I am not satisfied that any named person other than Mark Smith has been personally served," he said. The adjournment resulted in celebrations for the occupying workers, who were told by mobile phone. They had expected bailiffs to arrive soon after court proceedings. "Everyone in here went absolutely ballistic," said one of the workers inside. "It's given us another week to spread the word and given our legal team time to strengthen the case." Although, he conceded that another six nights in the factory was "not a pleasant thought". Outside the court, about 200 protesters – an alliance of local workers and environmental activists from the mainland – also celebrated. "We have just heard that the case has been adjourned to 4 August," Steve Stotesbury, a 29-year-old blade maker, announced to the crowd. "As we have said from the outset, this is a peaceful demonstration." He added: "We're extremely jubilant. This was the decision we were hoping for. It goes to show the fight is not over." Workers at the site have recently signed up to the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), which is supporting their campaign. The union said today that its general secretary, Bob Crow, was meeting the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, to discuss the situation. Crow will then travel to the island to address the rally camping outside the factory. "No one should underestimate the significance of the court throwing out Vestas' repossession application today," said Crow. "This is a significant victory which gives us more time to build the global campaign to save Vestas." More activists connected with the protest network Climate Camp joined the protest today, but not in the numbers the group had hoped for. However, the dispute is proving embarrassing for the energy secretary, who a fortnight ago pledged to install 10,000 wind turbines by 2020. The government has also promised to create thousands of "green jobs" of the kind that are being lost with the closure of the Vestas factory. The company has said it is moving production of its blades to the United States because the market in the UK is not growing fast enough. Vestas has been criticised for the way it informed the protesting workers that they had been sacked. The termination letters were delivered to the factory beneath slices of pizza. | ['environment/windpower', 'politics/tradeunions', 'uk/uk', 'politics/politics', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/paullewis', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2009-07-29T12:35:47Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2005/sep/17/hurricanes2005.hurricanekatrina | After the floods: trailer parks for a million | It is being called the biggest federal housing programme in United States history, a plan to build up to 300,000 temporary homes for nearly a million people flooded out by Hurricane Katrina. All along the Gulf Coast contractors are constructing huge trailer parks. The scale of the enterprise dwarfs both the rebuilding of Chicago after the great fire of 1871 and San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Planners and officials are worried about the long-term ramifications if people are stuck in temporary accommodation for years. "We have never had to deal with anything like this in US history," said Ruth Steiner, an associate professor at the department of urban and regional planning at Florida University. "They are looking at trying to house more than a million people, so you are basically dealing with trying to build multiple cities." On the outskirts of Baker, east of Baton Rouge, contractors have less than two weeks to turn 60 acres of prairie into a town for several thousand people. While bulldozers dig drainage ditches, men in fluorescent waistcoats use orange flags to show where 600 trailers will be, along with a network of limestone roads, parking areas and sewage treatment facilities. The park is one of many. Emergency officials are mapping out new towns made up of as many as 25,000 mobile homes. The plan is to open 30,000 new homes every two weeks. Stores, restaurants and other facilities will come later, but the priority is getting people out of shelters and under their own roofs. This will increase the pre-Katrina population of Baker, about 13,000, by at least a third. Nobody knows how long the evacuees will stay. "The key is making them comfortable enough for people to live in but not so comfortable that they never want to leave," Prof Steiner said. Already local shops have been running out of groceries as a result of the influx, but the town is still offering a warm welcome to the evacuees. "We're not looking on the negative side," said Monteal Caron-Margolis, of the town's chamber of commerce. "Basically we are seeing this as an opportunity that we hope will help to breathe new life into our community." But the towns and the trailer park residents can expect rocky times ahead. Several of the parks built in Florida in the wake of four major hurricanes in the state last year have experienced widespread lawlessness, and New Orleans was home to some of the US's most violent gangs. "We ain't worried about it," said the town's assistant chief of police, Captain Mike Kanaps. "There has been a bit more shoplifting and minor crime like that, but basically nothing else. We run a pretty tight ship over here. We have a very low tolerance level, we go straight by the rules and we don't have any grey areas, that's why people like living here." | ['environment/environment', 'world/hurricanes', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/flooding', 'world/world', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/louisiana', 'type/article', 'profile/jamiewilson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international1'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-09-17T14:06:26Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
sport/blog/2022/jul/18/ben-stokes-odi-retirement-wake-up-call-ecb-icc-cricket | Ben Stokes’ ODI retirement should be a wake-up call to cricket’s leaders | Ali Martin | It feels fitting in some ways that during a week that is hotter than Hades – when alarm bells about our direction of travel should be ringing even louder – Ben Stokes has announced his retirement from one-day international cricket. Yep, the champion all-rounder who powered England to World Cup victory by the barest of margins three summers ago, in front of a packed house at Lord’s and with the UK’s largest cricket audience since the heady 2005 Ashes, has decided the 50-over stuff must make way. If not, his schedule as an elite all-format player would become suffocating. The hope now is that this similarly prompts a wake-up call. Rather poetically, he will bid farewell to the format after winning his 105th ODI cap at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street, County Durham on Tuesday. It is the ground that Ged and Deborah Stokes used to drive their restless, sports-mad son to from their home in Cockermouth some three times a week, two hours each way, in an act of selfless parenting that lit the fire for a remarkable sporting career. Ben Stokes, England cricketer and totemic Test captain, powers on, of course. In fact more so, in terms of where, aged 31, he wants to direct his energies. Modern all-format stars do not tend to jack it all in at once anyway, rather strip away that which means least to them and design their latter years weighing up health, wealth and happiness. When they do so it says a bit about the player and plenty about the sport. And Stokes could not have been clearer about the bigger picture here, citing an “unsustainable schedule” and his fear of letting down teammates. For a cricketer paid by one of the boards responsible for this, to be so explicit in pushing back is quite the thing. After all, in practical terms Stokes did n0t have to announce this right now, so deep is his line of credit. He averaged 50 with the bat during Eoin Morgan’s five-year World Cup project, is a genuine sixth bowler and fields like a demon. Allied with talismanic dressing-room status and, as England’s highest earner, he could shoulder arms to any series he did not fancy between now and the defence in 2023 and likely still command a spot. Last week, as well as withdrawing from the upcoming Twenty20 series against South Africa to ready himself for the Test matches that follow, it was announced he would skip the Hundred this summer and his employers simply had to suck it up. No one batted an eyelid, nor would they were his ODIs to become fleeting. But now was the time, like a leader, to take one for the team and give clarity in response to a fixture list that lacks anything of the sort. “I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us,” he said. This announcement, decided last week but coming during a 48-hour turnaround between ODIs, was as sweetly timed as that famous swept six off Trent Boult at Lord’s three years ago. Stokes knows his mind and body have limits. So much so he wisely took a four-month break last summer when bereavement and injury proved an overwhelming mix. Since returning to mental and physical fitness – both boxes not fully ticked until the tour of the Caribbean in March, even if he still grimaces in the field at times – he has become ever more besotted with Test cricket and taken on tunnel vision with it. “I will give everything I have to Test cricket, and now, with this decision, I feel I can also give my total commitment to the T20 format,” he said in his statement. The latter’s appeal is understandable in the modern economic climate but, having passed up the Indian Premier League this year and hinted he will do so again before next summer’s Ashes assault, it is clear the type of cricket which is calling him. The alliance with the head coach, Brendon McCullum, has also begun in quite astonishing fashion – those four spellbinding run chases in a row – and one could almost sense during these last three ODIs that this goal is now consuming his every cricketing thought. Put simply, the Test team and winning back the urn from Australia have become an obsession and Stokes is a character who is all-in when hooked. The fear, of course, is that his broader call for a cleaner schedule falls on deaf ears. The ICC (aka the major boards) is working on a schedule that, while pruning back some ODI cricket over the next five years, features a global men’s tournament every 12 months. If the 50-over format is on the way out, no one seems to have told the organisers of the 2023, 2027 and 2031 World Cups, or Champions Trophies in 2025 and 2029. Each of the ICC members will also jostle to promote their domestic leagues – but stop everything for the two and a half months of the IPL to keep their players happy – and somehow attempt to keep touring for their bilateral commitments, too. But on Tuesday, back where it all began for Stokes, it will at least be a chance for the English game to thank the all-rounder for his efforts as a World Cup-winning one-day international star and applaud his burning desire to keep the flame of Test cricket alive. | ['sport/ben-stokes', 'sport/england-cricket-team', 'sport/ecb', 'sport/international-cricket-council', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport-politics', 'sport/sport', 'sport/blog', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/ali-martin', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/ecb | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-07-18T19:00:19Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2021/nov/05/a-strange-poem-for-strange-times-a-response-to-cop26 | A strange poem for strange times: a response to Cop26 | Simon Armitage | I wanted to react to Cop26 – so many of my friends and colleagues have been emboldened by the conversation it has generated. And strange times sometimes lead to strange poems. I was trying to chart the peculiar dream-like state we seem to be in, where the rules and natural laws of the old world feel to be in flux, one of those dreams which are full of danger, but not completely beyond the control of the person who sleeps. The speaker in the poem is watching a world out of kilter, and is full of doubt and distrust, but seems to pluck up enough personal courage to face the future. Let’s call it hope. Futurama I crawl out onto the rooftop above the world’s junkshop, lean against the warm chimney and eyeball the city. The vibe is … let’s say ethereal, rows of TV aerials spelling out HEAVEN, spelling out ARMAGEDDON. It’s T minus zero of the Petroleum Era – all my neighbours are burning tomorrow’s newspapers in their back-gardens, getting their alibis sharpened. As the hours evaporate I say to my spirit I can’t really pilot this smouldering twilight over the scars and crevasses, but I’ll put on my best sunglasses and steer the cockpit of morning into the oncoming. | ['environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021', 'books/poetry', 'uk/uk', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/simonarmitage', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/guardian-saturday'] | environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-11-05T14:32:01Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2021/may/10/logging-exempt-from-environment-laws-despite-destroying-threatened-species-victorian-habitat-court-finds | Logging exempt from environment laws despite destroying threatened species’ Victorian habitat, court finds | A Victorian government forestry agency has won an appeal against a landmark court judgment that found it had repeatedly breached conservation regulations during its logging of the state’s central highlands. The full bench of the federal court on Monday overturned a judgment that last year found VicForests had breached a code of practice related to a regional forestry agreement between the federal and state governments, and had therefore lost its right to be exempt from national environment laws. The May 2020 judgment by justice Debra Mortimer found VicForests’ logging did not comply with the RFA as it was destroying habitat critical to two threatened species – the vulnerable greater glider and the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum. The decision sparked calls for a review of the industry-wide exemption for logging from the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act under the terms of RFAs in four states. In its judgment on Monday, the court found the initial judgment – including that VicForests had breached the code of practice by not complying with the precautionary principle in some forests – was factually correct. But it found that VicForests’ logging was exempt from national environment laws even if it did not comply with the RFA. The volunteer-run conservation group that brought the case, Friends of the Leadbeater’s Possum, said it planned to appeal to the high court, and would apply to keep injunctions preventing logging in place until that case was heard. The president of the group, Steve Meacher, said the judgment was “very disappointing”. “Logging in native forests is killing threatened species and destroying their critical habitat,” he said. “This battle is not over yet.” VicForests said it was pleased the court accepted its argument that forestry under RFAs was managed under state regimes and did not need to be approved under national laws. The RFA requires VicForests to provide a management plan that “balances” the environmental and economic impact of logging. Mortimer had found logging in 26 coupes had not complied with the code of practice and planned logging in another 41 coupes was likely not to comply. Nicola Rivers, the co-chief executive of Environmental Justice Australia, which represented the conservation group, said the latest judgment confirmed VicForests’ logging had destroyed critical habitat for species at high risk of extinction, driven the decline of the Leadbeater’s possum and may have killed hundreds of threatened greater gliders. “The court decided those operations are exempt from the federal environment laws designed to protect those very species,” she said. A once-in-a-decade independent review of the EPBC Act by the former competition watchdog chief Graeme Samuel last year found the environment laws were failing, and the effective exemption granted to native forest logging should be abolished. The government is yet to formally respond to Samuel’s recommendation. The Nationals Senate leader, Bridget McKenzie, introduced a private member’s bill to reinforce native forest logging’s exemption from environment laws in response to last year’s federal court judgment. The environment minister, Sussan Ley, said through a spokesperson that McKenzie’s bill was not government policy. The Australian Forest Products Association said the court judgment was a “historic win for Australia’s sustainable native forest industries” that confirmed RFAs “provide all the environmental protections required by national environmental laws”. “Today’s decision provides certainty for Victoria’s native timber industry and indeed for forest industry workers around the country,” the association’s chief executive, Ross Hampton, said But the Wilderness Society said the court had rejected 30 of the 31 grounds that VicForests put forward, and upheld a finding that its logging activities posed a threat of extinction to the two species. “Given all but one of the grounds were upheld, the court’s finding of illegal logging under Victorian law stands,” the society’s national campaigns director, Amelia Young, said. “Today’s outcome does not change the systemic risk of illegality that exists in these supply chains, and confirms that national environment laws are in desperate need of reform to protect endangered forest animals.” Young called on “manufacturers, processors, retailers and consumers of timber, paper and packaging products” made from wood logged by VicForests to boycott its products, and the Victorian government to bring forward its plan to phase out native forestry by 2030. The state government has been contacted for comment. | ['environment/logging-and-land-clearing', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/victoria', 'environment/forests', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-morton', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-05-10T05:38:57Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2009/dec/20/ed-miliband-china-copenhagen-summit | Ed Miliband: China tried to hijack Copenhagen climate deal | The climate secretary, Ed Miliband, today accuses China, Sudan, Bolivia and other leftwing Latin American countries of trying to hijack the UN climate summit and "hold the world to ransom" to prevent a deal being reached. In an article in the Guardian, Miliband says the UK will make clear to those countries holding out against a binding legal treaty that "we will not allow them to block global progress". "We cannot again allow negotiations on real points of substance to be hijacked in this way," he writes in the aftermath of the UN summit in Copenhagen, which climaxed with what was widely seen as a weak accord, with no binding emissions targets, despite an unprecedented meeting of leaders. Miliband said there must be "major reform" of the UN body overseeing the talks – the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – and on the way negotiations are conducted. He is said to be outraged that UN procedure allowed a few countries to nearly block a deal. The prime minister, Gordon Brown, will repeat some of the UK's accusations in a webcast tomorrow when he says: "Never again should we face the deadlock that threatened to pull down [those] talks. Never again should we let a global deal to move towards a greener future be held to ransom by only a handful of countries." Only China is mentioned specifically in Miliband's article but aides tonight made it clear that he included Sudan, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba, which also tried to resist a deal being signed. But in what threatened to become an international incident, diplomats and environment groups hit back by saying Britain and other countries, including the US and Australia, had dictated the terms of the weak Copenhagen agreement, imposing it on the world's poor "at the peril of the millions of common masses". Muhammed Chowdhury, a lead negotiator of G77 group of 132 developing countries and the 47 least developed countries, said: "The hopes of millions of people from Fiji to Grenada, Bangladesh to Barbados, Sudan to Somalia have been buried. The summit failed to deliver beyond taking note of a watered-down Copenhagen accord reached by some 25 friends of the Danish chair, head of states and governments. They dictated the terms at the peril of the common masses." Developing countries were joined in their criticism of the developed nations by international environment groups. Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International, said: "Instead of committing to deep cuts in emissions and putting new, public money on the table to help solve the climate crisis, rich countries have bullied developing nations to accept far less. "Those most responsible for putting the planet in this mess have not shown the guts required to fix it and have instead acted to protect short-term political interests.". In a separate development, senior scientists said tonight that rich countries needed to put up three times as much money and cut emissions more if they were to avoid serious climate change. Professor Martin Parry of Imperial College London, a former chair of the UN's Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said: "Even if non-binding pledges made at Copenhagen are completely fulfilled, there is a 1.5C 'gap' leading to unavoided impacts. The funding for adaptation covers impacts up to about 1.5C, and the mitigation pledges to cut climate change down to 3C at most ... leaving 1.5C of impacts not avoided because of the failure of adaptation and mitigation to close the gap." The UN climate chief, Yvo de Boer, said: "The opportunity to actually make it into the scientific window of opportunity is getting smaller and smaller." | ['environment/copenhagen', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'world/china', 'world/unitednations', 'world/sudan', 'world/bolivia', 'politics/edmiliband', 'politics/politics', 'tone/news', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'world/africa', 'world/americas', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2009-12-20T20:30:01Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
books/2019/apr/26/extinction-rebellion-rushes-activists-handbook-this-is-not-a-drill-into-print | Extinction Rebellion rushes activists' handbook This Is Not a Drill into print | Former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas are among the contributors to a forthcoming handbook about how to become an Extinction Rebellion activist, which will feature instructions on everything from organising roadblocks to dealing with arrest. As 65,000 copies of Swedish student Greta Thunberg’s manifesto Rejoignez-nous (Join Us) hit French bookshops this week – with British publishers also understood to be chasing English rights to the book by the teenager who has sparked a global youth movement – This Is Not a Drill by Extinction Rebellion went from manuscript to the printers in 10 days and is being rushed out by Penguin for 3 June. The book, which will also feature contributions from names including Susie Orbach, Kate Raworth and Clive Lewis, was originally planned for September. Penguin editor Tom Penn said: “We thought, ‘This is an emergency, and we have to react like it’s an emergency.’” The activists in the book write: “This is our last chance to do anything about the global climate and ecological emergency. Our last chance to save the world as we know it. Now or never, we need to be radical. We need to rise up. And we need to rebel. This is a book of truth and action.” Extinction Rebellion activist William Skeaping, who is also one of the book’s four editors, said it had originally been envisaged as a manifesto, “but we felt that didn’t really capture the movement, which is far more emotional and personal and still being developed”. “When we were giving advice, we wanted not just to be speaking in platitudes but to have lived the experience. We’ve had a good start, but there is so much more to be done,” Skeaping said. The book, said Penn, is in two parts – the first looking at how “we’re in denial, and need to understand what the climate emergency means”, as well as “delving into the psychological trauma of what it means to understand our world is changing irrevocably”. The second is a handbook for activists, with stories by people Skeaping described as being “on the front lines of climate emergencies”, from a Himalayan farmer to a firefighter in California and the president of the Maldives. “These are people who are literally about to die – they’re reminders of how close these front lines are,” said Skeaping. “This is not just about a climate emergency, it’s also ecological – habitat loss, the loss of biodiversity, that’s what’s going to kill us first. This book is about what we can all begin to do, and because it’s not by just one author, it’s the crowdsourced knowledge of our movement.” With activists fresh from gluing themselves to the London Stock Exchange and protesting semi-naked in the House of Commons, Extinction Rebellion is an international protest group that uses non-violent civil disobedience in its environmental campaigns. Penn admitted there were questions for an environmental group releasing a printed book. But This Is Not A Drill will be printed, he said, in a carbon-neutral paper mill that plants two trees for every one it uses, and it was felt the book needed to appear in print for maximum impact. “In an ideal world there would be an entirely non-impactful way of doing this, but this is a means to an end,” he said. | ['books/books', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'environment/environment', 'environment/activism', 'culture/culture', 'world/protest', 'books/publishing', 'uk/rowan-williams', 'politics/caroline-lucas', 'environment/greta-thunberg', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/alisonflood', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-culture'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-04-26T11:01:13Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
uk-news/2024/jan/07/saudi-developers-heathcliff-bronte-lancashire-calderdale-windfarm-plan | ‘What do Saudi developers know of Heathcliff?’ Brontë country up in arms over windfarm plan | “Heathcliff! It’s me, Cathy, I’m up by the wind turbines.” It’s not quite what Kate Bush had in mind, and probably not what Emily Brontë imagined when she wandered the bleak West Yorkshire moors and created Wuthering Heights. But if one of Lancashire’s wealthiest men gets his way, vast swathes of moorland in Brontë country could become home to England’s biggest onshore windfarm. Richard Bannister owns Boundary Outlet, a chain of discount shopping centres, as well as nine square miles of boggy moorland between Haworth and Hebden Bridge he uses for grouse shooting. He has joined forces with a Saudi-backed company to develop plans to turn the “wily, windy” moor into the Calderdale windfarm. It would include up to 65 turbines, each rising up to 200 metres (655ft), 40 metres taller than Blackpool Tower. The windfarm could, say its backers, generate enough renewable energy to power 286,491 homes and save 426,246 tonnes of carbon annually. Yet local opposition is building against the project, with particular concerns over the carbon-trapping peat bogs, which also soak up water that would otherwise flow down to the flood-prone valleys below. Others worry about the loss of habitat for nesting birds, especially the curlews, lapwings and golden plover, with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) calling the location “entirely inappropriate”. There are concerns, too, of the effect on the lucrative literary tourist industry, with the Brontë Society saying the development would have “a significant and detrimental impact on an iconic local viewpoint and world-renowned landscape”. Lydia Macpherson and Nick MacKinnon, both poets, live in the final farmhouse on the Haworth side of the moor, right on the Pennine Way. Every day, scores of walkers pass by, some wearing red dresses on Bush’s birthday. Most head for the two lone sycamores marking the spot of Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse once owned by Macpherson’s ancestors, which many believe provided the inspiration for Wuthering Heights (in setting, if not architecture). “People come from all over the world to see where Cathy and Heathcliff lived. Since the disgusting chainsawing of the Hadrian’s Wall tree, the two Top Withens sycamores are probably the best-loved in Britain,” said MacKinnon. “The developers are Saudis, so what do they know of curlews and Heathcliff, and why should they care?” Bannister is local and “should know better”, said Mackinnon: “At best, this application is criminally negligent about wildlife, flooding and heritage. At worst, it shows contempt for the people in the Worth and Calder valleys, and the imaginations of millions elsewhere, by entitled and selfish owners.” Those campaigning against the windfarm insist they are not simply trying to protect their own privileged vistas but fighting for everyone: friend, foe or fowl. “The nimbys are the birds who live here,” said Clare Shaw, another poet who lives in Pecket Well, above Hebden Bridge, and is coordinating a response from Calderdale’s artistic community. “We should not be destroying this really vital habitat that they are programmed to come back to.” Others feel more conflicted about the project. Joseph Holden, a professor of geography and peatland expert from the University of Leeds, said that while carbon calculators showed the carbon benefits of the windfarm would outweigh the carbon losses from the peat land, wind turbines do cause “heartbreaking” damage. Holden chairs the Shetland Windfarm Environmental Advisory Group, which is monitoring the construction of 103 turbines that will create the largest onshore windfarm in the UK. The “footprint” of damage is bigger than just each turbine and its foundations, he said. An access road must be built to each one, and large cables buried underground to connect each one to the National Grid, which will involve large-scale peat disruption. “As a peatland scientist, when you see the disturbance and damage to peatland on a windfarm site it’s devastating,” said Holden. “It’s heartbreaking because these systems have grown for thousands of years, slowly accumulating this carbon. We should be doing everything we can to keep that carbon in our land and put our windfarms elsewhere, where the carbon impact won’t be as great.” There are plenty of windy spots high up on other hills with much thinner, non-peaty soils that could provide a better location for a windfarm, he suggested. The plans are still in the early stages, with the developers submitting a 151-page scoping document in September after the government dropped its moratorium on large onshore windfarms. The developers must carry out a formal environmental impact assessment before they can submit a full planning application. A spokesperson for Calderdale windfarm and Worldwide Renewable Energy said: “We are committed to responsible development that respects the landscape, minimises disruption to wildlife habitats and mitigates potential impacts on the local environment. “We recognise that concerns have been raised about heritage preservation and have appointed experts in cultural heritage, such as Wessex Archaeology, to guide us in preserving local heritage sites, including the Brontë heritage, and are committed to considering these concerns as part of our ongoing design process.” The spokesperson said that although funding for the planning phase had come from Saudi investment, if given planning permission, most shares would be sold to UK-based investment funds. Calderdale council’s corporate lead for planning, Richard Seaman, said: “On the submission of any planning application, a full public consultation would be carried out and all representations received taken into consideration.” | ['uk-news/west-yorkshire', 'environment/environment', 'environment/windpower', 'books/emilybronte', 'film/wuthering-heights', 'environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'uk/uk', 'uk-news/england', 'uk-news/north-of-england', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/helenpidd', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2024-01-07T16:00:24Z | true | ENERGY |
lifeandstyle/2011/feb/16/new-york-fashion-week-rodarte | New York fashion week: Daily round-up on Wednesday | Rodarte: the verdict It was all about ethereal clothing at the Rodarte show on Tuesday, reports the Wall Street Journal. Despite the fact that most of the collections at fashion week have been charcoal grey for autumn, the Rodarte sisters decided to opt for brighter colours instead. The runway was filled with long flowing dresses in peach and cream colours, as well as deep reds. Fabrics included delicate silk, chiffon and lace. The paper dubbed the collection a "prairie", though one imagines Laura Ingalls (of Little House on the Prairie fame) never looked this chic. The Rodarte sisters also packed in the stars, with Kirsten Dunst, Sofia Coppola and Kanye West taking front row. First Lady fashion: why it works W Hotel Times Square and Gilt City hosted a party in celebration of Michelle Obama's style on Tuesday night, for the launch of Kate Betts' book, Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style. Betts, a long-time fashion journalist and the youngest person ever to be editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar, can pinpoint the first time she became obsessed with Michelle Obama's style. "It was at the Democratic Convention", she tells me, adding that, Michelle wore a Maria Pinto turquoise dress. "That was the moment that I saw for the first time that synthesis of style and substance that she [Michelle Obama] is now famous for. She made this fantastic speech and wore this great dress, very smartly using her style to get her message across," explained Betts, at the party. The Lady Gaga of fashion on how to do the "front-row" Anna Dello Russo, editor-at-large of Vogue Japan and a favourite of ours over here at Life and style has offered some sage advice about how to impress if, by chance, you are lucky enough to get any fashion week invites this year. Out of the 10 rules that feature on her blog, which has the fabulous headline: "I don't want to be cool, I want to be fashion", my favourite ones are: • Don't carry big bags. On the front row they hinder the passage. • Amazing shoes matching a perfect pedicure. They make the right attitude • You must choose outfits fierce and fully shaped How to crash fashion week: men vs women If you're planning on a last ditch attempt to make it into the tents without a ticket for NYFW and wondering whether you'll have better luck as a man, or fancy your chances more because you are female, now you have the answer. Dan Hopper from VH1's comedy blog reports that he and Piper Weiss from shine.yahoo.com decided to go head to head outside the tents to see who would illegally make it into a show first. Hopper had on jeans and a shirt, while Weiss was in a leotard and heels. The result? It doesn't matter what sex you are, just act like you're important, wear a crazy outfit and make up the name of a fashion blog just in case you get grilled by security. Shoes, shoes, shoes… because in fashion what you put on your feet is just as important as the clothes you're wearing Fashion darling Charlotte Dellal (sister of model/It girl/DJ Alice Dellal) hit the cold streets of New York on Tuesday for the exclusive launch of her shoe collection at Bergdorf Goodman. The collection is racking up headlines in the fashion press for its return to old-style glamour based on the archetypal 1940s pin-up girl. With Dellal's penchant for height, (in a recent interview with fashion writer Indigo Clarke she said "The higher the heel, the better,") expect vibrantly coloured toweringly high wedges and platforms. And more shoes... So you have the Alexa Chung Mulberry bag and the Kate Moss Topshop dress … but what, I hear you wail, to wear on your feet? Happily, news has arrived that there is now a Blake Lively shoe. According to UK Vogue, Lively has been given the ultimate fashion compliment: Christian Louboutin has named a shoe after her. It will arrive in stores by next month and I think we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. I, for one, will now be hankering after a make up line in my namesake, or at least a lipstick ... | ['fashion/fashion-weeks', 'fashion/fashion', 'fashion/new-york-fashion-week', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'tone/blog', 'fashion/new-york-fashion-week-autumn-winter-2011', 'type/article', 'profile/carlene-thomas-bailey'] | fashion/new-york-fashion-week-autumn-winter-2011 | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2011-02-16T15:08:00Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2018/mar/05/a-fifth-of-europes-wood-beetles-at-risk-of-extinction-as-ancient-trees-decline | One-fifth of Europe's wood beetles at risk of extinction as ancient trees decline | Almost one-fifth of Europe’s wood beetles are at risk of extinction due to a widespread decline in ancient trees, according to a new report which suggests their demise could have devastating knock-on effects for other species. The study says 18% of saproxylic beetles – which depend on dead and decaying wood for some of their lifecycle – now exist on a conservation plane between “vulnerable” and “critically endangered”. Another 13% of the insects are considered “near threatened” and their disappearance could have a disastrous impact on biodiversity and ecosystems, according to the new red list released by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Wood beetles are a key food source for small mammals, bats and for birds such as woodpeckers, nut hatchers and treecreepers. Some species are also pollinators. Dr Keith Alexander, an ecological consultant who contributed to the report, told the Guardian: “Saproxylic beetles are intimately tied to everything else in the places where they occur. If you start to erode the varieties of life, then the ecosystem heads towards collapse.” “In western Europe, there are already lots of intensively cultivated places where the fauna is incredibly poor compared to what it should be. We expect that things have started to unravel in these places, which have been simplified by people removing dead wood and changing the habitat’s whole structure.” Healthy and varied wood beetle populations need large volumes of dead and decaying wood. Some species will only lay their eggs in hollow cavities containing mould that takes hundreds of years to form. Logging and tree loss is “by far” the greatest menace to their way of life, the IUCN report says. But they also face a staggering array of threats, from urbanisation and tourism to arable farming, pollution and climate change. One of the most avoidable hazards confronting wood beetles is the rigidity of the EU’s common agricultural policy’s (CAP) payment system, according to Luc Bas, the IUCN’s Europe director. “It is critical for the CAP to promote the appropriate management of wood pasture habitats containing veteran trees across Europe,” he said. “Currently, management practices lead to the transformation of wood pastures into either woodland or grassland, destroying the essential vegetation mosaic many saproxylic beetles need.” The European commission funded the IUCN paper, which assessed 700 species of beetle, and was increasingly engaging with the effects of its CAP policies, Alexander said. | ['environment/insects', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/arthurneslen', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-03-05T06:30:08Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
us-news/2015/apr/05/california-governor-drought-climate-change-dianne-feinstein | California governor tells climate change deniers to wake up | As his state faces the worst drought in its history, with mandatory water rationing for residents and fears of destruction to the agricultural sector, California governor Jerry Brown had a message Sunday for climate change deniers: wake up. “With the weather that’s happening in California, climate change is not a hoax,” Brown said, on ABC news. “We’re dealing with it, and it’s damn serious.” Snow pack in California this year, which historically has renewed the state’s water reservoirs each spring, has been measured at just 8% of usual levels. Reservoirs sit mostly dry, with 38 million residents downstream wondering where water for showers, dishes and drinking will come from. Earlier this week, Brown announced new rules for the amount of water California residents and municipalities can use, with the aim of cutting statewide water usage by 25%. Residents faced restrictions on watering lawns and flushing toilets. Cities were prohibited from watering ornamental grass on street medians and told to revisit how much water utilities charge. “It is a wake-up call and it should be for everyone,” Brown said on Sunday. “It affects lawns. It affects people’s how long they stay in the shower.” The governor said that if people ignored rationing, which could be measured through local water districts, they could face fines. “The enforcement mechanism is powerful,” Brown said. “In a drought of this magnitude, you have to change behavior.” California senator Dianne Feinstein told CNN, meanwhile, that the historic drought facing her state represented a “very, very serious problem” and announced that she was working on emergency legislation to provide relief to farmers and residents whose livelihoods were threatened. Brown responded to criticism that the rationing rules did not do enough to limit water consumption by the agricultural sector. About 9m acres of farmland in California are irrigated, accounting for 80% of all human water use, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. High-growth crops include almonds and other nuts, grapes, citrus and other fruit. “The farmers have fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres,” Brown said. “They’re pulling up vines and trees. Farmworkers are out of work. There are people in agriculture areas that are really suffering.” Brown said shutting down agriculture production in the state was possible but “that would displace hundreds of thousands of people, and I don’t think it’s needed.” “If things continue to at this level, that’s probably going to be examined,” he said. | ['us-news/california', 'environment/drought', 'us-news/dianne-feinstein', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/us-politics', 'environment/water', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/tommccarthy'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-04-05T15:17:40Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2022/aug/18/dreadful-threat-of-la-nina-and-uncertainty-about-nsw-buybacks-compounds-woes-in-lismore | ‘It’s just torture’: threat of La Niña and uncertainty about NSW buybacks compounds woes in Lismore | Harper Dalton has not slept well in the six months since his South Lismore home flooded. “You go to bed every night wondering if next month or next week could I have to do it all over again,” he said. Dalton lost all his belongings in February, although the old hardwood home he bought in 2020 is still standing. He’s one of many Lismore residents who were eagerly awaiting news of potential flood buy backs in the release of the NSW flood inquiry report on Wednesday, only to be disappointed by a lack of detail. In Lismore to hand down the government’s long-awaited response, the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said there would be a “targeted” deal for flood-affected areas, with expressions of interest to open by the end of the month. He promised to do “everything I can to have that scheme finalised as quickly as possible”, but could not give any details on who would be included. “I appreciate that will provide some uncertainty for people,” Perrottet said. He said an “all encompassing” plan – recommended by the inquiry – would include raising homes, moving homes and buying back properties at pre-flood values, but didn’t set a date for when the deals would begin. The deputy premier, Paul Toole, said there would “definitely be an answer before Christmas”. But with months of further La Niña-driven rain forecast, residents like Dalton want answers now. “We need urgent action around the relocation,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m included. La Niña has just been announced again. I don’t know if it’s going to flood next month.” Residents who want to stay also felt let down as they struggle to work out what the future of their communities will look like. Dee Mould and Naomi Shine have been slowly rebuilding parts of their central Lismore home, while in temporary housing, after losing all of its contents and internal structures in February. They have also organised for other homes to made habitable while owners waited for the clarity they believed they would get when the flood report was handed down. “A lot of people are waiting on a government response while living in less than satisfactory conditions,” Mould said. “There’s a lot of people can’t move back into their houses until they get a decision from the government as to what the government’s going to do. Hearing today that that decision is probably not going to be until a year after the floods, that’s an incredibly slow response. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning “I’ve been disappointed in the government response from day one, from the point where the community was on the water rescuing people.” But Shine said Wednesday’s announcement offered a small amount of hope. “It would be great if we knew the detail now and people could be more able to plan for the future,” she said. “I’d just love to see it enacted and be able to get some action for people.” She said the wet weather forecast this week had been a “dreadful” blow and that many people were struggling to absorb the information in their ongoing stress. “It could all happen again. Living in the flood zone means you’ve got so much to think about,” she said. Lismore city councillor Elly Bird was disappointed the government did not provide certainty for the most “obvious” areas of the region, at the very least. “People have been waiting six months for information. Why not start there?” she said. “Let people have some certainly. “There is an impact on mental health. It’s just torture.” The opposition leader, Chris Minns, said the community needed more detail on the buyback scheme and called on both the state and federal governments to commit further money to get the rebuild moving faster. “Now is the time to commit funds so that the community can get back on its feet and we can start the rebuild of the northern rivers,” he said. | ['australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022', 'environment/la-nina', 'australia-news/new-south-wales-politics', 'environment/flooding', 'world/extreme-weather', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'type/article', 'profile/tamsin-rose', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-state-news'] | australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-08-17T17:30:24Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/article/2024/jun/24/set-more-ambitious-climate-targets-to-save-great-barrier-reef-unesco-urges-australia | Set more ambitious climate targets to save Great Barrier Reef, Unesco urges Australia | Unesco has urged Australia to set more ambitious climate targets for the Great Barrier Reef in a list of recommendations to preserve its status as a world heritage site. The report, published in Paris late on Monday, did not recommend the reef be placed on a list of sites “in danger” – a threat that has hung over the reef for years – when the 21-country world heritage committee meets next month. But the report says Australia should be asked to submit a progress report by February 2025, after which the committee “could consider the inclusion of the property on the list of world heritage in danger” at its 2026 meeting. Unesco also said it had “high concern” that rates of land clearing in catchments that flow into the reef was “incompatible” with targets to cut sediments and nutrients running into the reef. Australia’s environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said Unesco’s recommendations were “a huge win” for Queensland, for people working on the reef and for its wildlife. Unesco expressed “utmost concern” at the mass coral bleaching event that swept across the reef this summer, urging Australia to make public the extent of coral death “as soon as possible”. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Unesco experts wrote: “The current bleaching occurs as part of the fourth global mass bleaching, which is likely impacting at least 30% of the world heritage-listed coral reef properties, and the implications across the world heritage system will also need to be considered further.” The reef “remains under serious threat, and urgent and sustained action is of utmost priority in order to improve the resilience of the property in a rapidly changing climate”, the report said. The Unesco report, co-written with scientific experts at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, includes a set of “draft decisions” which act like recommendations for the world heritage committee’s 10-day meeting in India starting on 21 July. Unesco said Australia needed to continue efforts to reduce pollution running into the reef and to control coral-eating starfish outbreaks. The federal government on Tuesday pointed to $1.2bn of funding and a list of reef conservation efforts, including its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030. Plibersek said Australia had a duty to safeguard the reef and protect it for future generations. “We also know the world is watching us,” she said. Queensland this year set a target to cut emissions by 75% below 2005 levels by 2035. The state premier, Steven Miles, said protecting the reef was a priority for his government. Unesco’s recommendation comes after one of the worst summers on record for the reef with widespread and extreme bleaching hitting in the same summer as two cyclones and outbreaks of native coral-eating starfish. Almost three-quarters of reefs surveyed by government scientists saw at least 10% of corals bleached. Parts of the southern section of the reef saw the highest levels of heat stress ever recorded on the reef. The committee put Australia on notice last year, saying it would not put the reef on the in danger list but said more action was needed on climate targets and pollution. The committee asked Australia to report back on progress by February this year, but has since also considered information on the latest bleaching event. Australia has previously told Unesco it is “on track” to have national climate targets in line with keeping global heating to 1.5C. The Coalition has said it would not back the country’s current targets if it won the next election, saying they were too ambitious. Richard Leck, head of oceans at WWF-Australia, said the world heritage committee should be asked to consider the reef’s status in 2025, not 2026. He said the government needed to commit to a 90% cut to emissions from 2005 levels by 2035, end new fossil fuel projects, support a global phase-out of fossil fuels and take stronger steps to slow land clearing. Lissa Schindler, reef campaigner at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said if Australia did not improve its climate targets and do more to stop land clearing and pollution, then an in danger listing was inevitable. The reef has flirted with the world heritage in danger list for years, most recently in 2021 when the Morrison government launched a major lobbying push on members of the committee after Unesco said climate impacts and pollution from farms qualified the reef for the danger list. The committee went against Unesco’s advice after the Australian government, which at the time was a member of the committee, took several positions in favour of other countries and against Unesco’s advice, including one deal with Spain, whose Unesco ambassador said was agreed in return for Spain supporting Australia’s position on the reef. | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'world/unesco', 'environment/coral', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'environment/marine-life', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-06-24T23:31:15Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2021/nov/22/john-lewis-targets-throwaway-culture-with-1m-ideas-fund | John Lewis targets ‘throwaway’ culture with £1m ideas fund | The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose will on Monday launch a £1m fund that will channel cash into projects with the potential to end the high street’s “throwaway” culture. The John Lewis Partnership is inviting academics, charities and start-ups that have ideas with the potential to reduce the environmental impact of the food, clothing and gadgets we buy, to pitch for a share of the money. The fund is aimed at identifying “innovators” that are challenging the industry’s outdated “make … use … throw away” model. Marija Rompani, the group’s director of ethics and sustainability, said that tackling the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, waste and pollution required a “different kind of thinking”. “We live in a world of finite materials and we need to start protecting them before it’s too late,” she said. “This is why we’re particularly looking for projects that are regenerative and can eliminate waste or pollution from the design stage.” The Circular Future Fund is focused on food, textiles and household products. Winning ideas could have the answer to food waste in the supply chain or consumers’ homes, or, with the fashion industry a big polluter, a more sustainable production method or material. John Lewis, which raised the £1m from the sale of 10p plastic bags in stores, said it hoped to unearth “scalable” ideas that could be shared and in doing so accelerate the transition towards a more circular economy. High street retailers have already begun adapting their traditional models. Ikea, the UK’s biggest furniture retailer, now has a scheme to buy back unwanted items to resell as part of its efforts to shift towards a circular model. Marks & Spencer disclosed last week that a small selection of its clothes could now be hired from the rental website Hirestreet. Applications for the John Lewis fund, which will be divvied out in grants of £150,000 to £300,000, will close on 9 January 2022. Bids are being invited from academia, charities, social enterprises and businesses that are less than five years old. An independent panel will review them in March with the grants awarded the following month. | ['business/johnlewis', 'business/business', 'business/retail', 'business/waitrose', 'society/socialenterprises', 'uk/uk', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'environment/recycling', 'world/ethics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/zoewood', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2021-11-22T06:00:17Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2016/jan/26/sperm-whales-stranded-in-uk-may-be-part-of-beached-german-and-dutch-pods | Sperm whales stranded in UK may be part of beached German and Dutch pods | Five sperm whales stranded on the east coast of England were probably from the same pods as the 12 that washed up on coastlines in Germany and the Netherlands, according to the lead pathologist examining the Lincolnshire whales. Rob Deaville, project manager at the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, said it was “reasonable to assume” that the pods entered the North Sea together in the hunt for food. “The question that’s left still hanging is why they came in the North Sea in the first place and whether the French, the German events are all connected in some way,” he said on Tuesday. “I think it’s reasonable to assume that the pods – because there can be more than one pod – came in at the same time, given the spatial and temporal stranding events. I think that’s a reasonable assumption to make.” Five of the male sperm whales had not eaten for some time when they became stranded in shallow waters around Skegness and Norfolk over the weekend and later died. Another 12 had washed up on the Dutch island of Texel and the German islands of Wangerooge and Helgoland since 11 January. UK-based scientists are expected to work with counterparts in Germany and the Netherlands to establish whether there was a link between the pods and why they entered the North Sea. Pathologists have completed tests on four of the sperm whales – those from Skegness and Hunstanton beach in Norfolk – and were trying to reach a fifth whale that washed up in Wainfleet, five miles south of Skegness, on Monday. It is on a former weapons range where the second world war Dambusters squadron practised their bombing runs. Deaville and his fellow pathologists from the programme, which is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, would try to reach the whale with the help of the coastguard after difficult terrain prevented them from doing so on Monday. The whale may have moved overnight due to strong winds and its carcass becoming buoyant with the build-up of decomposition gases. “They were significantly more decomposed in the end than we anticipated. They had just gone off so quickly,” Deaville said. “The first one did explode as we opened it up and it would have been cooking inside, decreasing the pathological value of what we were collecting. We had to take the decision not to open the other two up for the safety of us and the other people who were there. “We confirmed that we have five adult male sperm whales stranded alive en masse. They were in pretty good condition when they came in but it was being stranded alive that would have killed them. It would have severely damaged their internal organs and musculature.” Deaville said it remained unclear why the sperm whales entered the shallow waters of the Lincolnshire coast, given that they are deep-sea mammals and can easily become disoriented if they get into shallow water. “That will be something we look into in the coming weeks and months. It’s not something we can answer immediately because it might require further collective investigation of what’s going on out there, climatic factors, there’s lots of things to look at. We may end up with no answer at all, but we may not,” Deaville said. Thousands of people have flocked to the tourist resort of Skegness since Sunday to see the whales, with many taking selfies in front of the carcasses as marine biologists dissect them. | ['environment/whales', 'uk-news/norfolk', 'science/animalbehaviour', 'science/biology', 'environment/cetaceans', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'science/science', 'uk/uk', 'environment/wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/josh-halliday'] | environment/cetaceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2016-01-26T11:21:36Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
media/2006/jul/05/overnights | TV ratings: July 4 | A peak audience of nearly 12 million viewers watched Italy's last-gasp victory over Germany on ITV1 to reach the World Cup final last night. The match attracted a peak of 11.7 million viewers - just over half of the TV audience - during extra time, in the quarter hour from 10.15pm, as Fabio Grosso and Allesandro del Piero scored two late goals to win the semi-final for Italy. ITV1's live coverage of the game, which kicked off at 8pm, averaged 9.2 million viewers, a 42% share, over two and three-quarter hours, according to unofficial overnight figures. It was the highest peak audience of any game not involving England at this year's tournament, but not quite the highest average. Brazil's opening group game on June 13 averaged 9.5 million viewers, with a 10 million peak. England's final group game against Sweden remains the most-watched game so far, with an average audience of 18.8 million viewers. With England's untimely exit at the quarter-final stage, it is unlikely to be beaten. The football predictably beat BBC1 drama repeat, Judge John Deed, which had 3.3 million viewers, a 16% share at 8pm. It also put a dent in EastEnders, which slipped to 7 million viewers, 4 in 10 of the audience. But BBC2 was the biggest loser, with University Challenge's audience of 1.3 million at 10pm its biggest of the night. The final part of documentary series China had 1.2 million at 9pm, while Wimbledon tennis highlights averaged just 700,000 an hour earlier. With a peak time share of 6%, around one-quarter below its average, BBC2 was beaten by Channel Five with a 6.8% share of viewing. Five's CSI had 2.2 million viewers at 9pm, and a CSI: Miami repeat that followed it had 2.1 million. Largely impervious to the rival attractions of the World Cup, Channel 4's Big Brother rumbled on with 4.4 million viewers at 9pm. It was followed by US drama Lost with 2.1 million viewers, one in 10 of the audience, at 10pm. · To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 7239 9857 · If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". | ['media/tvratings', 'media/media', 'media/worldcupthemedia', 'type/article', 'profile/johnplunkett'] | media/worldcupthemedia | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2006-07-05T10:51:46Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
business/2024/apr/22/m-and-s-and-oxfam-trial-postal-donation-bags-for-unwearable-clothes | M&S and Oxfam trial postal donation bags for ‘unwearable’ clothes | Instead of throwing stained, ripped and misshapen clothing in the bin, Britons are being asked to stick the dregs of their wardrobe in the post in a trial aimed at tackling the “staggering” quantity of textiles sent to landfill or incinerated each year. A third of consumers do not know what to do with tops, dresses and trousers that can no longer be worn, figures show, with a similar number admitting to putting such items in their household waste bin. Now unwearable clothes from any label can be returned in a prepaid postal donation bag left with a courier as part of the experimental tie-up between Marks & Spencer and Oxfam, which runs alongside its existing scheme for wearable items. Katharine Beacham, M&S’s head of materials, sustainability and packaging, said the scheme made it possible for someone to clear out all their unloved clothing in one go. “Whether it is wearable or unwearable, we want it all,” she said. M&S and the charity have for a number of years been working together on the “shwopping” initiative, in which customers drop off old clothing in exchange for loyalty card perks. However, the postal scheme, which is being paid for out of a new £1m accelerator fund linked to the retailer’s ethical project Plan A, is part of a wider push to find ways to reduce textile waste. Research suggests the UK’s wardrobes contain 1.6bn items of unworn clothing. The bags can be ordered on the Oxfam website, and individuals are asked to enclose unwearable items in a separate sack. With a fifth of consumers telling M&S they did not know how to discriminate on wearability, the anti-waste charity Wrap stresses that “wearable” clothing is clean, dry, in good condition and ready to be worn. “Unwearable” items are damaged in some way, for instance torn, stained, faded, or stretched. Consumers can also use the service to donate preloved soft furnishings such as bed linen, towels, cushions, tablecloths and tea towels. However, the M&S in-store “shwopping” scheme continues to be for wearable, hand-me-down quality clothing only. Individuals are asked not to include soiled or contaminated clothing as it cannot be recycled. Still wearable donations will be sold through Oxfam’s stores and website, while the “unwearables” will be responsibly recycled by a UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) project. It is working on a blueprint for an advanced textile sorting and pre-processing (ATSP) centre that would be capable of turning clothing unsuitable for resale into new garments, resulting in a completely circular system. Adam Mansell, the chief executive of UKFT, said urgent action was needed to tackle the “staggering amount” of textile waste that ended up in landfill or incinerated each year. “We’re aiming to encourage people to separate their items so that in future, worn-out clothing can make its way to an automated sorting facility and then be recycled into new textiles and garments here in the UK,” he said. | ['business/marksspencer', 'world/oxfam', 'environment/waste', 'environment/recycling', 'business/business', 'business/retail', 'fashion/fashion', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/zoewood', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-04-22T05:00:16Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
science/2010/feb/10/kew-gardens-largest-victorian-glasshouse | Kew gardens may be forced to close world's largest Victorian glasshouse | The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London may have to close one of its iconic glass structures and mothball other historic listed buildings, according to a government-commissioned report published today. The report said the Temperate House, the world's largest surviving Victorian glasshouse and home to many plants from the world's warmer climates, was in urgent need of restoration and could pose health and safety risks to public and staff within two to three years. Such closure would result in "severe reputational damage" for Kew and the UK given the 250-year-old gardens' status as a world heritage site, said the report, which also detailed several other historic buildings on the London site that were in a poor state of repair. There was an £80m backlog of maintenance and repair that could take a decade to complete. Kew's position as a world-class scientific institute was also under threat because of insufficient funding and a temptation to spread its efforts "too thinly" despite many of its "impressive" achievements both as a research base and visitor attraction. The report, headed by Sir Neil Chalmers, warden of Wadham College, Oxford, and former director of the Natural History Museum, London, recommended there should be no real-term cuts in the £28.5m a year government funding to Kew despite the harsh economic climate. Extra cash to cover the operating costs of the Millennium Seed Bank, which houses seeds from the UK's native species, and from further afield, should be provided over the next three years. The report also suggested that grants might rise to reflect extra help given in recent years to museums and art galleries. Kew meanwhile should attempt to boost both its self-generated annual income from commercial activities, at present £23.4m a year, and its fundraising, currently £8.8m a year, to £13m by 2012-13. Rises in admission charges beyond the current £13 for the London site would be unlikely to raise more money, according to the report, in particular since visitor numbers had not risen in recent years. The review team welcomed plans for using the Joseph Banks Building, named after the botanist who travelled with Captain Cook and was the gardens' first director, as a revenue-generating conference centre, adding that some buildings now lived in by Kew staff could be privately let at commercial rates. "Given Kew's location in a wealthy residential part of London, this might provide useful income." Kew should concentrate on its traditional core scientific strength, the classification, indentification and naming of plants, along with areas such as plant physiology, developmental genetics, biochemistry, ecology and conservation. But in areas where Kew was weak, including climate science, geomorphology and ecology, it should seek alliances with other leading institutes. The environment department Defra and Kew will respond to the recommendations later this year. Kew's director, Professor Stephen Hopper, said it had "much to contribute to dealing with the environmental challenges of our times". He added that Kew was attempting to renegotiate its lease with the National Trust for Wakehurst Place, West Sussex, Kew's "country garden", which at present limits potential commercial and capital developments. The review said that unless changes were made, Kew should mothball its operations there. However, these would not affect the seed bank which is on land owned by Kew there. | ['environment/plants', 'environment/biodiversity', 'science/taxonomy', 'science/science', 'tone/news', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'environment/conservation', 'type/article', 'lifeandstyle/gardens', 'profile/jamesmeikle', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2010-02-10T17:18:30Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2019/aug/07/windfarm-operators-court-south-australian-blackout | Windfarm operators taken to court over South Australian blackout | Australia’s energy regulator has launched court action against four windfarm operators, alleging they failed to meet performance requirements during 2016’s statewide South Australian blackout. About 850,000 homes lost power on 28 September that year, when severe weather conditions led to significant damage to SA transmission lines, causing voltage disturbances. The event heightened a fractious national debate about energy policy. The Australian Energy Regulator has said a loss of wind generation after the voltage disturbances contributed to the the blackout. It alleges subsidiaries of the four companies – AGL Energy, Neoen SA, Pacific Hydro and Tilt Renewables – failed to ensure their windfarms complied with a generator performance standard requirement and had automatic protection systems to ensure continuity of supply. The regulator’s chair, Paula Conboy, said the alleged failures meant the Australian Energy Market Operator was not fully informed when responding to the system-wide failure. “The [regulator] has brought these proceedings to send a strong signal to all energy businesses about the importance of compliance with performance standards to promote system security and reliability,” she said. In an investigation published in December, the regulator said it did not intend to take formal enforcement action over the incident as it believed it would be more effective to focus on “remedial recommendations for improved processes”. It noted the unprecedented circumstances of the blackout. A fact sheet released by the regulator at the time said the investigation found some instances in which companies did not comply with obligations but they “did not contribute to the state going black” and all key obligations had been met. In a note attached to its statement on Wednesday, the regulator said that report applied to events leading up to the blackout and the subsequent system restoration and market suspension only. It said the charges related to the blackout itself, which was not the focus of that investigation. AGL said it did not accept the the regulator’s conclusions, that it had complied with national electricity rules and would “strongly contest” the charges. It said the weather event was a once in 50-year storm and AGL had worked with the SA government and regulators to identify what could be learned from it. “We are committed to working with the regulator and stakeholders to ensure the integrity of the energy market and the ongoing stability of South Australia’s electricity system,” an AGL spokesperson said. Tilt Renewables said it believed it had acted in good faith and in accordance with the national electricity rules. Pacific Hydro declined to comment. A market operator report in 2017 found the blackout had been caused by extreme weather, including two tornadoes with wind speeds of between 190km/h and 260km/h. It said windfarms rode out the grid disturbances prompted by the loss of a transmission line, but a protection mechanism in the turbines had triggered a sustained reduction in power in the state. About 450MW capacity was lost within seven seconds. The sudden reduction in wind power prompted a significant increase in imported power through the Heywood interconnector, which links SA with Victoria. The surge tripped the whole system, resulting in the blackout. The energy minister, Angus Taylor, said it was important that the regulator enforce market rules. “Our job is to make sure that we do everything we can as a commonwealth government to keep the lights on, and we expect the states to do that as well,” he said. Conboy said the regulator would seek declarations, penalties, compliance program orders and costs. | ['australia-news/energy-australia', 'environment/windpower', 'australia-news/south-australia', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-morton', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2019-08-07T04:05:08Z | true | ENERGY |
sustainable-business/2015/oct/06/perth-western-australia-drought-climate-change-water | Perth's water worries: how one of the driest cities is fighting climate change | Perth, the capital of Western Australia, is not only one of the most isolated cities in the world, it is also becoming one of the driest in Australia. Since the gold rush of the 1890s, impressive engineering schemes have transported enough water to make Perth a city of lush lawns and eye-catching flowerbeds, to the surprise of some visitors. But a drop in average annual rainfall in recent years, along with some truly dire climate change projections, have required government and business to focus on water security. Australia’s Climate Council estimates that water flow from rainfall into Perth’s dams has slumped by 80% since the 1970s, with precipitation in the south-west corner of Australia forecast to drop by up to 40% by the end of the century. Coping with climate change Last year, Perth’s dams received just 72.4bn litres of water – far less than the 300bn currently demanded by Perth’s two million-strong population. A huge desalination facility, completed in 2006, has helped make up this shortfall, but behavioural and technological change is also bridging the gap. Western Australia’s Water Corporation, a government agency, works with every business in the state that uses more than 20m litres of water a year to make savings. The Water Efficiency Management plan, introduced as part of a range of mandatory water efficiency measures that apply to all sectors of the community, provides businesses with free training, help in data-gathering, and a certification scheme that allows them to promote themselves as water-conscious companies. If they don’t meet certain requirements, however, they are at risk of fines and will be ineligible for the recognition scheme. A total of 330 businesses have reportedly saved enough water to fill the equivalent of 20,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools since the Water Corporation started this project in 2007. Garden City Shopping Centre, for example, has started using acoustic listening equipment to locate pipe leaks, helping to reducing water use by 10%, while the Crown Promenade hotel has cut its water use by 25% by reducing the flow of its taps and installing dual-flush toilets, among other things, according to Water Corporation. Perth’s largest theme park, Adventure World, checks water levels and pressure using real-time monitoring. If a leak is detected, maintenance to resolve the problem can be quickly deployed. Around 30m litres of water have been saved in the past two years this way. “When we put a new water attraction in, people are asking questions on social media about how much water we’re using. There’s a lot of scrutiny on us,” says Ross Ogilvie, general manager of operations at Adventure World. “Everyone in Perth is well aware of the need to save water.” Adventure World has installed two new filters, at A$100,000 (£46,700) a piece, saving 30,000 litres of water a day in peak season. Ogilvie says it will take up to five years for the filters to pay for themselves, but that it’s an easy business decision. “It’s a corporate social responsibility issue, really. We need to save water,” he says. “Every induction of [new staff members] we have we talk about water efficiency, we ask people to report every leaky tap. I think people have come to accept that now.” Awareness and action The years of drought have changed attitudes among Perth’s public, as well as its businesses. Despite a rising population, water consumption has fallen from 191,000 litres to 131,000 litres per capita per year over the past decade in the Australian city. In comparison, for example, San Diego’s consumption is an estimated 249,000 litres per capita per year. “There is more awareness of the issue. When you compare it to somewhere like San Diego, I’d say Perth is well ahead,” says Professor Anas Ghadouani, regional executive director of the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities. “California seems to be shocked when there is a drought, whereas in Perth people are more aware of where water comes from. There’s a focus on diversity of sources that doesn’t surprise people now. The idea of drinking recycled wastewater is not a crazy idea to Perth people any more.” The Water Corporation is embracing a technology that also provides drinking water to Disneyland in California: groundwater replenishment. This process, where treated wastewater is pumped into an underground aquifer to be reused as drinking water, has undergone a trial near Perth and is expected to fully roll out next year. “The advanced water recycling plant can be expanded to produce 28bn litres of water each year when required,” a Water Corporation spokeswoman says. “Groundwater replenishment could supply up to 20% of Perth’s drinking water needs by 2060.” Such work will only become more urgent as Perth dries further. Climate change will not be kind to the city, nor to the famed Margaret River winemaking region to its south. “Things are going to get a lot worse for Perth,” says David Karoly, climate scientist at Melbourne University. “They are already seeing the impact of reduced rainfall, and the future will see an additional doubling of the decline they’ve already seen. “The only way for Perth to continue as a city is to find alternative water sources because a further large decline in rainfall will mean they won’t have enough water to supply their current population.” You can read our full ‘water in cities’ series here | ['sustainable-business/series/water', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'australia-news/perth-news', 'environment/drought', 'environment/water', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/western-australia', 'cities/urbanisation', 'cities/cities', 'technology/engineering', 'technology/technology', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'tone/sponsoredfeatures', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-10-06T10:14:23Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2024/sep/23/japan-floods-ishikawa-wajima-suzu | Japan floods: six dead after rain pounds region still recovering from earthquake | At least six people have died and 10 others are missing after heavy rain triggered flooding and landslides along a peninsula in Japan that is still recovering from a deadly earthquake at the start of the year. Public broadcaster NHK and other outlets said on Monday that six people had been confirmed dead, while the Kyodo news agency said more than 100 communities had been cut off by blocked roads after almost two dozen rivers burst their banks. Two of the deaths occurred near a landslide-hit tunnel in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, which was undergoing repairs after being damaged in the New Year’s Day earthquake. Elsewhere in Ishikawa, two people were missing after being swept away and eight others were unaccounted for, Kyodo added. Rainfall in Wajima and the nearby city of Suzu reached twice the levels for September in an average year. Japan’s meteorological agency has downgraded its “special warnings” for the area to “warnings”, but advised residents to remain vigilant. The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has instructed officials to monitor the damage and cooperate with local authorities as the region was still in the process of recovering from January’s earthquake when the rain, caused by an extratropical depression, arrived. Heavy rain pounded Ishikawa from Saturday, with more than 540 millimetres (21 inches) recorded in the city of Wajima over 72 hours, the heaviest continuous rain since comparative data became available. The region is still reeling from a magnitude-7.5 quake at the start of the year, which toppled buildings, triggered tsunami waves and sparked a major fire. Flood waters inundated emergency housing built for those who had lost their homes in the New Year’s Day quake, which killed at least 374 people, according to Ishikawa government figures. On Monday, 4,000 households were left without power after the rain, according to the Hokuriku Electric Power Company. Akemi Yamashita, a 54-year-old Wajima resident, said she had been driving on Saturday when “within only 30 minutes or so, water gushed into the street and quickly rose to half the height of my car”. “I was talking to other residents of Wajima yesterday, and they said, ‘it’s so heart-breaking to live in this city’. I got teary when I heard that,” she said, describing the earthquake and floods as “like something from a movie”. In Wajima on Sunday, splintered branches and a huge uprooted tree piled up at a bridge over a river where the raging brown waters almost reached ground level. Military personnel were sent to the Ishikawa region to join rescue workers over the weekend, as tens of thousands of residents were urged to evacuate. Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. The areas under the emergency warning saw “heavy rain of unprecedented levels”, JMA forecaster Satoshi Sugimoto said on Saturday, adding: “It is a situation in which you have to secure your safety immediately”. With Agence France-Presse | ['environment/flooding', 'world/japan', 'world/asia-pacific', 'world/extreme-weather', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/justinmccurry', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-09-23T03:31:45Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/2016/oct/16/researching-the-link-between-pain-and-rain-weatherwatch | Seeking the link between pain and rain | The link between weather and pain is well established in the minds of many arthritis sufferers. Some associate it with rain and others with a rapid change in pressure. The theory has been around since 400BC when Hippocrates made a link between some illnesses and changing seasons, but modern science has been sceptical. This is partly because pain is impossible to measure and each individual describes it differently. So the only way to be sure there is a link is to get an enormous number of people who suffer regular pain to record on a daily basis how they feel and compare it with the weather. That way exactly how much it hurts matters less than recording whether the level goes up or down with a change in meteorology. This is exactly what Manchester University is doing with its Cloudy with a Chance of Pain project. Over 18 months patients with chronic pain are recording their daily pain symptoms while their smartphone GPS systems record the hourly weather. So far 9,000 people have joined the project and interim results show a link between sunny days and rainfall levels. In three cities, Leeds, Norwich and London, as the sunny days increased between February and April this year the number of days spent in severe pain decreased – but went up again in June when the rain returned. The hope is that if enough people join the project, the link between weather conditions and pain can be established. This will give researchers a chance to find new treatments and allow patients to plan their activities for low pain days. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/medical-research', 'science/meteorology', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/paulbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-10-16T20:30:44Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
sport/article/2024/may/30/cricket-ecb-appoint-bank-sold-manchester-united-chelsea-the-hundred-shares | ECB appoints bank which sold United and Chelsea to sell Hundred shares | The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has taken another step towards selling some or all of its 49% share in the eight Hundred franchises. The ECB has appointed the US-based merchant bank Raine Group, which worked on the recent sales of Chelsea and Manchester United, to “source partners” as it seeks to monetise the controversial competition before the start of its fourth season in July. An estimated £500m could be raised by the sales, triggering a financial flood which would boost county coffers as well as benefiting the MCC and the recreational game. “The ambition is to seek partners with the expertise to help us take the competition to the next level, while ensuring any investment benefits the whole of the game,” the ECB said. Raine specialise in the sale of media assets, including sports teams, and are also involved in the process to sell the Telegraph and the Spectator. As well as identifying potential investors, they will work alongside Deloitte as the ECB’s financial advisers through the process. Latham & Watkins, a legal firm that was also involved in the Chelsea and Manchester United deals, will act as co-counsel. “We have identified this moment as the opportunity to take the Hundred to the next level while capitalising on the global interest in the competition to underpin the structure of the whole domestic game,” said Vikram Banerjee, the ECB’s director of business operations. “The opportunity to engage new global strategic partners will help us unlock the future potential of the Hundred. We will be looking to engage the very best in world sport to grow the Hundred into a competition which can benefit the whole of cricket for years to come. “With proceeds from any investment going direct to the recreational and the county game, it will support the other parts of cricket which are so cherished by fans and players alike and play an important role in identifying and developing talent.” | ['sport/the-hundred', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'sport/ecb', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/simonburnton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/ecb | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2024-05-30T12:29:36Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
business/2020/mar/02/marks-and-spencer-to-expand-trial-of-successful-fill-your-own-container-scheme | M&S to expand successful trial of fill-your-own container scheme | Marks & Spencer is to extend its trial of a refill scheme that enables shoppers to replenish their own food containers, after its research revealed that more than three-quarters of consumers said they were trying to reduce the amount of packaging they use. The retailer’s initial trial of its “fill your own” scheme at its Hedge End store in Southampton, which offers 44 packaging-free products from coffee to confectionery, will be expanded this month to include a second store in Manchester city centre. The results of a new survey found that the main barrier to refill schemes is finding retailers that offer them. This was cited by 38% of consumers, followed by 18% who highlightedthe need to carry containers around and the inconvenience of doing so. A perception that unpackaged items are more expensive was also mentioned. Hailing the popularity of its Southampton experiment, M&S said 25 of the its 44 “fill your own” products were outselling the packaged alternatives. Bestsellers include its triple chocolate crunch cereal, whole porridge oats, basmati rice, milk chocolate raisins, single-origin Brazilian coffee and fiorelli pasta. M&S’s director of food technology, Paul Willgoss, said: “Our ‘fill your own’ concept is one area we’re focusing on as part of our action to reduce plastic packaging and support our customers to reuse and recycle … We’re keen to better understand refill across the entire store process from behind the scenes operations to working with our customers to encourage behaviour change.” Fill-your-own models have to date been used mainly by independent retailers, delicatessens and farm shops, but supermarkets are increasingly testing [them] in a effort to reduce single-use plastics. Sainsbury’s has recently started a trial of Ecover refill stations for washing-up liquid and laundry detergent. Shoppers at its superstore in Haringey, north London, are able to refill with bottles that can be used as many as 50 times, with the potential to save more than 1m tonnes of plastic a year. The trial will be extended to another 19 stores later this year. Waitrose created a dedicated refill area at its Botley Road store in Oxford last year, offering refillable options for products including wine and beer - including the anti-food waste Toast Ale, rice and cleaning materials. It has since started trials in its Cheltenham, Wallingford and Abingdon stores. Asda will open its first “sustainability” store in Many. Shoppers in Middleton, Leeds, will be able to use refill points stocked with major brands. | ['business/marksspencer', 'environment/plastic', 'society/plastic-free', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'business/retail', 'society/society', 'business/packaging', 'environment/waste', 'business/supermarkets', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rebeccasmithers', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2020-03-02T00:01:28Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2014/feb/09/eric-pickles-apologises-floods-environment-agency-somerset | Eric Pickles apologises over floods and blames Environment Agency advice | The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has said the Environment Agency made a mistake in not dredging the rivers in the Somerset Levels, and warned that flooding is likely to extend to the Thames valley by the middle of next week. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr programme, Pickles apologised on behalf of the government while continuing to pin blame on the EA. He said: "We made a mistake, there's no doubt about that and we perhaps relied too much on the Environment Agency's advice." Asked if the prime minister should also apologise, Pickles said: "I'll apologise. I'll apologise unreservedly. "I am really sorry that we took the advice … we thought we were dealing with experts." David Cameron will be chairing another emergency meeting of Cobra on Sunday afternoon likely to be focused on the new threat to the Thames valley, protecting energy infrastructure, and ensuring improved bus and plane services are brought forward to replace the collapsed rail line to Cornwall. Pickles said: "I don't think it was a question of money in the Somerset Levels. It was policy and it was a policy not to dredge and the more we know about it the more we know it was a wrong-headed decision. It's now accepted even by the Environment Agency that was a mistake and we made a grave error." Pickles also rejected calls by the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, for some of the overseas aid budget to be transferred to pay for flood prevention and to help those whose homes and farms have been damaged. Pickles said Farage was having "a cheap populist hit". Farage, who is visiting Somerset, said "charity should begin at home". "Would it not be a good gesture if we had a British government that put its own people first? We have got sea walls that need maintaining. It is going to need more than the paltry money has been offered so far." He said the government had offered less than 1% of the overseas aid budget, adding that of the £11bn spent overseas only £2bn was spent on humanitarian projects. He said he wanted a public inquiry into the flooding, which he said should examine the extent to which the EA was being directed by European Union directives. Pickles chastised the chairman of the EA, Lord Smith, saying he would not be wearing a "save Chris Smith" T-shirt if the peer decided to quit. Asked if Smith should quit, Pickles said: "Its a matter for him. It has been an unhappy time for Lord Smith and no doubt his lordship is reflecting on the feedback he has got from the people of Somerset. At least the Environment Agency will not need to organise a focus group to understand what people think." Pickles and the rest of the government are furious with the EA for not dredging the rivers on the Somerset Levels, insisting the agency cut back on dredging as a matter of policy rather than because of a lack of funding, making it more difficult for the flooded water to flow out. Smith's tenure as chairman of the EA ends in the summer. Speaking on the Sky News Murnaghan programme, Pickles also accused David Jordan, the director of operations of the EA, of "having a tin ear" when he suggested the agency had been successful in fighting the floods. "If you are stuck on the Levels, that kind of remark is going to grate," Pickles said. Pickles has taken over the government effort to combat the flooding after the environment secretary, Owen Paterson, stepped back from the frontline to have an eye operation. The communities secretary said he would be visiting the Levels in the middle of the week, but his attention seemed focused on the Thames valley, where he said flooding was now inevitable because rivers were full. Gatwick airport in West Sussex has doubled the number and increased the size of planes from the south-west, but there are also calls for an urgent diversion of the main rail line, with some of the money coming from the cash earmarked for HS2. Pickles showed little interest in whether the flooding had been caused by climate change, as suggested by the Met Office at the weekend. Pickles said the Met was merely suggesting that climate change might be responsible. Pickles said: "It does not matter if it is climate change or a fluctuation in weather patterns," adding that he was not qualified to comment on the ultimate cause. | ['environment/flooding', 'environment/environment-agency', 'uk/weather', 'politics/eric-pickles', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'politics/politics', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/patrickwintour'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-02-09T12:44:19Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2021/aug/17/mallorca-marine-reserve-boosts-wildlife-as-well-as-business-report-finds | Mallorca marine reserve boosts wildlife as well as business, report finds | A marine protection area established off the coast of Mallorca is proving beneficial not just for the environment but for business, too, according to a study that appears to confirm the long-term benefits of MPAs for both habitats and economies. According to the study, carried out by the non-profit Marilles Foundation, the protected area has generated €10 in benefits for each euro of the €473,137 (£402,000) invested in the scheme. Since the 11,000-hectare (27,000-acre) MPA was set up at the request of the Cala Ratjada fishermen’s association in 2007, it has improved fishing in the area, made it easier to regulate leisure activities, slowed coastal erosion, and improved water quality and biodiversity, according to the study. “The results of the study show the numerous social and economic benefits that come from protecting the sea,” said Aniol Esteban, the Marilles director. The Marilles study – the first time that “natural capital accounting” has been applied to a Spanish MPA – is part of a European MPA Networks project, which aims to improve the management of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean. Natural capital accounting is a practical framework based on the premise that the environment is itself an asset, and that the ecosystem services it provides must be integrated into the national accounts systems. The data shows that the overall value of tourism, diving and boating in the MPA amounted to €3.1m, the remainder coming from the increased fishing catch. “Marine protected areas deliver fish and much more,” said Esteban. “Investing in them pays off. The paradox is that marine protected areas in the Balearic Islands and the rest of Spain are massively underfunded. Marine protected areas need to be at the core of the Balearic and Spanish economic recovery strategy. “Healthy seas and coasts are essential for a country’s prosperity. Spain is committed to declaring 30% of its waters as marine protected areas by 2030.” MPAs are a tool for the regeneration of marine ecosystems that have the twin objective of increasing fishing stocks while preserving habitats and marine species. It has been demonstrated that, over time, MPAs are one of the best way of conserving and building fish populations, producing larger and more abundant fish, with a six-fold increase in numbers seen in some areas. Europe’s MPAs have previously been criticised for failing to protect the oceans and restore fishing to sustainable levels. Last year, auditors concluded there had been “no meaningful signs of progress” in the Mediterranean, where fishing is now at twice the sustainable level, according to their report. There is a network of MPAs in the Balearic Islands but the Llevant MPA in eastern Mallorca was chosen for the study because of the quality of the scientific information available and the importance of the various economic sectors involved in its declaration and management. The Balearic Islands have a network of marine protected areas that cover up to 21.5% of the Balearic Sea. It is a high percentage compared with other areas of Spain, Europe or the Mediterranean, though only 0.16% of the Balearic Sea is an integral reserve that is fully closed to fishing. | ['environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans', 'world/spain', 'environment/environment', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/fish', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/stephen-burgen', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-08-17T05:00:04Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2011/feb/21/republicans-funding-climate-ipcc | House Republicans cut funding to UN climate science body | America is to cut off all funding to the United Nations climate science panel under sweeping Republican budget cuts that seek to gut spending on environmental protection. The funding ban to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – stripping $2.3m (£1.31m) from an international organisation that relies heavily on volunteer scientists – was among some $61bn (£38bn) in cuts voted through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Saturday. If enacted, the cuts package would reduce spending on environmental protection by nearly one-third, or about $3bn (£1.85bn), advancing a key objective of the conservative Tea Party of dismantling government regulation. The cuts also exhibit the strong hostility to climate science among the Tea Party activists with funding bans on the IPCC and a newly created climate information service under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – a reorganisation which was to be funded out of existing budgets. The weekend budget measure was designed to fund the government through to September. But the White House and Senate Democrats say the cuts – which go far deeper than those put forward by Barack Obama last week – are extreme, setting the stage for a confrontation between Democrats and Republicans. In proposing the ban on IPCC funding, Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Missouri Republican, called the UN panel "nefarious". "The IPCC is an entity that is fraught with waste and fraud, and engaged in dubious science, which is the last thing hard-working American taxpayers should be paying for," Luetkemeyer said in a statement. He claimed the US funds to the IPCC were $13m, but Henry Waxman, the California Democrat, told Congress the figure was $2.3m. He argued that the contribution helped the US get access to global scientific body of work – that would not exist without American support. Chris Field, a Stanford scientist who heads one of the IPCC working groups, said US funds to the IPCC were about $3m last year. Field said: "It's a real tragedy that the issue is so poorly understood that it doesn't have the support I think it deserves given how important it is." Overall, the bill would cut 29% from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget, or nearly $3bn (£1.85bn). In addition, it contains more than 15 separate measures that were tacked on to the bill that will block funds for specific environmental programmes. Several of those funding vetoes involve the EPA's recent moves to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The measures would cut $8.4m in funds to the EPA's greenhouse gas registry. They would also prohibit the EPA from using any funds to enforce emissions rules on power plants and cement manufacturers, or from increasing the use of ethanol. But they would also block the EPA and other government agencies from using funds to enforce regulations on the highly destructive method of coal mining, mountaintop removal. Other measures block funds for enforcing air quality standards, including mercury emissions from cement kilns. There were bans on funds for protection of fragile rivers in Florida and Missouri, and for enacting a protection plan for the Chesapeake Bay. Even the White House was not left unscathed. The spending package would cut funds for the White House climate change advisor. Carol Browner, the current adviser, recently announced her resignation. | ['environment/ipcc', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/republicans', 'us-news/us-politics', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'science/science', 'tone/news', 'environment/epa', 'environment/environment-agency', 'type/article', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg'] | environment/ipcc | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2011-02-21T10:11:27Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
commentisfree/2020/jul/29/climate-leadership-america-coronavirus | It's time for America to reassert climate leadership. It starts with voting | Michael Mann | In a world with so many problems, it’s easy to feel helpless. And particularly right now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, quite alone. But even as we practice social distancing, we have an opportunity to work together to solve the greatest problem that humanity faces. No, I’m not talking about coronavirus. I’m talking about climate change. As a climate scientist, I’m often asked what people can do about climate change, a problem so pervasive and impactful that literally all the rest of humanity’s problems play out upon its landscape. But there is no one specific answer, no magic bullet. Everyone has something different to contribute. And that’s the challenge. We must each find what we’re passionate about, capable of and good at. And we must all find our voice. For some, that means organizing and attending local protests to put pressure on politicians, or participating in clean-up efforts that require nothing more than some gloves and trash bags. For others, it means supporting environmental organizations. It can mean working with businesses to reduce pollution or researching new technologies. Artists, celebrities and opinion leaders can use their platforms to educate, motivate and elevate others to join the cause. And we can change our lifestyle to lower our individual carbon footprint – eating less meat or going electric. Our efforts as individuals are important. But alone they cannot solve this problem. We need collective action and systemic change. We need policies to incentive the decarbonization of our society. That requires politicians willing to support climate-friendly policies. And the only way we get them is by voting. Voting is a moment of activism that can have a years-long impact. Just look at the Trump administration. Slim minorities in a handful of states by just over a quarter of eligible voters resulted in a president, Donald Trump, who threatens our entire planet. Trump stocked his administration with polluters and lobbyists who took the regulatory reins off their pals in the oil and gas industry. His administration has slowly but steadily dismantled a half century of environmental progress. In the space of a few years Trump has erased America’s leadership and moral standing. His threat to withdraw from the Paris agreement (which he can’t actually make good on if he loses the upcoming election), has provided an excuse for other major emitters such as China to ease off in their own decarbonization efforts. The result has been a surge of fossil fuel pollution that will remain in the global atmosphere for thousands of years, impacting everyone on Earth. Yet there is reason for cautious optimism that we can still right this ship. Because no sooner than Trump was elected were others organizing to mitigate the damage he has done. For example, in response to his decision that he would pull the US out of the Paris agreement, climate action became a priority from the ground up. A coalition quickly formed between mayors and governors both red and blue, CEOs, university presidents and faith leaders of all types to tell the world that they remained dedicated to the climate fight. Since then, they’ve demonstrated exactly how powerful we can be when we work together for a common goal. This coalition represents nearly 70% of US GDP and over half of our emissions and alone is on track to cut US emissions by 25% by 2030. If cities, states, businesses and all other non-federal institutions made maximum effort to curtail their emissions the US could reach a nearly 40% reduction by 2030. So what can you do to advance action on climate change? Well, you can look for local organizations that may need help. You can join, or donate to, any number of worthy local or national charities that speak to the combination of what you love to do and what you want to protect. And you can vote. On climate. From president to police commissioner. Your vote will reverberate for years, as the efforts that have grown in the dark shade of the Trump administration are poised to bloom with a President Joe Biden, a climate-friendly Congress and state and local politicians who favor climate action. Strong majorities of voters want action on climate to be part of recovery efforts that grow our economy. Across the country, youth activists have lit a beacon of moral clarity that demands action in response to science. In Congress, House Democrats just released their report on the climate crisis, and are ready to turn it into action, while the Biden campaign has just released a robust new climate platform that, if enacted, would put us on solid footing to win the climate fight. Though it may not be perfect, it’s the strongest climate call ever put forward by a Democratic party nominee for president, and will quite literally mean a world of difference compared to the Trump agenda. Within two decades we could decarbonize our power sector and create 25m clean energy jobs. Through a wartime-scale mobilization to rid our economy of carbon, we can address the unemployment crisis we currently face and put our country on the path to generate good, durable and clean jobs. It’s a classic win-win scenario. Despite the environmental hostility of the current Washington power brokers, local leaders have laid the groundwork for success. All we need now is for the federal government to do its job, and serve as a powerful centralized force to protect us. And all that takes is a vote. In November. Michael E Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University. He is author of the upcoming book The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet, due out in January (Public Affairs Books) | ['us-news/series/climate-countdown', 'commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/michael-e-mann', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-opinion'] | us-news/series/climate-countdown | GLOBAL_CRISIS | 2020-07-29T15:29:18Z | true | GLOBAL_CRISIS |
global-development/poverty-matters/2011/apr/13/bolivia-foreign-minister-solving-climate-crises | 'Indigenous thinking can solve climate crises,' says Bolivia's foreign minister | John Vidal | David Choquehuanca is Bolivia's foreign minister; he is also a prominent intellectual, an Aymara Indian and has been an adviser to President Evo Morales, a fellow Aymara, for many years. The rainbow-squared, pan-indigenous flag of the Andean peoples, the wipala, flies from his ministry balcony overlooking the presidential palace in La Paz. I talked to him about why Bolivia was taking such an uncompromising stand at the global climate talks, and whether indigenous Andean thinking could inform the world and help resolve its many crises. Here are some extracts from our chat "Bolivia is not trying to wreck the climate talks. We are only trying to defend life, the future of new generations. We must guarantee that we are going to reduce the planet's temperature by one degree centigrade, as the scientists have said. We didn't know anything about this topic and it's been scientists who said that [temperatures have increased] 0.8C, and we are already feeling the consequences. The Europeans have said we [must hold temperatures to] 2C but with the Cancún resolutions the same scientists are saying that the planet could have 4C temperature rise with disastrous consequences for us. "At these summits the Europeans have said that with 2C rise in temperature, planet Earth has a 50-50 chance of surviving. We said, if a person knows that a plane on take-off has only a 50-50 chance of landing at its destination, would that person let his son board that plane? He wouldn't. That's the risk. "We believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family. We are being fed with the milk from Mother Nature, water. All animals feed with the milk of Mother Nature … as do plants, that's the reason why we work so as not to produce imbalances, we work towards harmony between plants, people, animals, we work for the balance of the planet. We have values and principles, which have survived more than 500 years. Among these values we could mention the tama. The tama means big family, that we all belong to a big family, and there is another value, there is another principle called la tumpa. La tumpa tells us that there must be a compulsory control among all of us. "We are in the process of recovering [our indigenous] principles, values and codes. [After] 500 years or more we are just resurfacing, we are just rebuilding, we even have financial systems unknown to our universities and schools, unknown to scientists and the world of knowledge. Our grandparents had financial systems to organise each home, called ceje, and villages, called colga. Those principles could help us to rebuild. But like everything, we have to look at this as a whole. "Our philosophy tells us that [other nations'] problems are also our problems. We have to work the balance between people, between regions, between continents, between countries, a balance between man and nature. Development – the one implemented by western societies – has an impact in this balance. It has generated considerable imbalances between people and regions. It has created a million problems. Today we are talking of crisis, energy crisis, financial crisis, food crisis, institutional crisis, climate change; we indigenous people can contribute to solving all these crises with our values for the attainment of balance. "What we want is, firstly, internal balance, balance with our environment, with the community and between men and nature. But we have only been around for barely a year, we are just starting to walk our own road, we have our road, our zarawi in Aymara, we have trodden other roads, they have forced us down unfamiliar roads which were taking us north. "We try to achieve total happiness, on the skirts of Mother Nature. Our Mother Nature feeds us, gives us drinks … and we respect her, we value her, we have to look after her. She is a mother and to us our Mother Nature, Pachamama, represents the same as any mother to each one of us. We are talking about a mother. I don't know what your feelings are when you talk of your mother, that's what we feel when we talk about Pachamama, our Mother Nature." | ['global-development/poverty-matters', 'global-development/global-development', 'tone/blog', 'world/bolivia', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'world/globalisation', 'world/evo-morales', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/indigenous-peoples', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2011-04-13T06:00:01Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2016/jan/04/abergeldie-castle-queen-neighbour-balmoral-flee-floods | Queen's neighbours at historic Scottish castle forced to flee floods | Residents of a castle close to Balmoral have been forced to flee their home after the swollen river Dee threatened to devastate the 16th-century tower. Images of the rising flood show Abergeldie Castle, a Grade A-listed building, just a few feet from the water’s edge, with parts of the estate reportedly being swept away. Baron Abergeldie, John Gordon, 76, and his wife sought refuge with their neighbour Gordon Fraser after deciding it was too dangerous to remain in their ancestral home in Aberdeenshire. He is now understood to have moved to another property on the estate. “He left the castle when the river was at its height. It swept the embankment away,” Fraser told the Scottish Daily Record. “It moved a 60ft lump of ground and took a lot of big mature trees as well.” The laird regularly rents out portions of his 11,700-acre estate to royal shooting and fishing parties, and the castle itself was leased to the royal family between 1848 and 1970 before Gordon moved back to the 450-year-old tower. One neighbour described the historic building as “teetering on the brink”, telling the Aberdeen Press and Journal: “The castle is in imminent danger and John is at his wits’ end. It’s not only a home. It’s the heritage, the history. Nothing can be done while the river is in spate like it is. “It’s just thundering down. It swept away and smashed the mature trees at the back of the house like matchsticks. It also took 250ft of the bank away and all the ground at the back. The river is right at the back door.” Scotland was pelted with a severe storm last week that left many without power. On Sunday the Met Office issued an amber warning (“be prepared”) for heavy rain for the Grampian and Central, Tayside and Fife areas until Monday night. Sarah Boyack, an MSP and Scottish Labour’s environmental justice spokeswoman, called for an urgent review of flood defences in Scotland’s 32 local authority areas on Sunday. She said: “When the SNP removed direct support for flooding I argued against it but they went ahead anyway. I was concerned as they included funding for flood risk in the general local government settlement regardless of flood investment need. Given that we know there is more bad weather on the way the SNP need to think again.” Scotland’s deputy first minister, John Swinney, defended his party’s policies after facing criticism for the budget of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency being cut by 6%. He said: “We’ve got a lot of work that’s being done just now to protect communities from the harsh effects of flooding. Flooding and the implications of flooding are very serious for individuals and the government is committed to doing all that we can to support communities in withstanding these challenges.” The Scottish government’s spending plans for the next financial year include £4m for councils hit by an earlier wave of floods, he added. | ['environment/flooding', 'uk/scotland', 'uk/queen', 'uk/monarchy', 'uk/uk', 'uk/weather', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jessica-elgot'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-01-04T10:14:46Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
cities/2017/apr/24/trash-talk-lviv-rubbish-crisis-ukraine | Trash talk: how beautiful, progressive Lviv became overrun with rubbish | An enchanting city in western Ukraine, Lviv has gained a pleasant reputation for its rugged, Habsburg-era beauty and vibrant cafe scene. More recently, however, it has become known for something entirely different: heaping piles of trash. For months, Lviv has struggled to properly dispose of the several hundred tonnes of waste it produces each day. Municipal officials say local trash collectors face restricted access to nearby landfills, leaving them few other places to turn with the city’s rubbish. As a result, mountains of garbage routinely sprout up in neighbourhoods and courtyards across this regional capital of around 750,000 people. Today, about a third of Lviv’s waste collection sites are full, their contents often found overflowing across streets and pavements – and people worry about what the coming warm months will mean for the piles of waste. Ivan Savytskyy says his courtyard was only cleared of garbage after he and his neighbours took turns hassling city hall. “If you call them, remind them, bug them – they’ll come take it away,” he said. “If you don’t, they won’t.” After many months, the crisis now appears to be nearing its end, thanks to a recent agreement among regional and local officals. But it has still left its mark on this otherwise dynamic regional hub. Lviv has struggled with its rubbish since last May, when a fire tore through a major landfill outside the city, killing four people. Shortly after, other landfills began refusing the city’s waste, allegedly out of fear of a similar catastrophe repeating itself. Activists and residents banded together to block – in some cases literally – the delivery of garbage to landfills near their towns. In other instances, claims Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyy, landfills have been ordered by central authorities not to accept deliveries of trash from his city. “We came to understand that we could become overtaken by garbage,” he says. “And that was probably the desired scenario.” As is often the case in Ukraine – an ex-Soviet republic that has struggled to adopt a transparent democracy – politics is part of the picture. The waste issue has become a political football, with Sadovyy crying foul over a rubbish “blockade” allegedly manufactured by the central government in Kiev. The Lviv mayor has become an outspoken critic of Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, who he claims is attempting to tarnish him and bully his political party, Samopomich (“Self Reliance”). While its nationwide support remains in single digits, Samopomich has built a loyal following and its members have staged high profile protests against the government. Poroshenko and his administration have come under mounting criticism from both political opponents and much of the Ukrainian public for its perceived failure to root out corruption and crack down on a venal oligarchy. “The logic is very simple: if you want to influence a political party, you pressure its leader,” Sadovyy says. “This is pressure on me personally so that I change my position and force my colleagues to vote in a way that’s suitable for the presidential administration.” Others dismiss such claims. Sadovyy’s opponents say he is playing politics to cover for city hall’s incompetence, particularly its failure to seek alternative methods of rubbish disposal before last year’s fire at the landfill in the village of Hrybovychi. Oleh Synyutka, the presidentially appointed governor of the Lviv region, believes the city is artificially prolonging the problem, accusing it of deliberately sabotaging trash collection and failing to properly negotiate deals with other landfills. Whatever the truth, Lviv’s garbage fiasco has captured the country’s attention and posed a fresh policy challenge to a city that casts itself as a progressive-minded example for the rest of Ukraine. Trash is a national issue. Chronic underfunding from both the state budget and investors has resulted in the lack of an efficient waste management strategy. So vexing is the situation that officials have floated the idea of sending waste into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, although such proposals are unlikely to gain significant traction. A two-year deal has just been struck between the Lviv regional administration and nearby towns and cities to accept garbage, while the city awaits new waste processing plant, funded by the French government and the European Investment Bank, expected to begin construction this year. Recycling is uncommon. A staggering 95% of solid waste is buried throughout the country; by contrast, EU countries recycle more than 40% of their waste. “In Ukraine, when we’re thinking about which direction to head into, it’s very important to understand where Europe is already heading,” says Iryna Myronova, an activist with Zero Waste Lviv. In recent months, the group has organised social awareness campaigns challenging local citizens to produce less rubbish. Some cafes are joining in by offering discounts to customers who bring their own containers, or by eliminating sugar packets and plastic straws. Environmentally conscious behaviour is becoming more widespread among a generation of educated youth. Many are well travelled and exposed to European practices and standards of living. The EU’s expected establishment of a visa-free regime with Ukraine later this summer will surely prolong this trend. “For them it’s natural,” says Andriy Moskalenko, Lviv’s deputy mayor for development. “It’s not the kind of thing they’ll have to be told to by the local administration, or some other organisation.” Meanwhile, Savytskyy and other residents of Lviv face further uncertainty. “This problem will remain the way it is until the bureaucrats sort out their interests among themselves,” he says. Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter and Facebook to join the discussion, and explore our archive here | ['cities/cities', 'environment/waste', 'world/ukraine', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/dan-peleschuk', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/cities'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-04-24T11:06:38Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2010/jan/31/ed-miliband-climate-change-scepticism | Ed Miliband declares war on climate change sceptics | The climate secretary, Ed Miliband, last night warned of the danger of a public backlash against the science of global warming in the face of continuing claims that experts have manipulated data. In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Miliband spoke out for the first time about last month's revelations that climate scientists had withheld and covered up information and the apology made by the influential UN climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which admitted it had exaggerated claims about the melting of Himalayan glaciers. The perceived failure of global talks on combating climate change in Copenhagen last month has also been blamed for undermining public support. But in the government's first high-level recognition of the growing pressure on public opinion, Miliband declared a "battle" against the "siren voices" who denied global warming was real or caused by humans, or that there was a need to cut carbon emissions to tackle it. "It's right that there's rigour applied to all the reports about climate change, but I think it would be wrong that when a mistake is made it's somehow used to undermine the overwhelming picture that's there," he said. "We know there's a physical effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leading to higher temperatures, that's a question of physics; we know CO2 concentrations are at their highest for 6,000 years; we know there are observed increases in temperatures; and we know there are observed effects that point to the existence of human-made climate change. That's what the vast majority of scientists tell us." Mistakes and attempts to hide contradictory data had to be seen in the light of the thousands of pages of evidence in the IPCC's four-volume report in 2007, said Miliband. The most recent accusation about the panel's work is that its chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, may have known before the Copenhagen summit that its assessment report had seriously exaggerated the rate of melting of the Himalayan glaciers. However, Miliband was adamant that the IPCC was on the right track. "It's worth saying that no doubt when the next report comes out it will suggest there have been areas where things have been happening more dramatically than the 2007 report implied," he said. The danger of climate scepticism was that it would undermine public support for unpopular decisions needed to curb carbon emissions, including the likelihood of higher energy bills for households, and issues such as the visual impact of wind turbines, said Miliband, who is also energy secretary. If the UK did not invest in renewable, clean energy, it would lose jobs and investment to other countries, have less energy security because of the dependence on oil and gas imports and contribute to damaging temperature rises for future generations. "There are a whole variety of people who are sceptical, but who they are is less important than what they are saying, and what they are saying is profoundly dangerous," he said. "Everything we know about life is that we should obey the precautionary principle; to take what the sceptics say seriously would be a profound risk." The Copenhagen conference in December ended with no formal agreement to make deep cuts in global emissions, or even set a timetable, but Miliband warned activists against "despair". The UN conference was a "disappointment", he said, but there were important achievements, including the agreement by countries responsible for 80% of emissions to set domestic carbon targets by today. "There's a message for people who take these things seriously: don't mourn, organise," said Miliband, who has previously called for a Make Poverty History-style mass public campaign to pressure politicians into cutting emissions. Lord Smith, the Environment Agency chairman, said: "The [Himalayan] glaciers may not melt by 2035, but they are melting and there's a serious problem that's going to affect substantial parts of Asia over the course of the next 100 or more years." | ['environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'politics/edmiliband', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/juliettejowit', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2010-01-31T00:07:00Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
world/2017/nov/07/what-are-your-experiences-of-delhis-pollution-crisis | What are your experiences of Delhi's pollution crisis? | A public health emergency has been declared in Delhi as a choking blanket of smog descended on the world’s most polluted capital city. “We have declared a state of public health emergency in Delhi since pollution is at an alarming level,” Krishan Kumar Aggarwal, head of the Indian Medical Association, told AFP. If you live in Delhi, we’d like to hear your stories and see your photos of the situation in the city. Has the smog affected your daily life? How are you and your family coping with the conditions? If you live in another city in India that has problems with with air pollution, we’d like to hear from you too. How to contribute You can fill out the encrypted form below or contribute via GuardianWitness. Tell us what it’s like living in Delhi during heavy smog, and how pollution impacts life in the city. We’ll use some of your contributions in our reporting. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'world/delhi', 'environment/pollution', 'world/world', 'world/india', 'type/article', 'tone/callout', 'profile/guardian-readers', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-communities-and-social'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-11-07T13:27:13Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2023/nov/14/like-a-maternity-ward-how-massaging-fish-can-produce-no-kill-caviar-aoe | ‘Like a maternity ward’: how massaging fish can produce ‘no-kill caviar’ | The turning point for polar and marine scientist Angela Köhler came in 2005, when she attended a demonstration on caviar production in the Caspian Sea. Bringing out a two-metre female sturgeon in front of 150 conference guests, the caviar master beat the fish on the head to death before cutting its belly open. “The masters suddenly became extremely nervous,” she recalls. “They went on to say that the eggs were too close to spawning and so they couldn’t use them as caviar. They discarded the entire fish and began the process again with a new one.” The brutality of the moment is something Köhler still remembers. As an expert in environmental toxicology, she was at the conference to study the damage to sturgeon populations and the Caspian Sea caused by chemical pollution. But the experience set her on a new mission: to find a way to produce “no-kill” caviar. “I thought it must be possible to protect such valuable animals. Surely, you can just strip eggs from the body and the fish can live on,” she says. Depending on the species of sturgeon, the fish do not start spawning for a minimum of eight to 15 years. “Killing them for their eggs after farming them for all of those years is just economically insane,” says Köhler. Working for the scientific research company Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Köhler spent four years developing a way to stabilise the eggs. An ultrasound is carried out to check the eggs are ready and then the bellies of the fish are gently massaged so that they are naturally released. Extracting the eggs without killing the fish is not just an ethical issue. Sturgeon are one of the most critically endangered species on the planet due to overfishing and poaching for the illegal trade in wild-caught caviar and meat. An IUCN assessment of the species in 2022 found all 26 species are threatened with extinction. Originating more than 200m years ago, these prehistoric creatures can live to over 100, grow to seven metres long, and weigh up to 1.5 tonnes. They are the only species that produces traditional caviar, which can only legally be taken from farmed fish. Farms in the UK, California, Iceland, Sweden and Germany have a licence from AWI to produce caviar using Köhler’s technique. Köhler now has her own company, Akazie, which acts as a general consultant for the licensees. “We visit the farms and have a look at whether they are candidates for an AWI licence. We also give advice on how to install a caviar lab, apply the patented processes and train the staff.” In the UK, John Addey and his son, Mark, from Yorkshire, sold sturgeon to pet shops and garden centres before applying for a licence. “In 2012, we started looking into the caviar business but realised we actually had no clue how it was made,” says John. They contacted two farms in France and asked them if they could watch them make caviar. “I was physically sick watching,” remembers John. “It was heartbreaking, watching these beautiful fish suffer. Their necks were broken and they were bashed with baseball bats before being stripped of their eggs.” The Addeys got in touch with AWI. After 10 months of drawing up contracts and undergoing checks on their farm, their company, KC Caviar, was awarded a licence to start making no-kill caviar and did so for 10 years. John describes the process of extracting the eggs from live fish as like working in a maternity ward. “We massage the tummy and make sure it’s really soft. If it’s too hard, we place them back in the water. If the tummy is soft, the eggs will naturally release when you press the belly. We then take them to get stabilised in a lab.” The family are now raising a new generation of sturgeon, which will take eight years to mature. Deborah Keane, a no-kill caviar farmer from California, founded her business, the California Caviar Company, in 2007. Today, she has about 20,000 sturgeon and supplies a number of exclusive restaurants. Some of the chefs have been known to get into the water and swim with the fish, hand selecting which sturgeon they would like to nurture for their eggs. Before she started the business, Keane regularly ate caviar but was concerned about the sustainability of the industry. She partnered with AWI in 2012. “We are completely outdoors and sustainable. It’s a dance because if the weather is too warm then the eggs get reabsorbed into the body of the fish, but we do not manipulate temperatures or lighting because we let nature determine the cycle,” she says. The fish swim in aquifer drinking water, she laughs, adding: “I literally drink the same water my fish swim in, they are very well looked after. “We do biopsies, ultrasounds and take samples of the eggs to check they’re perfect before extraction,” she says. Keane had to wait 10 years before her sturgeons first started spawning. “Patience is my middle name!” she says. Today, her farm can produce up to two tonnes of caviar a year. AWI says it has an ever growing list of licence requests, from the Caspian Sea, China, Russia, Iran and more. It has a number of patents pending and Köhler’s research continues. She believes that people will never stop eating caviar but at least the fish can be protected during the process. “It should be a no-brainer to invest in this slaughter-free technology,” she says. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/environment', 'environment/fish', 'food/fish', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/marine-life', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/elizabeth-mccafferty', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-11-14T14:00:39Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
lifeandstyle/2021/dec/09/dining-across-the-divide-under-no-illusions-meat | Dining across the divide: ‘He’s under no illusions about the origins of meat’ | John, 71, Pickering, North Yorkshire Occupation Retired engineer Voting record Votes for the candidate, not the party, and currently supports the Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, “a very good man, in with the wrong gang at the moment” Amuse bouche Keeps four bullocks, though being five months old, they are properly called stirks Linda, 59, Scarborough, North Yorkshire Occupation Semi-retired university tutor Voting record Brought up in a Tory household, cast her first vote for Margaret Thatcher in 1979. Since then has floated between Lib Dems, Greens and, predominantly, Labour Amuse bouche Recently played a Paraguayan millionaire in an amateur production of 1920s musical Mr Cinders For starters Linda He arrived first – he looked sweet and approachable, not at all like a scary fascist. John Linda seemed very friendly, very amicable, very lighthearted – a lovely kind of woman. Linda I had a risotto – I’m pescatarian – then an amazing ice-cream with creme brulee. John I had beef pie with square chips, triple-thingy-ed. Linda I think he’s one of the most charming men that I’ve met. Apart from my husband, obviously. John She’s kind, forgiving. She doesn’t like what I do or how I live. The big beef Linda In a rich country like the UK, there’s no need to eat meat. There’s so much choice. Why bother having something killed to eat a corpse? John likes to have livestock. He said he had too many cockerels at one point, so had them dispatched and then ate them. I just thought, there’s millions of other things you could eat, why not just leave the poor buggers alone? But the most shocking thing was his Christmas present for his kids this year. He personally selects a sheep and then takes it to the abattoir to be butchered, then gives it to them in a box. He did it last year. I said: “Did they like it?” And he said: “They didn’t say, so I’m doing it again this year.” John I think her idea of animals is you keep them until they get old and die. But Linda likes fish. I pointed out to her that fish go through an awful trauma to end up on our plates. She didn’t think that was the case, until I explained to her that, if I’m a fish 300ft deep in water, and I go from there to surface in the time it takes to winch a net up, my swim bladder would blow up inside me. I’d rather be a sheep and have somebody pop me off quickly than go through that. Linda One thing I will say for him is that he’s under no illusions about the origins of meat. And he knew much more about deep-sea fishing than I do. John I could see it clonking in her head: “I’ve never thought of that.” Sharing plate Linda We had this massive similarity – I’m half-Polish and his wife is of Polish Jewish extraction. He’s been to Poland loads of times, and actually knows more about the country than I do, because my dad was traumatised by the war and never talked about it. John They are wonderful people. You find connection in Poland, because that’s just the way it is. Linda One thing I’m very sad about is the far-right Polish government, and Lukashenko in Belarus, shipping those poor refugees to the border where they’ll find no sanctuary. John We agreed about immigration. People have to experience it for themselves before they can be critical of migrants. We both agreed that Priti Patel is a pretty nasty piece of work. And we understood mutually what you go through, what your parents’ generation might have gone through. So we were very connected. For afters Linda We were both utterly condemnatory about Prince Andrew. We both thought it was disgusting that Boris Johnson said the royals were “beyond reproach”. John But I think Prince Charles has a lot to be praised for. We’re all talking about eco-this and conservation-that. He’s been doing it for 50-odd years. Takeaways John She wrote her number on a piece of paper, with one of those pencils you girls use to paint your eyes with. The kind of thing you do on a first date. It was a lovely, not-to-be forgotten evening. Linda I said: “If you’re ever in Scarborough, give me a call.” Additional reporting: Naomi Larsson • John and Linda ate at Ox Pasture Hall, Scarborough Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out more | ['lifeandstyle/series/dining-across-the-divide', 'food/food', 'food/meat', 'environment/farm-animals', 'society/social-trends', 'food/fish', 'environment/fishing', 'environment/farming', 'politics/politics', 'environment/food', 'uk/uk', 'society/society', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/zoewilliams', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/saturday', 'theguardian/saturday/cuttings', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/saturday-magazine'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-12-09T12:30:11Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2010/jun/27/eiris-britain-dirty-man-of-europe | Eiris review names Britain as 'dirty man of Europe' | Britain is being accused of being the "dirty man of Europe" after new research showed that, of the world's top 300 companies, more than half of those most engaged in carbon-polluting sectors were based in the UK. A review of Europe's top 300 companies by the ethical investment consultant Eiris found that the greatest proportion of those with "very high impact" in relation to global warming came from the UK, more than double the number from any other country. Of those companies in the top 300 dedicated to solving or mitigating the problems of climate change, only 3% were located in Britain. Eiris's findings come at a time when BP, one of the UK's best-known companies, has attracted bad publicity worldwide over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. A spokesman for Eiris said that its review was "worrying from a consumer point of view but also from an investment perspective". He added: "It is particularly alarming for pension funds and other long-term investors as climate change rises up the political agenda." The greater exposure of UK plc to risk from climate change largely stems from the number of big oil and mining companies that dominate the FTSE 100 index in London. Greenpeace said that the Eiris research was a "shameful" indictment of the UK, which had failed to build up a low-carbon business sector despite much political rhetoric. Ben Stewart, a spokesman for the environmental campaign group, said: "It seems Britain is still the dirty man of Europe. These figures will shame the succession of ministers who promised Britain would be at the forefront of developing clean tech. "As things stand, our economy is poorly placed to benefit from this century's inevitable shift to low-carbon industry, while Germany looks well-positioned to gain from first-mover advantage." Eiris estimates that 41% of the top 300 companies in Britain and Europe have a significant impact on global warming, either directly from their operations or through the products they manufacture. However, there was some good news to come out of the survey. More than 60% of companies with a high or very high impact on the environment have put in place measures under which executive remuneration is in some way linked to the company's carbon emission reductions. More than half of all companies in the most polluting brackets have some kind of long-term carbon reduction targets in place, although Eiris notes that concrete action is harder to find. French and German companies in the top 300 are at the forefront among those providing solutions to climate change. The consultancy does, however, point out that many British businesses may be excluded from the ranking because they are smaller. In fact, the UK government has led initiatives to limit climate change, publishing the low carbon transition plan and introducing a carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency scheme, as well as a feed-in tariff scheme, promoting clean energy production in the home. In the 1980s, the UK was described by Scandinavian countries as "the dirty man of Europe" because of high emissions of sulphur dioxide from industrial power plants, which exported acid rain across the Baltic. | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/mining', 'environment/carbonfootprints', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/business'] | environment/carbonfootprints | EMISSIONS | 2010-06-26T23:04:24Z | true | EMISSIONS |
news/blog/2007/jan/04/xmasrecycling1 | Gifts that keep on giving | Unless you want to bring bad luck to your home (or office), you have until midnight tomorrow to take down all those Christmas decorations. But these days it's not good enough just to get rid of all that festive tat on 12th night. You must also recycle it. Yes, even if you have made paper chains out of old magazines that were printed on recycled paper in the first place, it just won't do to bin them. If the prospect of such virtuous waste management seems daunting, help is at hand. Whether it's trees, cards, decorations, or even food there is plenty of advice about where they can be put for reuse. Even the supermarkets are offering to help, for example here and here. It's not just decorations that can be recycled. If you want to get rid of unwanted Christmas presents, read on - a loving new home can be found for those unloved gifts. For the cynically minded, there's always eBay. Christmas clobber currently features heavily on the auction site, including a festive coat for the small dog in your life, an Acker Bilk Christmas album, and a Santa loo seat. There are also currently more 4,000 pairs of slippers and some 6,000 pairs of socks available. The more ethical option is the growing number of "freebay" sites including Freecycle, Readitswapit and Swapz. You won't profit from your ingratitude on such sites, but someone will at least take away unwanted gifts for free. There isn't much Christmassy stuff on the recycling marketplace Recycle, but for anyone who resolved to learn to play the piano this year there are currently three pianos going for free to anyone willing to collect. Hurry now while stocks last. | ['news/blog', 'tone/blog', 'environment/recycling', 'lifeandstyle/christmas', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'type/article', 'profile/matthewweaver'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2007-01-04T15:33:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2010/feb/18/deep-sea-trawling-coral-reefs | Deep-sea trawling is destroying coral reefs and pristine marine habitats | Deep-sea trawling is devastating corals and pristine marine habitats that have gone untouched since the last ice age, a leading marine biologist has warned. A survey of the world's reefs and seamounts – giant submerged mountains that rise more than a kilometre above the seabed – has revealed widespread damage to the ecosystems, many of which are home to species unknown to science, said Jason Hall-Spencer at Plymouth University in the UK. Hall-Spencer, a researcher involved with the Census of Marine Life, a worldwide project to catalogue life in the oceans, called for the establishment of an international network of marine reserves where deep-sea trawling was banned. Deep-sea trawlers use giant, heavy-duty nets that are dragged over the seafloor at depths of more than a kilometre. The nets are fitted with rubber rollers called "rock hoppers", which destroy the corals that provide habitats for fish and other marine organisms. The technique was developed for use in shallow waters with smooth sea floors, but as fish stocks dwindled and technology improved, fishing fleets began using the nets in much deeper waters. Hall-Spencer said marine biologists have surveyed fewer than 1% of an estimated 50,000 seamounts in the world's oceans. "Our research visits have revealed pristine coral reefs and many species that are brand new to science," Hall-Spencer said. "Over the past five years, these surveys have also worryingly revealed that all over the world, deep-sea habitats are suffering severe impacts from bottom trawling. "It doesn't matter what ocean you go to, these habitats are being trashed by international fishing fleets. What is urgently needed is a network of protected areas where any type of fishing gear that involves dragging equipment across the sea bed is banned." Each trawler typically crisscrosses an area of ocean around 33 kilometres square. Among the most threatened sites are cold water coral reefs in temperate regions, which are still being discovered. Sizeable areas off the west coasts of Scotland and Ireland have been severely damaged, Hall-Spencer told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego today. "I've seen areas that are pristine and untouched since the ice age and these are worth protecting," he said. "The coral is white or bright orange, and there are fans as high as your chest. These are particularly vulnerable to trawling. Unlike shallow water reefs, they don't have to be strong enough to withstand large waves and they can't cope." The Norwegian government has banned deep-sea trawling over the Røst reef, the biggest cold-water reef in the world, which was only discovered in 2002. The three kilometre-wide strip is teeming with life and stretches for almost 40 kilometres at a depth of 450 metres. Similar bans are in place at a number of other sites around the world, but more are needed, Hall-Spencer said. | ['environment/fishing', 'environment/coral', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'environment/biodiversity', 'tone/news', 'science/aaas', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/iansample', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2010-02-18T22:00:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
news/2016/aug/03/typhoon-nida-chaos-hong-kong-rain-china-alberta-thunder-india | Typhoon Nida creates chaos across Hong Kong | Hong Kong came to a standstill on Tuesday as Typhoon Nida brought 90mph winds and torrential rain, shutting down schools, businesses and transport services. More than 180 flights were cancelled and hundreds rescheduled. After battering the northern Philippines last weekend, with more than 275mm of rain falling over the town of Tuguegarao in 24 hours, Nida made landfall near Hong Kong Tuesday morning, rated as the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane. Thousands of people were evacuated from offshore oil rigs, as well as from construction sites, and headed to tunnels and bridges in the city. Hong Kong Observatory recorded 121mm of rain on Tuesday. As Nida moved north-west away from Hong Kong and into mainland China it weakened to a severe tropical storm. However, due to the slow-moving nature of the storm, torrential rain triggered widespread flooding across south-west China, particularly in low lying regions. Heavy rain over the weekend caused further damage to properties in Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada, following the wildfires that devastated parts of the region in May. It was reported that 85mm fell within two hours leading to localised flooding, road closures and power outages. Meanwhile in south Asia dozens of people were killed by severe thunderstorms at the weekend. Heavy rain claimed the lives of nine citizens in Mumbai when a building collapsed, and it forced about 50,000 from their homes in southern and eastern India. Lightning killed more than 50 people in Odisha, on the east coast of India. At the same time, in Bangladesh, 15 people were killed by lightning, and flooding took the lives of a further 17 people. | ['news/series/world-weatherwatch', 'weather/hongkong', 'world/hong-kong', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/philippines', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/china', 'world/canada', 'world/india', 'world/bangladesh', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-08-03T20:30:29Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2009/aug/06/america-glacier-melt | Climate change melting US glaciers at faster rate, study finds | Climate change is melting America's glaciers at the fastest rate in recorded history, exposing the country to higher risks of drought and rising sea levels, a US government study of glaciers said today. The long-running study of three "benchmark" glaciers in Alaska and Washington state by the US geological survey (USGS) indicated a sharp rise in the melt rate over the last 10 or 15 years. Scientists see the three - Wolverine and Gulkana in Alaska and South Cascade in Washington - as representative of thousands of other glaciers in North America. "The observations show that the melt rate has definitely increased over the past 10 or 15 years," said Ed Josberger, a USGS scientist. "This certainly is a very strong indicator that climate change is occurring and its effects on glaciers are virtually worldwide." The survey also found that all three glaciers had begun melting at the same higher rate - although they are in different climate regimes and some 1,500 miles apart. For South Cascade, the average surface loss rate grew to 1.75 to 2m a year from about 1m a year. USGS researchers have been measuring the three glaciers for more than 50 years, drawing on photographs and a network of stakes driven into the glaciers to gauge the accumulation of snow during winter, and the resulting melt each spring. It is the oldest such record of glacier activity. In a sign of the Obama administration's focus on climate change, this year's survey was promoted by the interior secretary, Ken Salazar, who called it an important contribution to dealing with climate change. "This information is helpful in tackling the effects of climate change and it is exactly the kind of science we need to invest in to measure and mitigate the dangers impacts of climate change," he said. Shrinking glaciers have led to a reduction in spring run-off which is intensifying the effects of drought in California and other states, especially later in the summer when other water sources dry up. Glacier loss has also contributed to rising sea levels, which has put low-lying coastal areas - such as New Orleans - at greater risk of storm surges. | ['environment/glaciers', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'us-news/obama-administration', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'environment/sea-level', 'environment/drought', 'us-news/us-politics', 'type/article', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/sea-level | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2009-08-06T17:09:34Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2022/aug/12/asda-and-morrisons-join-disposable-barbecue-ban-as-fire-risk-grows | Disposable barbecues withdrawn from supermarket shelves over wildfire risk | All big supermarkets have now stopped selling disposable barbecues in the light of the risk of wildfires across the UK. Morrisons, Asda and Lidl on Friday joined Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer in temporarily removing the product from sale in all stores as an official drought was declared across large parts of south and east England and the Midlands. Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Aldi previously announced they would no longer stock disposable barbecues because of the potential detrimental impact they have on the environment and wildlife. The Co-op and Morrisons on Friday moved to a national ban after earlier halting sales close to national parks. Online grocery specialist Ocado has also stopped sales. Iceland stopped short of a total ban, saying it has removed barbecues from sale in high risk areas such as national parks and is reviewing the situation. Tesco changed its policy from a local ban near areas of outstanding beauty, such as the New Forest, to a UK-wide pause late on Thursday in light of the heatwave and dry conditions. It is understood to be planning to restock disposable barbecues once weather conditions make it safe to do so. Sainsbury’s said earlier on Thursday it was removing the items from sale as a “precautionary measure” during the hot dry weather and would monitor the situation and listen to feedback from its shoppers. The retailers acted after the Met Office issued its highest warning under its fire severity index. A petition on the UK government website calling for a national ban has received more than 20,000 signatures. The Labour party is calling for a complete ban on their sale, while Andy Roe, London’s fire commissioner, said “urgent action” must be taken to outlaw the sale of disposable barbecues because of the “untold damage” they cause. The barbecues are a fire risk, especially when used on dry ground. Parts of England have had their driest weather for 111 years, creating tinderbox conditions that have led to a string of crop and grass fires. Disposable barbecues were cited as the cause of several fires, including a serious blaze in Lickey Hills, near Birmingham. There was also a large fire at Morden Hall park in south London caused by an abandoned disposable barbecue that left a large area of the park scorched. B&Q said it had phased out disposable barbecues last year. | ['business/supermarkets', 'environment/drought', 'business/asda', 'business/morrisons', 'food/barbecue', 'business/business', 'business/retail', 'environment/environment', 'uk/firefighters', 'uk/uk', 'uk/weather', 'uk-news/england', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sarahbutler', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-08-12T10:46:16Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/17/lakedistrict-nuclearpower-west-cumbria-managing-nuclear-waste-safely-partnership | Full report published on Cumbria nuclear waste burial and local involvement | The complicated and contentious issue of burying nuclear waste in Cumbria is heading for a milestone on 11 October when the three local councils which have expressed an interest meet to debate further involvement. A useful waymarker has now been published in full, based on the views of some 2,300 people and organisations whose submissions, while often very different and sometimes in direct conflict, have led to changes and hesitations, albeit not altering the general approach of cautiously making headway. The document was summarised on 19 July and you can read a precis of that here. The full report has now gone up online and that is available here. It is the work of the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership which is made up of the councils - Cumbria county and Allerdale and Copeland districts – and other groups including the National Farmers Union, the Lake District national park authority and representatives of all the parish councils potentially involved. Not surprisingly for someone whose colleagues have spent three years on the review, the chair of the partnership Coun Elaine Woodburn, Labour leader of Copeland since 2003, asks people to spend time reading and thinking about the full report. Events are also likely to move at a pace appropriate to a project which has a timeline so lengthy that all manner of unexpected developments could have an effect; the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority which is overseeing research into the pros and cons of burial, spoke last year of high level waste and spent fuels being buried 1000 metres deep from 2075 and spent fuel from as yet unbuilt nuclear reactors from 2130. The dates have crept nearer, however, with the possibility of intermediate level waste going underground in metal containers in 2040 and, last month, a suggestion in leaked correspondence that the current government would like to press on faster than its Labour predecessor, which first raised the proposal, and see if intermediate disposal could start in 2029. The West Cumbria partnership report covers seven main themes and finds common ground between participants on the over-riding importance of more detailed geological research, the right of councils to withdraw right up to the point where work would start and a substantial package of community benefits if burial goes ahead. In simple terms, the long-standing debate in the area over balancing the risks of nuclear power with its economic benefits continues over this latest issue. More than a third of employed people in Copeland and ten percent of those in Allerdale work at Sellafield nuclear power complex. There is a mass of opinion and information already online, including an Ipsos Mori poll in May which found 53 percent of local people in favour of continuing geological research and 33 percent against, and the website of Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment. The new report has few surprises for those already involved but is handy and accessible as a guide to the issue and how things stand. | ['uk/the-northerner', 'tone/blog', 'travel/lakedistrict', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/nuclear-waste', 'environment/environment', 'environment/blog', 'science/science', 'technology/technology', 'technology/blog', 'type/article', 'profile/martinwainwright'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2012-08-17T13:00:00Z | true | ENERGY |
global/2016/sep/15/hague-court-widens-remit-to-include-environmental-destruction-cases | ICC widens remit to include environmental destruction cases | Environmental destruction and landgrabs could lead to governments and individuals being prosecuted for crimes against humanity by the international criminal court following a decision to expand its remit. The UN-backed court, which sits in The Hague, has mostly ruled on cases of genocide and war crimes since it was set up in 2002. It has been criticised for its reluctance to investigate major environmental and cultural crimes, which often happen in peacetime. In a change of focus, the ICC said on Thursday it would also prioritise crimes that result in the “destruction of the environment”, “exploitation of natural resources” and the “illegal dispossession” of land. It also included an explicit reference to land-grabbing. The court, which is funded by governments and is regarded as the court of last resort, said it would now take many crimes that have been traditionally under-prosecuted into consideration. The ICC is not formally extending its jurisdiction, but the court said it would assess existing offences, such as crimes against humanity, in a broader context. The ICC’s policy paper on case selection and prioritisation declares: “The office [of the prosecutor] will give particular consideration to prosecuting Rome statute crimes that are committed by means of, or that result in, inter alia, the destruction of the environment, the illegal exploitation of natural resources or the illegal dispossession of land.” Land-grabbing has become increasingly common worldwide, with national and local governments allocating private companies tens of millions of hectares of land in the past 10 years. The anti-corruption campaigners Global Witness say this has led to many forced evictions, the cultural genocide of indigenous peoples, malnutrition and environmental destruction. Alice Harrison, an adviser at Global Witness, said: “Today’s announcement should send a warning shot to company executives and investors that the environment is no longer their playground. “The terrible impacts of land-grabbing and environmental destruction have been acknowledged at the highest level of criminal justice, and private sector actors could now be put on trial for their role in illegally seizing land, flattening rainforests or poisoning water sources.” International lawyers said broadening the priority cases to include land-grabbing would recognise that mass human rights violations committed during peacetime and in the name of profit could be just as serious as traditional war crimes. “It will not make land-grabbing per se a crime, but mass forcible evictions that results from land-grabbing may end up being tried as a crime against humanity,” said Richard Rogers, a partner in the international criminal law firm Global Diligence. Rogers has lodged a case with the ICC on behalf of 10 Cambodians alleging that the country’s ruling elite, including its government and military, has perpetuated mass rights violations since 2002 in pursuit of wealth and power by grabbing land and forcibly evicting up to 350,000 people. “Cambodia is a perfect example for this new ICC focus. It fits in to the new criteria,” he said. He predicted it could have a bearing on the way business is done in certain countries. “Companies who want to invest in [some] places risk being complicit in crimes against humanity. Tackling land-grabbing will also help address some of the causes of climate change, since deforestation is very often a result of land-grabbing.” The new ICC focus could also open the door to prosecutions over climate change, Rogers said, because a large percentage of CO2 emissions had been caused by deforestation as a result of illegal land-grabbing. The ICC can take action if the crime happens in any of the 124 countries that have ratified the Rome statute, if the perpetrator originates from one of these countries, or if the UN security council refers a case to it. Crimes must have taken place after the Rome statue came into force on 1 July 2002. Reinhold Gallmetzer, a member of the ICC working group who drew up the policy document, said: “We are exercising our jurisdiction by looking at the broader context in which crimes are committed. We are extending the focus to include Rome statute crimes already in our jurisdiction. “Forcible transfer [of people] can already be a crime against humanity, so if it is committed by land-grabbing – whether as a result or a precursor – it can be included.” The ICC paper also lists other crimes, such as arms trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism and financial crimes, in which it intends to provide more help to individual states to carry out national prosecutions. • This article was amended on 19 September 2016. An earlier version said the ICC could take action in any of the 139 countries that had signed up to the Rome statute. The court has jurisdiction over the 124 countries which have ratified the statute. | ['law/international-criminal-court', 'law/international-criminal-justice', 'environment/environment', 'environment/activism', 'environment/land-rights', 'world/world', 'law/law', 'world/international-land-deals', 'law/human-rights', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/johnvidal', 'profile/owenbowcott', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2016-09-15T16:46:15Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2014/jun/20/migaloo-the-great-white-whale-spotted-off-australian-east-coast | Migaloo the great white whale spotted off Australian east coast | Migaloo the great white whale has been spotted making his way up the east coast of Australia. The famous albino whale is travelling with at least four other whales as part of the seasonal migration of humpbacks to warmer waters The white humpback, first noticed in 1991, was sighted off the coast of Eden on Wednesday, and then Cronulla, south of Sydney, on Thursday afternoon. A Port Stephens-based Twitter account reported a sighting on Friday morning. He is travelling with at least four other whales as part of the seasonal migration of humpbacks to warmer waters. Although Migaloo’s rough itinerary can be figured out, it is still a lucky whale watcher who spots him, Oskar Peterson, from the White Whale Research Centre, told Guardian Australia. “There were a couple of years after 1991 when we didn’t see him at all, and there’s been a couple of years when he goes missing in action,” said Peterson. “He glows, you can’t really miss him when you do see him out there from a distance, and it’s like fluorescent blue when you see him up close.” Migaloo, whose name is an Aboriginal word for “white fella”, was the only known white whale in the world until 2011 when an all-white calf was filmed. It is not known how old he is, but Peterson said he has had reports of the birth of a white whale in 1988, which could have been Migaloo. Humpback whales can live to about 80 years of age. “He’s going to be around for a few generations,” Peterson said. “He’s been a bit of an ambassador for the whale watching tourism.” Whales are frequently spotted off the east coast around this time of year, as the humpback population of about 15,000 migrate to warm waters to breed after spending the summer in Antarctica. While many people take to the water in boats to watch the whale migration, there are strict rules in place to prevent harassment of the animals, including restrictions of up to 300m on how close people can get. Migaloo has “special status” in New South Wales and Queensland. Watchers must stay at least 500m away – 600m for aircraft and jetskis – and there are heavy fines for breaching the laws. Peterson’s organisation, a collaboration of marine biologists from Lismore’s Southern Cross university and a number of other marine professionals, has tracked and aggregated information about Migaloo over the years, hoping to raise awareness about the threats to whale populations and their surrounds. “It’s about educating the world population of the dangers and lack of understanding of the marine environment, the Great Barrier Reef in particular,” he said. “Over the years it’s gotten bigger and bigger and people ring up and send emails, and over the year we get a clear picture,” said Peterson. “Then, with the invention of Twitter, it’s gone ballistic.” Peterson said since Migaloo’s sighting off Sydney on Thursday the organisation’s account had gained several hundred new followers overnight, from all over the world. “It’s phenomenal. There’s so much interest in this white whale.” | ['environment/whales', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/cetaceans', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helen-davidson'] | environment/cetaceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2014-06-19T23:18:54Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2019/nov/19/if-labour-wants-to-rewrite-the-rules-it-needs-clearer-policies | If Labour wants to rewrite the rules it needs clearer policies | Let’s start with the good bits in shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s speech on “rewriting the rules of our economy”. Forcing big accounting firms to split their auditing and consulting units is justified: current conflicts of interest are too great. One can applaud the push to get workers on to boards. And enhanced voting rights for long-term shareholders is an idea worth exploring. If McDonnell had stopped there, he would have had a worthwhile package of reforms. But he moved on to territory that ranged from radical to vague to plain odd. Try this: “All executive remuneration packages in large companies [will be] subject to an annual binding vote by stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and consumers.” Lloyds Banking Group has 30 million customers in the UK. There are 16 million holders of a Tesco Clubcard. Are these companies to hold an annual mini-referendum, as it were, before executives can know what they’re being paid for the year? A vote among all consumers would be unworkable. Companies that do not take adequate steps to decarbonise their businesses “will be delisted from the London Stock Exchange”. But surely incentives and penalties should apply equally to quoted and non-quoted companies. Then there’s McDonnell’s favourite “inclusive ownership funds”, meaning a transfer of 10% of a group’s shares, over a decade, to an employee fund. The model has been recast so that dividends for workers would relate only to UK profits, but basic flaws remain. The Treasury ends up a big winner as it collects all dividends over £500 a head; the 10% transfer represents heavy dilution for current owners, including pension funds; and it’s not obvious how foreign multinationals could be strong-armed to participate. One could go on. An “excessive pay” levy requires a definition of excessive. And, if you’re going to rearrange financial regulation, you must first define the role of the Bank of England, which wasn’t mentioned in the speech. The business world will hate most of it, which was perhaps the point. There is a need for big ideas to address obscene remuneration and restore trust in business. But they must be clear and workable, and some of the shadow chancellor’s plans fall well short of that requirement. What price common sense? What do you get for £21m, the cost of Slaughter & May’s independent report into last year’s IT fiasco at TSB? A document that generates a squabble – but that’s about all. Certainly, Richard Meddings, chairman of TSB then and now, has no intention of resigning, despite a finding that his board lacked “common sense” during the “replan” phase of the IT upgrade. Meddings’ view is that the report “doesn’t paint the full picture of [the data] migration”. TSB says there are “aspects … with which the board does not agree.” Meanwhile, Paul Pester, the former chief executive who was ousted shortly after the calamity, is gunning for Sabis, the tech contractor on the job and, like TSB, a subsidiary of Spanish bank Sabadell. “Sabis rolled the dice by running tests on only one of TSB’s two new data centres,” claims Pester. At this point, an outside observer will scream in frustration. After the great crash of 2008-09 the bankers pleaded, in as many words, that “nobody was responsible because everybody was responsible”. The refrain from TSB feels the same, albeit a botched IT job – even one that cost £350m and seriously annoyed nearly 2 million customers – is less serious than a full-on collapse. To get the full account, we’ll to have wait for the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority, which is semi-obliged to name a few names. Bring it on. The relationship between TSB and Sabadell looks to have been dysfunctional but somebody has to be judged to be responsible. Airlines can sense the new climate Airlines have a choice when it comes to global heating, writes Larry Elliott. They can take steps themselves to limit their carbon footprint now or they can wait for tougher curbs to be imposed on them later. EasyJet’s announcement of an offsetting scheme shows they will plump for the former. The aviation industry is under increasing pressure to “do something” about the climate emergency. It can sense the way the wind is blowing, and the cost – £25m compared with annual profit of £427m – is surprisingly small. There will undoubtedly be more tree-planting and reforestation announcements over the coming months. Whether there are enough schemes currently available to provide all the offsetting required is unclear. But what is certain is that carbon-offsetting can at best be a stop-gap solution, until such time as the industry cracks the problem of how to go electric. That day is still some way off. | ['business/nils-pratley-on-finance', 'politics/john-mcdonnell', 'business/corporate-governance', 'business/business', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'business/economics', 'politics/economy', 'business/tsb', 'business/easyjet', 'environment/carbon-offset-projects', 'business/theairlineindustry', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'business/executive-pay-bonuses', 'business/accountancy', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/nilspratley', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/carbon-offset-projects | EMISSIONS | 2019-11-19T18:41:12Z | true | EMISSIONS |
money/2017/sep/23/direct-line-home-insurance-up-assessing-flood-risk | Direct Line, why has my home insurance gone up by 442% in one year? | When Paul Barlow from south London opened his latest home insurance renewal quote from Direct Line, he was staggered by the increase in the premium. The year before the insurer had charged just £189 for his property: a ground-floor, two-bed flat he rents out in Bermondsey, near Tower Bridge. But this year it wanted £1,025 – an increase of 442%. When he rang, thinking it must be some sort of mistake, the representative said he was lucky because if he had been a new customer the insurer would have turned him down entirely. Barlow’s home is not in some hell-hole location where burglary is rife; he has not been making large claims for subsidence or other matters that usually make insurers hike premiums. What Barlow has fallen victim to is a new flood-mapping tool used by Direct Line called geospatial analysis, which attempts to assess flood risk with pinpoint accuracy and could see huge premium increases for thousands of other homes, not just in the capital but all over the UK. “I spoke to a number of Direct Line staff who told me that my area, Bermondsey, is deemed high risk for flooding now, and if we had come to them for new insurance we would have been refused. “Given there are huge swathes of London in the same boat, they are effectively declaring much of the highest-cost Thameside properties uninsurable,” says Barlow, 54, a partnership manager for a small school academy chain. He adds that Direct Line could easily have helped itself to the giant hike in premiums, as he had opted for automatic renewals. “Given that renewal is automatic and I could have missed the email, it would have been easy for me just to let it go and be stung for £1,025!” When Guardian Money put Barlow’s case to Direct Line, it confirmed it is using a new geospatial analysis system when setting premiums – though it adds that it may mean some people’s bills will fall rather than rise. A spokesman says: “We recently updated our assessments to include geospatial analysis of risk, which has meant that in some cases renewing customers may have seen an increase or decrease in the premium quoted. “The software we use to determine the risk is updated regularly to help ensure we are able to provide the appropriate level of cover at the correct price. With this in mind, the risk and therefore the premium can fluctuate due to reoccurring weather events or climates which are likely to change.” But how accurate is the modelling? Barlow is no stranger to flood risk, having been brought up in a part of east London that was prone to flooding before the building of the Thames Barrier. “The woman I spoke to at Direct Line was very patient and led me through their new risk software. After putting the phone down I realised the scale of what they were saying. The London flood risk map is pretty much etched into my mind, having grown up in one of the lowest parts of the East End, receiving regular information and hearing the flood warning sirens being tested [all well before the flood barrier]. “The Thames Barrier is one of the most advanced in the world – £2bn worth – and now a major insurance company is saying that isn’t good enough, and huge swathes of what is some of the most expensive real estate in the country is so at risk that the insurance costs need to be hiked by five times.” Barlow says the flood barrier proved its worth in 2007 and prevented flooding from storm surges, such as the one in 1953 that inundated low-lying areas along the Thames such as Rotherhithe, near Bermondsey. “It seems totally bizarre that Direct Line don’t seem to be taking the prevention measures into account when assessing risk. The only difference since 1984, when the barrier opened, is that properties are worth so much more, so perhaps they see an opportunity here, too.” Direct Line is a customer of Esri UK, which describes itself as “pioneering the world’s most powerful mapping and analytics software”. Its website lists both Direct Line and RSA among its customers. Below a picture of a flooded landscape it says that it is “making risk more profitable” for the UK’s biggest home and motor insurer, and that the UK floods of 2007 were the main catalyst for a project it handled for the Direct Line subsidiary NIG. Money asked the London mayor’s office if the flood risk for homeowners in places such as Bermondsey really is as high as Direct Line appears to be suggesting. It pointed us towards Environment Agency maps which suggest that Barlow’s home is within the tidal floodplain, but the risk of flooding is low, estimated at between a 0.1% and 1% chance per year (or between once in a 100 and once in a 1,000 years). The area contains hundreds of thousands of properties which are protected to a very high standard by the barrier and associated tidal flood defence walls, embankments and other gates and barriers. For Barlow at least there is a happy ending. He shopped around for a new insurer and found one willing to give him cover for a premium of just £167. Presumably it is not using the same sort of maps as Direct Line, or doesn’t agree with its risk analysis. “I find it both mind-boggling and worrying that this might be the direction of travel for insurers in London, despite one of the most expensive flood prevention systems in the world,” he says. | ['money/homeinsurance', 'money/money', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'environment/flooding', 'money/insurance', 'uk/london', 'tone/features', 'money/property', 'type/article', 'profile/patrickcollinson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/money', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-money'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-09-23T05:59:08Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
travel/2001/feb/28/netjetters2000sam.netjetters | From: Simon (27 Feb) | Milly, Don't listen to that Sam geezer. His brain's obviously been addled by one too many Tooheys. Has he not sat for an entire day until his arse goes numb staring at the rain trickling down the windows of his hostel? Has he not been blown from pillar to post around the streets of Wellington by the hurricane gales? Has he not marvelled at the complete lack of anything to do that doesn't involve getting cold, wet and/or injured? If you're still determined to go (and I'm sure they'll let you change your ticket even at this late stage) just make sure you pop into Woolies first and pick up a large supply of books. And some mittens. Have fun with your mum. Simon | ['travel/netjetters2000sam', 'travel/netjetters', 'travel/travel', 'travel/netjettersblog', 'type/article'] | travel/netjetters2000sam | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2001-02-28T18:05:07Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
business/2015/sep/23/craft-beer-wildfires-northwest-drought-hops-artisinal | Craft beers are in trouble as drought and fire savage the Pacific Northwest | By the end of June, temperatures in Washington’s Yakima Valley had hovered around 100F (37.7C) for weeks. Hops – the flowering cones that give beer its bitterness – began to brown on trellises, making beer makers nervous. The state of Washington grows more than 70% of American hops. The Yakima Valley, on the east side of the Cascade Range, is usually particularly fertile. But fires, record high temperatures and a statewide drought bore down on the valley this year, making things bad for hops. In May, the Bureau of Reclamation forecasted that the Yakima River Basin would see just 44% of its average summer capacity. Water districts in the region initiated cutbacks. The Roza Irrigation District shut off water completely for three weeks in May, to protect later crops, while the Wapato district elected to limit watering to certain days. Ann George, the executive director of the Washington Hops Commission says the restrictions were particularly hard for perennials like hops, which need constant hydration. Breeding and buying hops is a form of predicting the future. It takes three years for a new variety to become commercially viable, so both brewers and farmers are trying to gamble on what’s going to be popular down the road, and make sure that they have enough of a supply to make money if nature doesn’t cooperate. “Growers don’t grow crops unless they have a contract, so pretty much everything is in contract three to five years out,” George says. Now, in harvest season of what’s expected to be the the hottest year on record , growers are trying to predict what will happen if things stay hot and dry. Adam Robbings, the head brewer at Seattle-based Rubens Brews, is already thinking about how he can be flexible in the next few years. He says he doesn’t expect to see a big change this year, but he’s expecting a shift next year, and into the future. If the weather trends keep up, he thinks that brewers could potentially just cut back on the amount of hops they use, sacrificing quality for cost. “If you wanted to brew more volume you might reduce hops, but I don’t want to do that,” he says. “You could do a 10% reduction and brew 10% more, and people probably wouldn’t notice, but at some point you sit up and it’s like, ‘Damn, this doesn’t taste like it should’.” Robbings says the local brewery scene is small enough that sometimes he can barter with other breweries for specific hops varieties, but that he thinks he’ll be more likely to edit his recipes and steer away from hop-heavy beers like IPAs if his hop suppliers fail to produce. “70% of craft beers are IPAs, and people expect a certain taste, so I over-contract to make sure that we have that. If it doesn’t come through, I’ll be forced to innovate, maybe put a pilsner on the lineup, maybe try to get a guava flavor profile for the IPA from the actual fruit instead of the hops, or use hops that have been out of fashion.” It’s not just the Seattle beer scene that will be impacted. Yakima pumps hops out to the US and the rest of the world, so the craft beer industry is heavily influenced by what happens in Washington. Robbings says the lack of hops could mean the bursting of an industry-wide bubble. “The industry is running at 18% growth right now, so obviously it has to slow down at some point,” he says. That bubble is highly dependent on El Niño. “ The $64m dollar question is what happens next year,” George says. “We’re coming into the winter with empty reservoirs.” Commercial hops are the female end of a slow-to-mature perennial rhizome that needs significant water to grow. Each plant takes about three gallons a day, and they’re picky about sunshine and temperatures – the daylight changes at the summer solstice trigger their growth cycles. When highs top 100F (37.7C), it hampers their development. “In some varieties, the cones just stopped growing,” says Taylor Swofford, of Hops Direct, a fourth-generation hops grower in Puterbaugh Farms. It seems the yields that farmers are collecting now are on par with the past few years – but they look different. The aroma hops varieties – the piney fruity varieties that give your IPA its kick – are particularly sensitive to heat, and they’re also becoming increasingly popular. “We had a substantial increase in acreage,” George says. “We had some reduced yield but we still expect to harvest more hops than last year.” Steve Carpenter, president and CEO of hops merchant Yakima Chief-Hopunion, says growers dodged a bullet, considering the dire water situation. Centennial yields are down, he says, but Cascade hops are above average. The big change is going to be in the variety of hops available, and if climate patterns continue, the yields could likely drop off, too, driving up the price. That’s already started, and it’s been compounded by the increased interest from craft brewers in rarer varieties of hops. “In the last five years, the US has gone from growing 70% alpha hops to 70% aroma because of brewery demand,” George says. Because popular aroma hop varieties are younger, however, they’re often less hardy, meaning they are more vulnerable to weather and water variability. Swofford says the availability of different varieties means that brewers and drinkers are going to have to get creative. “Recipes may have to change in terms of what varieties they use. One variety with similar qualities could be switched for the one that is unfortunately low in availability,” she says. “It could potentially mean higher prices for beer drinkers,” Swofford says. “We cannot confirm that, of course, but we predict that consumers will need to be flexible when searching for craft beers.” | ['business/business', 'environment/drought', 'food/beer', 'food/food', 'environment/water', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'us-news/washington-state', 'travel/washington-state', 'us-news/california-drought', 'world/wildfires', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/heather-hansman'] | us-news/california-drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-09-23T17:46:43Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2024/jan/04/i-discovered-ekwoge-abwe-cameroon-chimpanzees-aoe | I discovered chimps using tools – and people wouldn’t believe me | I was born in Ngomboku village, surrounded by the lush, evergreen forests of what is now the Bakossi national park in Cameroon. My parents were primary school teachers and they moved between villages every few years, so I saw many different places. I got really interested in maps and ended up studying geography. In 2004 I went into the Ebo forest in west Cameroon for the first time. I remember that day clearly – listening to the dense canopy of trees vibrating in the wind, the sight and crowing of colourful birds and monkeys. I had never heard or seen anything like it before. Little did I know that a year later I would see something in that forest that would change our understanding of chimpanzee “culture” for ever. My name is Dr Ekwoge Abwe, and now – 19 years later – I am an expert on Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzees. But back in 2004 I was working as a cartographer, mapping in the forest. I was one of those people who could hardly distinguish between monkey species. The way people tell stories about animals is that if it is smaller than you it will run away, or if it is big enough, it will attack you. That is the mindset I had. Many people still have that mindset. I had hiked for six hours to reach a hunting camp in an abandoned village deep in the forest. The next day, walking along a logging trail, I heard a sound up on the cliff. It was then I saw my first great ape – a gorilla, about seven metres away from me. It was a big silverback, really massive, much bigger than me. This gorilla just looked at me, and I looked back. It was there for 15 minutes and I was scribbling down notes, trying to get down everything I noticed. And then it moved off, so majestically. A joke people make here is that chimpanzees are in the forest because they don’t want to pay taxes. When you see the intelligence in primates, you realise how true that sentiment is. I realised in that moment they were what I wanted to be studying. In August 2005 I was back in the forest and heard a cracking sound. I thought it could be a woodpecker drilling a tree, but my local guides said it was chimpanzees. I crept towards the sound and saw three chimps sitting in a tree with quartz stones in their palms. They were cracking open coula nuts: placing them on the branch and hitting them hard, using the stones as hammers. One of the monkeys dropped a stone which nearly fell on my head – I don’t know if it was intentional. I initially didn’t know the significance of the discovery, because I was just starting my career in primatology, but when I told my mentor she freaked out: this was the first observation of this tool use by chimpanzees outside west Africa – 1,700km away. The implication was huge: either the groups of chimps invented it independently, or an ancient chimp group that spread across Africa brought it with them. Quite a few people didn’t believe me. The Max Planck Society sent a field assistant to Cameroon to double-check what I had seen. But every time I go back to that site between August and December I find evidence of nut cracking. My whole world started opening up to chimpanzee tool use. I went on to observe chimpanzees of the Ebo forest “fishing” for termites – where they use flexible sticks to fish the insects out – and dipping for honey. They are the only population in the world known to do termite fishing and nut cracking – this repertoire of subsistence tool use is unique. The Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzees I study are the rarest and most endangered subspecies in Africa. There might be as few as 3,500 left in the wild. They are threatened by habitat loss from logging and industrial agriculture, which in turn exacerbates hunting and the bushmeat trade, and the spread of diseases. It is all intricately linked. We saved the forest from government-approved logging in 2020 by forming a coalition with 40 villages surrounding the forest who rely on it for their livelihood. It is their spiritual and ancestral home. It is home to 11 primate species, forest elephants and the world’s biggest frog, called the goliath frog. Since 2005, botanists have discovered 30 plant species new to science there. The more researchers keep going out there, the more we’re going to find. As told to Phoebe Weston Dr Ekwoge Abwe is president of the Cameroon Biodiversity Association and leader of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s African forest program. He is a leading expert in Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzees | ['environment/series/i-discovered--', 'environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'world/cameroon', 'world/nigeria', 'world/africa', 'world/world', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/phoebe-weston', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/environmentnews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-01-04T10:00:01Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/dec/01/australia-plastic-contamination-food-garden-waste-compostable-coffee-cups | Poor labelling allows ‘massive amounts’ of plastic into Australia’s garden waste, companies warn | “Massive amounts” of plastic contamination is getting into food and garden waste through user error and misleading “biodegradable” labelling, waste industry experts have warned. Leading figures at some of Australia’s largest waste companies are calling for the government to standardise certification of compostable products, as many bin liners, compostable coffee cups and other material labelled “compostable” or “biodegradable” do not break down into organic matter. The warnings come as states across the country are introducing food and organic waste collection programs in households in an attempt to halve the amount of food waste that ends up in landfill by 2030. In NSW, councils will be required to collect food and organic waste from all households by 2030. “[There is a] massive amount of plastic that ends up in Fogo [food organics and garden organics] bins … [and] non-biodegradable items that wrongly claim to be compostable,” said Richard Kirkman, CEO and managing director of Veolia ANZ. “These materials aren’t organic and don’t naturally decompose into the ground. Instead, they just contaminate what would otherwise be high-quality compost from genuine Fogo.” Much of the food and garden waste processed in Australia’s waste sector is turned into compost to be used in agriculture. Confusion among consumers about the labelling of different products complicated the matter, said Kirkman. According to the Australian Standards for commercial composting, “compostable” products must disintegrate after 12 weeks and completely biodegrade after six months in a dedicated composting facility. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email “Biodegradable” products are able to break down into elements found in nature, but not in a specified timeframe, which means the biodegradation process could take years. “Not all liners on the market meet these standards,” said Kirkman. “Australians want to do the right thing, but it is virtually impossible to tell which caddy liners should be used. In fact, some liners remain fully intact after 16 weeks of accelerated composting and we have no option but to remove them by hand.” Kirkman called the “contamination caused by ‘compostable’ bags and kitchen liners” used in Fogo bins “a nightmare for the industry”. Ash Turner, state manager for resource recovery at Cleanaway, says that many of the kitchen liners sold at the supermarket are not compostable and will break down into microplastics that are then ploughed into the soil along with the compost. “So they’ll say ‘biodegradable compost liner’ … but they’re not necessarily biodegradable,” he says. They do break down, he says, but adds: “Do they compost and break down into an organic? No, they don’t.” Research by Veolia from earlier this year found that 72% of those surveyed thought compostable single-use coffee cups could be recycled in the yellow bin and 58% thought biodegradable plastic bags could be recycled, when Veolia advises that both items should only be placed in red bins and should end up in landfill. On top of this, there were challenges around misleading labelling. In 2023, researchers from the Institute for Sustainable Futures analysed 26 bioplastic products sold in Australia and produced by 14 companies, including plastic bags, coffee pods, postage backs and balloons. The research found that nearly one-third of sustainability claims about the products were potentially misleading, including that not all that claimed to be compostable were certified to the Australian Standards. Others used the term “biodegradable” for products that are not compostable and may take many years to biodegrade. Both Kirkman and Turner have said they would like to see the Environment Protection Agency take steps to make it easier for consumers to buy bags they can be confident will compost, and enable those working in the plants to pull non-compostable bags out of the processing lines. “We’re working with the EPA,” said Turner. “We’ve asked … that compostable bags be certified in some ridiculous colour … so if you want to make a compostable bag, you have to get certified and you’ve got to make it that colour, so either the guys on the line or our optical sorting equipment can be sure [it is compostable] and everything else comes out.” Kirkman said: “If Australia was to go down the route of a single, easily identifiable caddy liner, that was certified, council-issued and built to a single national standard, that would be world-beating.” But Gayle Sloan, CEO of Waste Management Resource Recovery Australia, goes further, advocating for no bin liners at all, saying the simplest solution is to have people put food waste into their kitchen caddy and take that straight to their kerbside bin each day. “Bags complicate it,” she said. “It’s complicated for the consumer because you’re not sure if the bag is what it says it is … We’re creating waste with the liner. It’s one less piece of material that we have to use.” | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/food-waste', 'environment/waste', 'campaign/email/breaking-news-australia', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kate-lyons', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-11-30T19:00:37Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2013/jun/27/nuclear-power-10billion-financial-guarantee | Nuclear power gets £10bn financial guarantee boost | The government has responded to warnings that Britain is on the brink of power blackouts by announcing £10bn in financial guarantees to the nuclear power industry – a concession aimed at paving the way for the building of the first new reactor in the country for a generation. The support for French generator EDF, which is in negotiations to build the Hinkley Point nuclear power station, was announced by the Treasury chief secretary, Danny Alexander, as the centrepiece of a £100bn package of infrastructure investment covering 2015-20, including new roads, schools and affordable homes. Michael Fallon, the energy minister, insisted the substantial guarantees represented a commercial loan, not a subsidy, saying: "This is big-scale financing, not available in the markets." He added that similar government guarantees had been offered to Drax power station to convert from coal to biomass. EDF had already prepared the site next to the two existing stations, but would not commit to the project unless the government guaranteed a minimum price for the electricity the new reactor would produce. The news came as Ofgem, the energy regulator, said the statistical probability of major power shortages in the UK would increase to about once in 12 years in 2015, from once in 47 years now, as a result of closing power plants. About a fifth of Britain's power generation capacity is scheduled to close in the next decade, including all but one nuclear plant. Ministers are also proposing to hand National Grid new powers to switch on mothballed plants to meet spikes in demand, and to pay factories to switch off during peak evening hours, as energy announcements dominate government investment planning. The energy secretary, Ed Davey, said: "Ofgem and National Grid will consult on possible steps they could take to ensure that mothballed power plants or demand response is available if needed in the middle of the decade." National Grid said one of the proposed solutions involved "seeking large consumers to reduce (or shift) electricity use during times of high demand (between 4pm and 8pm on weekday evenings in the winter) in return for a payment". Another planned way of boosting supply would be to "contract with generators that would otherwise be closed or mothballed". Alexander's infrastructure announcements also included £3bn for 165,000 affordable homes and £10bn for repairs to schools. He claimed they represented "the most comprehensive, ambitious and long-lasting capital investment plans this country has ever known. We are putting long-term priorities before short-term political pressures." Labour dismissed the capital spending package as "hilarious hyperbole", pointing out that there was no increase in capital spending since previous announcements, and no guarantee that the promises would be transformed into reality. The shadow Treasury minister Chris Leslie said: "Of the 576 projects in the government's existing infrastructure pipeline, just seven have been completed and 80% of them have not even started. All the while, the construction sector has lost 84,000 jobs since this government came to power." Alexander countered that investment as a share of GDP will be higher during the current decade than it was during the 13 years for which Labour was in office. Road projects unveiled include improvements to the M6 junctions between Birmingham and Manchester and the M5 junctions between Bromsgrove and Worcester in the West Midlands. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said: "Public-sector net investment is going to be broadly flat over the next four years. That means it will fall in 2015-16 to 1.5% of GDP, from 1.6% in 2014-15, and will fall further as a share of national income in 2016-17 and 2017-18." The IFS also accused George Osborne of failing in his public duty to explain many of the spending cuts in his comprehensive spending review statement on Wednesday, saying the documents that accompanied the 2015-16 review were "woeful". Decisions to switch budgets between departments made comparisons with previous years impossible, it said, citing the switch of the £3bn police grant from local government to the Home Office as an example. "This is something that matters. Publishing such a small amount of information with so little explanation is not an exercise in open government," said Johnson. IFS analyst Gemma Tetlow added that her attempt to deconstruct the figures showed the spending review was closer to the "art of obfuscation" than an explanation of the government's plans. Johnson said he was also concerned that the government was sleepwalking into decisions about tax and spending without allowing a debate about Whitehall's long-term goals. The incentive for councils to freeze council tax for the next two years would cheer council tax payers, but make it harder to increase the £27bn a year tax or reform it in the future, he added. | ['politics/csr-2013', 'environment/energy', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'business/energy-industry', 'politics/danny-alexander', 'business/edf', 'politics/taxandspending', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/patrickwintour', 'profile/phillipinman', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2013-06-27T20:44:50Z | true | ENERGY |
business/article/2024/jul/22/heres-how-we-can-fight-back-on-water-bills | Here’s how we can fight back on water bills | Letter | Public fury at the water industry can be channelled to achieve lasting change (Letters, 14 July). There are parallels with the revolt that brought down the poll tax. Our campaign – Boycott Thames Water – seeks to overturn the false narrative that taking water back into public ownership is unaffordable. If the Ofwat proposals pass, a water levy will be imposed on every household to pay for the failure of the water companies. The huge percentage hike, on top of inflation, will apply to everyone, irrespective of means. It is a poll tax in all but name. A government committed to fiscal propriety should not stand by and allow this. Many people simply cannot afford water to remain in the hands of rapacious private monopolies. Supporters of groups like ours have been refusing to pay the wastewater element of their bill for months, sometimes years. Water companies cannot cut off domestic supplies, so long as we maintain a dispute they cannot take recovery action. The grounds for prolonging the dispute are many, from the fly‑tipping of our wastewater to the imposition of payment towards interest on their loans. It is not coincidental that the poll tax and water privatisation happened around the same time. We hope a Labour government committed to change can be persuaded by mass action to return water to stewardship based on fairness and care for the environment. The next billing round will be October. The next step for angry consumers is to cancel their direct debit. Paul Kaufman Boycott Thames Water • Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays. | ['business/water-industry', 'environment/pollution', 'business/thames-water', 'business/business', 'environment/water', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'business/regulators', 'business/utilities', 'money/household-bills', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-07-22T15:43:34Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
news/2012/sep/30/weatherwatch-storms-digital-media-switchover | Weatherwatch: Storms interfere with digital media reception | Last week's storms interrupted reception of many TV channels across Britain. In the south some screens became pixelated, then blank, during Downton Abbey, when the rain was coming down in buckets and the wind was whistling through the trees. The loss of picture during heavy rain and thunderstorms was not something the nation was warned about before the digital revolution. The change was supposed to provide better reception not worse. This is not to say that analogue pictures were not prone to interference. In some areas during spells of fine weather, when the pressure was particularly high, snow used to appear across the screen, gradually obliterating the picture. This was explained by a clash of signals. The high pressure meant all signals travelled farther, and so overlapped with other transmitters muddling the receiver. This problem exists with digital television too, but the interference by rain is far worse than it used to be with the old system. Even tall trees nearby with wet leafs rustling in the breeze can wipe out a digital picture. Not everywhere gets interference but it is particularly bad where the digital signal is weak and the rain heaviest, for example in parts of Scotland and Wales. Of course, there might be other reasons: water might seep into cables when it rains, or the aerial might need adjusting or putting on a longer pole. Other alternatives are cutting down all local trees or going to bed and reading a book. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'uk/weather', 'uk/uk', 'tone/features', 'media/digital-switchover', 'environment/flooding', 'type/article', 'profile/paulbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-09-30T21:30:01Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
cities/2014/sep/29/amsterdam-e-trikes-revolutionise-local-food-system | Can Amsterdam’s e-trikes revolutionise the city’s food system? | In recent years, Amsterdam has earned a reputation as a genuine smart city. Not because it is pioneering technological urbanism – building megastructures filled with interconnected digital sensors and robots – but rather, as urban sociologist Saskia Sassen puts it, because the city actively urbanises technology. In other words, Amsterdam has got very good at melding previously disparate systems of data, technology, energy and mobility through government, business and citizen-led initiatives. Mobility and food have emerged as important pillars of the city’s quest for smart sustainability. Earlier this year, the city council presented its new food vision, a strategy intended to create a more sustainable and economically-strong food system. One of its main priorities is transport, whereby distribution is done by cleaner vehicles doing fewer miles. With a large chunk of the transport network taken up with urban food distribution – 15 million annual food miles in Amsterdam alone – there is work to be done. While large food and drink wholesalers are now using electric trucks for distribution, and the country’s largest supermarkets are using them for home deliveries, the products delivered by these big players do not necessarily promote the production and consumption of locally-sourced quality food. And it doesn’t solve the issue of congestion: Amsterdam’s urban core – much of it pre-18th century – is not built for cars, let alone heavier transport. But alternatives are entering the arena – and not only from existing large businesses or public/private partnerships. This month saw the launch of Foodlogica, which aims to contribute to the localised food system by providing affordable zero-emissions transport and less traffic congestion. This urban delivery service uses solar-powered electric tricycles for the final link in the food distribution system, as well as aiming to shorten the chain between local food producers and sellers. Running a small pilot since June, Foodlogica is working with six environmentally-conscious local food businesses, using two electric trikes working out of transport hubs. Three of these businesses sell produce from local and regional farmers to supermarkets, workplaces and households, and Foodlogica is expanding its client base at a rapid rate. Beginning life as a lean startup, it hopes to become a model for sustainable urban food transportation around the world. “Once we’re up and running, and when we have acquired more clients, we will scale up,” says the company’s founder, Francesca Miazzo. “We are talking to big parties who do thousands of weekly deliveries and are interested to have part of that delivered in a smart way.” Foodlogica’s transport hubs, each consisting of a recycled shipping container equipped with solar panels to charge the two e-trikes, will be located at strategic locations across the city where incoming food is transferred to the urban delivery system. The first station was placed at the Amsterdam Food Centre – the city’s main food distribution node – and from there the tricycles carry out the deliveries into the urban centre. “Ideally, we’ll have four transport hubs in various spots around Amsterdam in a year from now,” Miazzo says. If this proves possible in Amsterdam’s constricted urban environment, the system could easily be duplicated in other cities around the world. Miazzo is not new to the local food world. She co-founded CITIES Foundation, whose Farming the City project was created in 2010 to map and research Amsterdam’s urban food initiatives, as well as explore how local food systems contribute to more resilient cities around the world. One of the project’s findings was that transport in Amsterdam remains a barrier to sustainability and efficiency. The research identified a need for swift, flexible urban food transport not hampered by traffic jams and one-way streets; hence Foodlogica’s e-trikes. “It’s not only a delivery service,” Miazzo explains. “You should see it as a platform for good food companies from Amsterdam, bringing them together and showcasing them.” Mark Minkjan is editor-in-chief at Failed Architecture and part of Non-fiction. He co-edited the book Farming the City. | ['cities/cities', 'cities/series/resilient-cities', 'cities/city-transport', 'food/food', 'travel/amsterdam', 'world/netherlands', 'world/europe-news', 'lifeandstyle/cycling', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'type/article'] | environment/sustainable-development | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-09-29T12:23:03Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
uk-news/2016/oct/20/aberfan-50-years-survivors-meet-memorial-coal-spoil-tip-survivors | Aberfan: memorials mark 50 years since tragedy in Wales | Over the decades, the villagers of Aberfan have found many different ways to remember. For some it is comforting to gather together in public and they will attend Friday’s anniversary ceremonies alongside family and friends. Others prefer to stay indoors and mourn the loved ones they lost, at home, in private. A number cannot ever bear to be in the Welsh village on 21 October and leave Aberfan every autumn. The fact that it is the 50th anniversary this time makes no difference. “They just can’t stand to be here on the day,” said Jeff Edwards, who was the last of the children pulled alive from Pantglas junior school after thousands of tonnes of slurry, coal waste and tailings slipped from an unstable tip on the mountain above the village and engulfed the classrooms. “People grieve in different ways. That’s right and natural.” At 9.15am on Friday it will be exactly half a century since the disaster – in October 1966 – claimed the lives of 144 people, 116 of whom were children aged between three months and 14 years. A minute’s silence will be observed in Wales, across the UK and in pockets around the globe. For people such as Edwards the memories of that terrible day remain horribly vivid. Aged eight, he had just picked a Tintin book from the library and walked back to his desk when he heard a rumbling sound. The teacher thought it was thunder. The next thing he remembers is waking up and hearing shouts and screams. For two hours he was pinned next to a dead girl from his class, her head next to his face. “You don’t forget something like that,” he said. “Not ever.” Edwards was speaking on Thursday in the Aberfan memorial garden, rectangles of manicured lawn laid out to represent the footprint of the school, the main path standing in for the corridor. He can point to the precise spot where he lay next to the girl. Another survivor, Bernard Thomas, stopped by to talk to Edwards. He was nine and in the classroom next to Edwards when the black, wet, avalanche struck. “We heard this horrible roar and then found ourselves drowning in this muck,” he said. “I’d have died if I was sitting three inches across from where I was,” he said. “That’s the difference between life and death – such small distances.” The pair remembered later being sent to a “mental hospital” where electrodes were fixed to their skulls to try to measure their psychological damage. Thomas said he had suffered with bouts of depression over the years. Both men seemed to joke about some of the incidents but as they did so their eyes welled with tears. As Edwards and Thomas talked, a party of children from Afon Taf high school arrived to pay their respects. The pupils bowed their heads as Afon Taf’s deputy head teacher, Emma Clarke, read out the names of all the children who died. It took a while. The events that have been organised this week have been nicely judged – poignant, telling, but not extravagant. On Thursday night a service of remembrance was to be conducted at St David’s church in Merthyr, featuring a reading of the poem Aberfan by the writer T Llew Jones, who had seen parallels between the disaster and the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. On Friday a royal visitor will arrive to take part in a service at the cemetery, with its rows of bright white memorials to the children that can be seen from miles away, and plant a tree in the memorial garden. Over recent weeks and months artists have tried to find ways of marking the anniversary; poems have been written, musical works created. Still, one of the most effective reminders of the tragedy may be the original newspaper articles from the weekly Merthyr Express on display at the Smyrna chapel in Aberfan. The yellowing pages show how quickly horror and sadness turned to anger. A report on one of the first inquests reminds you that someone stood up and branded the National Coal Board, which had responsibility for the spoil heap, “murderers”. The 50th anniversary is different. It has prompted some to tell their stories for the first time. Karen Thomas, who was a pupil at Pantglas, has only now revealed how she puts flowers on the grave of the dinner lady Nansi Williams, who used her own body to protect the children she could reach, sacrificing her life. Yvonne Price, one of the first police officers at the scene, finally described how her small stature meant she climbed through a window into the school and spent the day helping to get victims out. The half-century mark has caused commentators to think again about the disaster and aftermath. The BBC newsreader and journalist Huw Edwards has been widely praised for his well-aimed criticism of the NCB and its chair at the time, Lord Alf Robens, who died in 1999. Edwards argued that the lessons of Aberfan were still of profound relevance today because they touched “on issues of public accountability, responsibility, competence and transparency”. Back at the memorial garden Jeff Edwards, who went on to lead Merthyr council, agreed it was important to remember Aberfan not just because of the personal tragedies but because of the lessons about society it revealed. “Good things came out of the disaster,” he said, “such as more care over health and safety and more thought about corporate responsibility. In these days, when public expenditure is being cut, it’s worth remembering what happens when corners are cut.” | ['uk/wales', 'uk/uk', 'environment/coal', 'society/children', 'society/society', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/stevenmorris', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/coal | ENERGY | 2016-10-20T16:26:17Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2018/feb/28/i-love-salvaging-items-from-the-street-thats-how-i-got-my-new-dryer | I love salvaging items from the street. That's how I got my new dryer | Martin Farrer | A few months ago our clothes dryer stopped working. We didn’t use it very much but they’re handy to have if the domestic engineering has gone awry and you need to dry some socks or school uniforms in a hurry. The problem with the dryer was that the door wouldn’t close properly. My first instinct was to fix it but I could only get it to work if I propped against it an extremely heavy object like a bag of soil. Clearly not a long-term solution – I’ll just have to get a new one, I thought. But then a few days later I spotted a dryer that had been left outside someone’s house for the council to pick-up. I inspected it and it looked OK. It still had the cable and plug, which was promising, and it didn’t look broken ... So, I stuck it in the car and took it home. When I plugged it in, of course, it was dead. But a quick google of the model number revealed all manner of advice. I could see straight away just from the search results that this particular model has a recurring problem with the drive belt coming off. All I had to do, the chat boards told me, was unscrew a panel on the back and clip the belt back on. Pretty straightforward. And it worked. Even though the belt still occasionally comes off, it’s very satisfying to see it functioning. Buoyed by this triumph, I doubled down when I found a discarded microwave. The one in the kitchen was on the blink so I thought it might come in handy. It was clean and worked perfectly well. Not long afterwards, ours gave up the ghost for good so the “new” one was duly installed. I know I’m not the only person who finds pleasure in salvaging such things. Soon after moving into our house, we decided that an old wardrobe – itself rescued from the streets of London – was surplus to requirements and it was put out in the lane. It was gone the next morning. A few days later, our neighbour opened up his garage and I thought I spotted a familiar-looking piece of furniture: there was our old wardrobe in the corner of his garage. We have since teamed up on a salvaging project after his wife spotted an old table football set in the street when she was walking the dog late one Sunday night. We carried it back and after a bit of tightening up here, and a bit of WD40 there, you can have a decent game. Very satisfying. It’s not the money saved that I find so satisfying so much as the avoidance of waste. Waste has always bothered me, possibly a deep-seated result of having parents who grew up in the 1930s Depression. My dad was always fiddling about with things to fix them and so if he were alive today he would be amazed at what people chuck out. He’d barely be able to get down the street without collecting something because, in these times of super-abundance, the chucker-outers outnumber the salvagers. What’s the best household item you’ve ever found or recycled? Tell us in the comments below. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'commentisfree/series/openthread', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/martinfarrer', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-opinion'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-02-28T01:13:37Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2017/sep/13/new-real-world-diesel-tests-fail-to-prevent-rush-hour-pollution-peak | New 'real world' diesel tests fail to prevent rush hour pollution peak | New “real world” emissions tests fail to prevent high levels of pollution from diesel cars during rush hour, according to new data. Diesel vehicles are the main cause of the UK’s widespread levels of illegal air pollution, with the VW cheating scandal exposing the fact that virtually all diesel cars emitted far more toxic fumes than in official laboratory based tests. Since 1 September, new models must now be tested on real roads, but the new data shows even this does not prevent high levels of fumes in slow traffic, when pollution is at its worst for drivers and other road users. Emissions Analytics, a respected testing firm, measured the emissions from two diesel cars on rush hour journeys into and out of London. In the most congested three-mile stretch of the evening rush hour, a VW Golf and Vauxhall Insignia both emitted far more nitrogen oxides (NOx) in their official real world tests – 42% and 118% more, respectively. There is no suggestion that either of the cars have broken any regulations, as the “real driving emissions” (RDE) test allows the cars to be tested at different times of day, combines results from urban, rural and motorway driving and only applies to new models coming on to the market now. Greenpeace, which commissioned the new research, says the results expose a new loophole in emissions tests. “The RDE tests should leave the auto industry no room to hide their cars’ real emissions,” said Paul Morozzo, from Greenpeace UK. “These new tests are not ‘real’ enough to ensure the most polluting cars are kept off our roads. That car companies are allowed to avoid rush hour traffic when testing in urban areas is a major flaw.” “Instead of wasting more time and money hiding behind tests that still don’t reflect what’s happening in the real world, car companies should switch from diesel to electric and hybrid technology,” Morozzo said. “Ministers cannot rest on their laurels either – these tests do not solve the problem of air pollution, which makes a ban on new diesels long before 2040 even more crucial.” Nick Molden, the CEO of Emissions Analytics, said: “The results show further improvements may be required for both the testing regime and for diesels to manage challenges like London’s rush hour. Other Emissions Analytics testing shows diesels can be cleaner in normal urban and motorway driving. However, the pace of change, or lack of, continues to threaten the future of diesel.” Sales of new diesel cars are plummeting, as is the value of second-hand diesels. A spokesman for the Department of Transport said: “This government has led the way in Europe, pushing for on-road emissions tests, alongside a tough new laboratory test, to clean up air in our towns and cities. The introduction of new RDE tests this month is expected to significantly reduce average real world NOx emissions from new cars.” Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said the new RDE tests analyse emissions in a wide range of driving conditions and any car failing to meet the standards would be barred from sale. “This will provide consumers with the reassurance that manufacturers are delivering on air quality,” he said. “Criticising this new, highly complex and robust test based on the results of a couple of vehicles indicates a failure to understand the timeline and legal and testing process.” A spokeswoman for the Volkswagen Group said: “The Group embraces the forthcoming RDE standards and all its products will be fully compliant.” The UK government announced a ban on diesel vehicles from 2040 as part of a new air pollution plan it was forced to produce after being defeated twice in the courts. However, the plan, released in July, shies away from charging diesels for entering polluted areas and was condemned as “woefully inadequate” by city leaders and “inexcusable” by doctors. A UN human rights report, revealed this week by the Guardian, said: “The UK government continues to flout its duty to ensure adequate air quality and protect the rights to life and health of its citizens.” | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/pollution', 'technology/motoring', 'technology/technology', 'cities/cities', 'business/vw-volkswagen', 'business/automotive-industry', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-09-13T18:00:17Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
commentisfree/2007/may/24/comment.homeaffairs | Leader: All clear for nuclear | "Over 10 years," wrote Tony Blair yesterday, "I have watched energy policy go from a relatively quiet backwater to something taking on a strategic importance that could be as crucial to our country's future as defence." The prime minister usually wheels out the big picture when he needs to emphasise an issue's urgency, but it invites the question: where was he while it came to such prominence? By 1997, Britain's energy industry was already near the end of its golden age. Yes, it was self-sufficient in fuel and had an infrastructure that aroused international envy. But the clock was definitely ticking. In 2004 Britain became a net importer of gas. Last year it bought in more oil than it sold; the first time that has happened since 1980. The infrastructure is also getting near its sell-by date. Of our big nuclear power stations, Hinkley B, Hartlepool and Hunterston B all close by 2015. Within 15 years, all but one of our existing stations will be shut. Coal capacity is coming offstream equally fast. Experts estimate that over 40% of the UK's electricity production will need to be replaced by 2015. Huge changes, but most of them have been on the horizon for years. So how has the government responded so far? With a protracted bout of throat-clearing. Over the past decade, energy policy has passed through six secretaries of state, numerous reviews and white papers and enough hot air to undermine the Kyoto protocol. Yesterday's white paper from Alistair Darling brought the nuclear and green lobbies together on a rare point of agreement: it did not change much. Mr Darling formally confirmed that the government saw nuclear power as central to the UK's future energy supply, although he did not provide any additional incentives for energy firms to invest in it. The big change on that front came on Monday, with the planning white paper's introduction of a independent commission to expedite big infrastructure projects. The stations will almost certainly arrive, but it will be a brave company that files the first application. It has been some years since Tony Blair, to misquote the old film, learned to stop worrying and love nuclear. No one could accuse him of not trying to take a lead. However, he has not always made the case in a straightforward manner. The point that British nuclear means we do not have to rely on nasty Iran and dodgy Russia for fossil fuels, for instance, does not acknowledge that uranium comes from such picture-postcard spots as Kazakhstan, Niger and, yes, Russia. For all the finger-wagging about security of supply, Britain will still import gas and oil - in vastly increased quantities after so many of our power stations shut in 2015. Opposition was steamrollered in a sham consultation which lost the government a judicial review this year. Ministers will make more efforts to persuade the public this time round and they will have their work cut out. This week's Guardian/ICM poll shows opponents of nuclear energy still outnumber supporters, by 49% to 44% - a rise in antipathy from the last poll on the issue at the end of 2005. Environment secretary David Miliband sat next to Mr Darling in the Commons yesterday, presumably to lend green cred. It is mainly on the demand side that the environmental case is being advanced. A carbon-trading scheme for banks and big supermarkets will be introduced. The scheme will be the world's first, and so involves taking the kind of lead that Mr Blair often talks about. There was also an eye-catching initiative of providing homeowners displays to show them how much electricity they use. But while Mr Darling insisted that newly-built houses should be green houses, there was next to no incentive for greater efficiency in existing homes. Recent years have seen many new ideas for greener energy yet, for all yesterday's grand talk of big challenges and pressing deadlines, few of them found a home in the white paper. So much heat, so little light. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'business/business', 'politics/politics', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'tone/editorials', 'politics/defence', 'uk/immigration', 'commentisfree/cif-green', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2007-05-23T23:16:44Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2023/sep/12/destruction-in-derna-how-floods-ravaged-libyan-port-city | Destruction of Derna: why was flooding so bad in Libyan port city? | What do we know about the flooding? Parts of eastern Libya have been hit by devastating flooding after Storm Daniel pounded the country’s Mediterranean coast. Confirmed death tolls given by officials so far have varied, but all are in the thousands, with thousands more on lists of the missing. Apocalyptic footage of widespread damage has emerged from the port city of Derna, where officials estimate that as many as 20,000 people may have died: This photograph from Monday shows extensive damage to buildings on the banks of the river the morning after the flood: This photo taken on Tuesday shows a large mass of water where a coastal road once stood: This next one taken on Thursday shows the scene four days after the flood: Why was Derna so badly hit? The city with a population of 90,000 is bisected by the Wadi Derna, a seasonal river that flows from highlands to the south, and is normally protected from flooding by dams. On Sunday night two dams collapsed, unleashing raging waters that swept away residential neighbourhoods on both banks of the river. This visualisation shows the path the water took down the Wadi Derna valley: In this video, a man points at what remains of one of the two destroyed dams: This composite of satellite images locates some of the badly affected areas of Derna: These satellite images give an overview of the flood damage in the city … … and these show damaged neighbourhoods in more detail: You can view more before and after imagery here. This looped video also illustrates the scale of the destruction: Where else was hit? Other badly affected areas included the towns of Bayda, Shahatt, Marj and Susa, where footage showed cars piled up on each other: Is Libya equipped to deal with the devastation? The collapse of the two dams on Wadi Derna underscored the weakness of Libya’s infrastructure after more than a decade of chaos. The oil-rich nation remains divided between two rival administrations: one in the east and one in the west, each backed by different militias and foreign governments. Which other countries have been affected by Storm Daniel? The storm killed at least 27 people when it struck parts of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey last week before moving south. This map and the satellite footage below it show the path of the storm: Footage from Greece from last week showed cars being swept into the sea and sinkholes opening in roads after days of torrential rain in the centre of the country. | ['world/libya-flood-2023', 'world/libya', 'world/africa', 'world/middleeast', 'world/world', 'world/extreme-weather', 'type/article', 'tone/explainers', 'profile/alex-olorenshaw', 'profile/faisal-ali', 'profile/glenn-swann', 'profile/harvey-symons', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | world/libya-flood-2023 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-09-14T13:29:43Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
global-development-professionals-network/2013/nov/19/climate-change-coalition-best-bits | 13 tips on building a coalition to tackle climate change | Terry Townshend, deputy secretary general: policy, The Global Legislators Organisation (Globe International), Beijing, China. @terrytownshend If you want to get the political establishment on board, watch your language: I think the biggest obstacle to effective climate action has been political, largely driven by ideology and the power of rich corporations over politicians. Political campaign finance reform is absolutely necessary but, until that happens, climate change objectives need to be expressed in language that is not politically divisive. Speak in terms of energy security, risk, air pollution, health and not climate change, green, or saving the planet, which some parts of the political establishment are allergic to. We all need to be on the same page with what "binding" legislation actually means: To me, an international agreement should be built on the foundation of nationally binding legislation: without this, it is worth very little. National legislation shows domestic parliamentary support and offers a greater chance of longevity. Esther Agbarakwe, founder, Nigerian Youth Climate Coalition, Abuja, Nigeria. @estherclimate Understanding how climate change relates to the local context will help drive collaboration: We need to overcome the challenge of how to explain climate change in our local languages without sounding political or with a development narrative. One option is to change the political narrative of climate change to a people-centered narrative. Storytelling can play a big role in achieving this. Kelly Rigg, executive director, Global Call for Climate Action, Amsterdam, Netherlands. @kellyrigg We need leaders who make the movement accessible: We must engage citizens in the solutions by helping them understand the problem. Not every scientist needs to be a good public communicator – we need scientists to be good scientists first and foremost. But we do need representatives from the scientific community who know how to speak in terms that the public can understand. As soon as you talk about mitigation, gigatons, percentages, CO2, and so on you've probably lost 90% of the public. The 'blame game' can actually foster cooperation: I think that laying blame can help lead to collaboration – people often unite around a common enemy. In this case, the enemies are the fossil fuel companies that are intent on maintaining the status quo. It is key we focus on the power they hold over politics. Richard Munang, Africa regional climate change co-ordinator, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya. @mtingem Regional coalitions can be really valuable: Political boundaries do not always follow ecological boundaries, and wise policymakers will see the benefit in collaborating to share resources and solve issues at their core. After evaluating national priorities, policymakers should consider regional approaches. Policymakers need to work together to prioritise adaptation responses: The UNEP report on Africa's Adaptation Gap, outlines various adaptation actions including the development of ecosystem-based adaptation actions in place of hard infrastructure, conserving biodiversity, and promoting drought-resistant crops and early-warning systems for floods, droughts, or fires. James Greyson, head, BlindSpot Think Tank, Lewes, England. @climate_rescue The movement is held back by semantics: Why mitigate when we should stop or reverse climate chaos? Why accept gradual technical fixes when climate is all about a global systemic shift? We need to look at the common language of climate change and consider whether it is holding us back. Ashok Chandwaney, student and organiser, The Sierra Student Coalition, St Mary's City, US. @ahumanstory For fair and just climate change policy, include the missing voices: The people who are marginalised in the discussions, like people in the south and indigenous communities, are the ones most affected by climate disruption. If we had policies and treaties that were written or strongly influenced by affected people, instead of those currently in power who benefit from the dirty status quo, they would be more fair, just, and equitable. It is not leadership itself that is absent from the movement, but the right type of leadership: At COP 19, there's plenty of leadership: from wealthy states, from the conference's corporate sponsors. The problem is, they're leading us to the wrong place. We need to put power into the hands of existing leaders in the humanitarian, environmental, and science realms. Robert Laubacher, project director, MIT Climate CoLab, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. @ClimateCoLab Collaboration that starts small can have a big impact: Government progress on climate change, at the international level, and in many key nations is slow moving. We should be more optimistic about collaboration and progress at a non governmental level: civil society organisations and businesses, large and small, are undertaking many exciting grassroots actions to address climate change. Antonio La Viña, dean, Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila University, Metro Manila, Philippines. @tonylavs Take a practical approach to collaboration: Success in the area of climate and forests in developing countries has been possible precisely because we have avoided the blame game between north and south. We have instead taken a practical approach and put into place incentives for climate change mitigation and adaptation in forests. While agreement on some technical issues like verification and on an important issue like non-carbon benefits are still being worked on, there is a spirit of collaboration in the UNFCCC negotiations in this area. Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice-chair, IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. @JPvanYpersele Cooperation at the individual level is not enough: Behavioural changes should be supported and encouraged by economic and legislative frameworks. It is important that we get individuals to collaborate on the movement. However, as the IPCC WG3 report has shown, behavioural changes can contribute to reduce emission patterns but changes at the scale of the economy and society are needed as well. This is particularly true in those regions and population groups with high emission levels. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, sign up free to become a member of the Global Development Professionals Network. | ['working-in-development/working-in-development', 'global-development-professionals-network/series/best-bits', 'environment/cop-19-un-climate-change-conference-warsaw', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'global-development-professionals-network/partnership', 'global-development/global-development', 'global-development-professionals-network/policy-advocacy', 'global-development-professionals-network/communications', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'global-development-professionals-network/series/climate-change', 'profile/holly-young'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2013-11-19T16:37:00Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
global-development-professionals-network/2013/nov/20/forced-labour-in-supply-chains | Hidden in plain sight: slavery on a high street near you | Forced labour is often described as a hidden crime. But it is not as difficult to unearth as many in the UK, including businesses and government, seem to believe. The problem is not so much that we cannot find forced labour; it is that either we choose not to look where it is most likely to occur or we simply misclassify those being exploited as criminals rather than victims. A new approach to detecting and enforcing forced labour is necessary. To pinpoint its occurrence we need to start by examining the forces of supply and demand. The supply of workers into forced labour situations depends on their degree of vulnerability. Some workers – immigrants with limited legal opportunities to work, the homeless, or those with alcohol or drug dependency – are most at risk. Businesses looking to profit from forced labour deliberately seek out those made vulnerable by such conditions in order to exploit them. They are not difficult to find. Many people recruited into forced labour are picked up on street corners, outside homeless shelters, or from spots around retail parks where informal day labourers congregate hoping for work offers. Modern-day slave markets operate not in some hidden corner of the economy but in broad daylight close to the high street. The demand for forced labour within the UK economy is also relatively predictable. It is traceable to specific business models used in particular industries. As our new study, Forced Labour's Business Models and Supply Chains, demonstrates, while there is no "one size fits all" model of forced labour in the UK, there are clear, discernible patterns of businesses that use forced labour and how they make money from it. The first thing to recognise is that there are actually two quite different types of businesses that employ forced labour. One are the direct producers, like local farmers or small construction companies, which use forced labour either to reduce their costs or to exploit them for additional forms of revenue (through practices like benefit fraud). These producers are predominantly small enterprises with fewer than ten workers, operating in the informal or illegal sector. They are also likely to be concentrated in labour-intensive, poorly mechanised sectors that require low-skilled labour. The other type of business using forced labour are intermediaries like temp agencies or gangmasters that recruit workers and then hire them out to other companies. The agency finds workers to meet short-term fluctuations in demand and to keep costs down. Sometimes, this drive to reduce costs pushes agents to exploit their workers to a point that crosses into illegality. This is how forced labour sometimes finds its way into mainstream business – and even into the products we buy in the supermarket. Forced labour enters the formal economy through such intermediaries, which we describe as a labour supply chain. A labour supply chain is the employment relationships that a worker goes through in order to be deployed in a productive capacity. This is different from the product supply chain, which maps the different stages of processing that a product goes through from extraction to sale. Product and labour supply chains can involve multiple layers of contracting and intermediaries. They grow more complex in time-sensitive or volatile industries such as agriculture or construction. It is this complexity that allows forced labour to thrive. But if we look at both of these chains together, we can identify incidences of forced labour much more effectively. If, as we suggest, it really is possible to anticipate where forced labour is likely to emerge, why is it still thriving within the UK economy? There are three main strategies to combat forced labour in this country: regulatory enforcement, social auditing, and the licensing of labour providers. But each has weaknesses. Regulatory enforcement within the private sector is typically left to businesses themselves. But where law enforcement does come into play, there is a tendency to misclassify forced labour victims as criminals. For instance, there have been difficulties making distinctions between criminal cannabis growers and trafficked victims forced to work. Similarly, policing around minimum wage workplaces tends to be focused on workers' immigration status rather than forced labour. Social auditing is the voluntary tool that retailers use to verify supply chains against forced labour and exploitation. Yet audit pathways follow products, not people, so they tend to miss the areas of the labour supply chain that pose the most risk. And when audits do detect forced labour, they are obligated to report abuses to their retail clients, not externally, which hampers information sharing. The licensing of labour providers through the Gangmasters Licensing Authority(GLA) does establish oversight over the labour supply chain. But the GLA's remit is limited to food, horticulture and forestry; it does not deal with other industries where forced labour is likely to occur. In addition to this, funding to the GLA has fallen in recent years, which has made its work much harder. Forced labour doesn't need to be as hidden as we currently think it is. Recognising the inadequacies of our current detection strategies is the first step to bringing it into the light. From there we must apply our knowledge of the business of forced labour can we design more effective ways of detecting and eradicating it. Genevieve LeBaron is vice-chancellor's fellow in politics at the University of Sheffield and research fellow at the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute. Follow her on twitter at @GLeBaron Andrew Crane is a professor of business ethics and director of the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business at Schulich School of Business, York University (Toronto). Follow him on twitter at @ethicscrane This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, sign up free to become a member of the Global Development Professionals Network | ['working-in-development/working-in-development', 'global-development-professionals-network/modern-day-slavery', 'global-development-professionals-network/policy-advocacy', 'business/business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'business/corporate-governance', 'world/slavery', 'global-development/global-development', 'type/article'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2013-11-20T16:12:00Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2009/aug/20/solarpower-renewableenergy | China solar power contract awarded to ReneSola | The sun came out on a London-listed solar company, ReneSola, today when it was awarded a deal to develop a $700m (£425m) power plant in northern China, to become operational next year. Shares in the group surged 19% to 178p on the back of a letter of intent from the Taiyangshan Development Zone to construct a 150MW plant near the city of Wuzhong. The move is particularly important for ReneSola, which was listed on Aim at 79p in August 2006, because it allows the Chinese firm to move from being a manufacturer of solar wafers, cells and modules into a full-blown scheme developer. "The emergence of downstream projects in the domestic market represents a significant opportunity for ReneSola to create new revenue streams and expand local market share," said chief executive Li Xianshou. The contract, which is about the same size as some of the larger wind farms in Britain, also underlines the way China is pressing ahead with its own renewable energy plans amid concern about the country's position as the world's largest carbon emitter. Li's comments came as former prime minister Tony Blair said after a meeting with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday that the country appeared committed to taking stronger steps to contain greenhouse emissions. A study by some of China's top climate change advisers published this week recommended setting firm targets to limit greenhouse gas emissions and ensure they peak no later than around 2030. The rise in ReneSola's share price means the stock has now gained 5.5% so far this year, much less than the 35% jump for the index of 100 leading Aim shares. But the current surge in price is a good sign following a fall from a high of 700p reached in November ahead of a global crash in the price of solar wafers as subsidies were cut back and credit for new projects dried up. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said European manufacturers would struggle to compete in future with Asian competitors and singled out ReneSola, formally based in the British Virgin Islands but with all its manufacturing operations in China, as an attractive investment. Chinese companies had a 30% cost advantage over European firms, said Goldman. Renesola recently completed the acquisition of rival JC Solar and has been ramping up its annual polysilicon production capacity, which is expected to reach 2,900 tonnes by the end of next year compared to 400 to 500 tonnes over the current 12 months. The Chinese company reported a pre-tax loss of $2.9m in the second quarter compared to a deficit of $62.8m in the first while earlier in the week German solar module maker Solon reported a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss and sales also missed forecasts. Three other firms – Q-Cells, Conergy and LDK Solar – also reported big losses last week. British-based PV Crystalox said on Wednesday that pricing pressure would continue into the second half of 2009, with average pricing expected to be significantly lower than in the first half. | ['environment/solarpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'technology/energy', 'environment/energy', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'technology/technology', 'world/china', 'tone/news', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2009-08-20T13:22:22Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2018/apr/18/how-real-time-weather-data-sprang-from-aid-to-gunners-of-1916 | How real-time weather data sprang from aid to gunners of 1916 | A new type of weather report appeared on the western front in April 1916. The importance of weather to artillery barrages had become apparent. If the temperature, pressure or wind were different to standard firing-table conditions, shells would miss their target. The necessary information for gunners to correct their aim was, from this date, provided by the new “meteor telegrams”. Before this point, the Royal Engineers’ meteorology section measured the weather on the ground. But shells in flight were at altitudes where wind and other conditions could vary. So the Royal Flying Corps offered to provide wind speed data to assist in calibrating guns, and eventually planes were sent up every morning to report on wind speed and direction at 2,000ft and 4,000ft, and at lower altitudes in fog. Some officers found the new reports confusing so an explanatory pamphlet was issued. Expertise soon increased, and the reports became more detailed, with wind, temperature and pressure readings taken at various altitudes. The telegrams became more frequent, and later seven updates were produced daily, distributed by radio. The meteor telegram service showed how new technology could collect weather data in real time, which became a key part of modern forecasting. •David Hambling will be one of the panel of Weatherwatch contributors taking part in Freak Weather in History at the British Library on Wednesday 2 May, at 7pm | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/meteorology', 'uk/weather', 'world/firstworldwar', 'technology/technology', 'technology/engineering', 'science/weaponstechnology', 'media/media', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-04-18T20:30:33Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2020/mar/07/ban-supertrawlers-from-uk-waters-after-brexit-say-green-campaigners | Brexit 'opportunity to ban supertrawlers from UK waters' | Brexit offers the perfect opportunity to ban industrial supertrawler fishing boats from UK waters, according to campaigners. The factory-sized ships can be hundreds of feet long and have been criticised for indiscriminate fishing as they catch hundreds of thousands of fish in relatively short periods. Environmentalists fear their presence correlates with spikes in numbers of dolphins washing up dead. Use of the ships is heavily regulated in some countries, as trawling has been criticised for the physical damage it inflicts on seabeds, but under the common fisheries policy, EU-registered vessels are legally entitled to fish in UK waters, subject to licence conditions, quota allocation and relevant fishing restrictions. Campaigners fear supertrawlers are incompatible with sustainable management of fisheries and argue that the UK’s departure from the EU presents an opportunity for a new approach, as fishing rights to British waters are up for review. “Our government likes to boast about its credentials as a global oceans champion, but what about protecting our seas here at home?” said Chris Thorne, Greenpeace’s oceans campaigner. “Ministers should take a long, hard look at whether allowing supertrawlers to operate in UK waters is compatible with sustainable management of our waters, as well as investigating the impact of the UK’s industrial distant-water fleet in other countries’ waters.” Calls for a ban on supertrawlers were made last year when the Lithuanian-registered Margiris – a 142-metre (465ft) boat with a deadweight of 6,200 tonnes, once considered the second largest in the world and banned from Australian waters – spent time off the south coast of England. According to analysis by Greenpeace, Margiris was fishing in an area of the Channel designated by the government as a marine conservation zone. However, the government said it was monitored closely and no infringements were found. The overall number of voyages in UK waters by supertrawlers each year is unclear, but conservationists claim that anecdotal evidence suggests the ships wreak havoc on sea life. “It’s just been a long stream of dolphin deaths, I have never seen anything quite like it,” said John Hourston, from the Blue Planet Society. “We have had several storms but dolphins do not die because of weather, they are great swimmers.” He believes the evidence points to supertrawlers being responsible for an increase in stranded dolphins off the Sussex coast and the west of Ireland, but that scientific study is needed to incontrovertibly prove the link. “We have just got mass dolphin die-offs and mass fishing fleets and the two correlate, but we need more evidence.” At the very least, he said, these ships should fitted with CCTV cameras or have independent observers on board to monitor which fish are being caught. “I am not talking about the inshore fishermen, I am talking about the industrial supertrawler fleets,” he said. “We should not be allowing supertrawlers in British waters.” French campaigners have also highlighted how rising numbers of dead dolphins are being washed up on the coast of the Bay of Biscay after becoming caught up in large trawler nets. In 2017, researchers said the number of dead dolphins washing up on British and French shores was at its highest level in more than 14 years, echoing observations from Ireland. The website of fishing company Parlevliet & Van der Plas, the owner of the Margiris, says it has an “excellent reputation for sustainable fishing”. It added: “Our catch quotas are dictated by government and EU regulations, and are based on scientific advice. We fish without causing damage to the seabed, and without disturbing the ecological system.” A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “As an independent coastal state, we will have the right to decide who fishes in our waters and on what terms. “This means we can design our own domestic fishing policy, one that supports our coastal communities and lets the UK lead the way on sustainable fishing.” • This article was amended on 9 March 2020 to remove a reference to the Hull-based Kirkella because the trawler does not operate in UK waters. | ['environment/fishing', 'politics/eu-referendum', 'business/fishing-industry', 'environment/food', 'environment/marine-life', 'world/eu', 'environment/conservation', 'world/europe-news', 'politics/foreignpolicy', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'world/world', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/mattha-busby', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-03-07T13:31:56Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
us-news/2024/sep/25/tropical-storm-helene-florida-hurricane | Hurricane Helene forecast to be most powerful storm to hit US in a year | Tropical Storm Helene strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday morning. The tempest was labeled a category 1 hurricane and the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it was packing maximum sustained winds of 80mph (128km/h) as it churned in the eastern Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of the Yucatán peninsula. It is expected to hit Florida’s Gulf coast later on Thursday as a forceful hurricane and is forecast to potentially be the most powerful storm to hit the US in more than a year. The storm will almost certainly continue intensifying throughout the day and into Thursday, when it will bring life-threatening storm surge to much of Florida’s coastline, according to forecasters. More than 40 million people in Florida, Georgia and Alabama were under hurricane and tropical storm warnings, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday. Numerous evacuations were being ordered along Florida’s Gulf coast, including Sarasota and Charlotte counties, and dozens of counties have announced school closures, including Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. The storm could build to a category 3 hurricane as it roars across the Gulf. It threatens “the entire west Florida coast and Big Bend area”, the NHC said on Wednesday morning. The hurricane center, part of a federal agency, said Helene was expected to have a bigger high-wind expanse than 90% of other major hurricanes, with its wind field and rain bands expected to stretch more than 140 miles east of the eye. Visual projections showed the huge storm swirling off Cancún, Mexico, with Cuba affected and outer weather effects already reaching eastern Florida. Forecasters early on Wednesday morning predicted storm intensification from a 45mph tropical storm to a category 3 major hurricane in less than 48 hours. On Wednesday afternoon, the national hurricane center said the storm was about 480 miles south-west of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 80mph. On its current track, the powerful core of the storm could cross directly over Florida’s state capital of Tallahassee. Hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been issued for the state’s west coast, from the Florida Keys and inland to Orlando, as well as most of the east coast, and up through the so-called Big Bend region and the area around Tallahassee, where the coast then stretches west into the Florida Panhandle. Evacuations of thousands of people south of Tallahassee were under way on Wednesday morning and Tuesday afternoon, and Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Florida. The US president pledged federal resources ahead of the storm hitting. Some were beginning to talk about the prospect of Helene spinning itself up into a category 4 hurricane, although official reports had not forecast that as of Wednesday midday on the US east coast. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, expanded a state of emergency to 61 of Florida’s 67 counties and mandatory evacuations are set to begin in the Big Bend area, where the highest storm surges are anticipated. At a press conference on Tuesday morning, DeSantis said the state had deployed Florida national guard, search and rescue teams, and Florida fish and wildlife crews to respond. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also deployed teams. “The wind you can hide from,” DeSantis added. “But it is the water that can be very, very devastating if you remain there when you are told to evacuate.” Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of Florida’s division of emergency management, said Helene was set to be a very large storm, even compared with recent tempests, warning it could be “nearly twice the size of Debby and Idalia, with possibly a stronger core”. Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the hurricane center, said: “The wind swath is going to be huge with this system, and it is basically going to carve a path right over a good portion of the Florida peninsula, including the highly populated I-4 corridor.” Farther north, Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, also declared a state of emergency and directed management teams “to prepare for and direct resources well in advance of the storm’s arrival. Stay vigilant and stay safe,” he said on X. The storm’s rapid intensification comes as water temperatures in the Gulf reach 90F (32C). Hurricane predictors had been expecting an unusually busy season but that has not materialized, allowing storm-friendly sea temperatures to increase without interruption and fuel Helene’s power, driven by the climate crisis that is rapidly warming seas and is believed to intensify storms. When Helene makes US landfall, expected late on Thursday or early Friday, it will be the fourth hurricane to make landfall in the US this year and the fifth to slam into Florida since 2022. The Associated Press contributed reporting | ['us-news/florida', 'world/hurricanes', 'world/extreme-weather', 'us-news/us-news', 'campaign/email/today-us', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'us-news/hurricane-helene', 'profile/edwardhelmore', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-09-25T18:48:29Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2013/jul/25/us-politics-climate-change-scepticism | Voters think Republican climate dissenters 'crazy', bipartisan poll finds | Republicans in Congress who reject the science behind climate change could soon be reduced to political fossils, with new polling on Wednesday suggesting three-quarters of young voters find such views "ignorant, out of touch or crazy". The bipartisan poll conducted for the League of Conservation Voters found solid 80% support among under-35 voters for Barack Obama's climate change plan – and majority support even among those who oppose the president. On the flip side the poll found three-quarters of voters, or 73%, would oppose members of Congress who stood in the way of Obama's climate action plan. The findings could prove awkward for Republicans in Congress who have adopted climate contrarianism as a defining feature. Some 55% of Republicans in the House of Representatives and 65% of those in the Senate reject the science behind climate change or oppose action on climate change, according to an analysis by the Centre for American Progress. The house speaker, John Boehner, dismissed Obama's plan to reduce carbon emissions as "absolutely crazy". If the poll is right that would hurt Boehner even among members of his own party, with the poll finding 52% of young Republicans less inclined to support a candidate who opposed Obama on climate change. The implications were even more harsh for those Republicans who block Obama on climate action and dispute the entire body of science behind climate change. "For voters under 35, denying climate change signals a much broader failure of values and leadership," the polling memo said. Many young voters would write such candidates off completely, with 37% describing climate change deniers as "ignorant", 29% as "out of touch" and 7% simply as "crazy". The climate cranks were unlikely to pick up many points with their base either; just under half of young Republicans said they would be less likely to vote for a climate change denier. The poll, a joint effort by the Democratic firm Benenson Strategy Group and the Republican firm GS Strategy Group, could provide further evidence to a small group of moderate Republicans – mainly retired from politics – who have been trying to nudge the party to engage with the issue of climate change. "As a Republican party strategist I believe that Republican candidates, Republican elected officials, need to find ways to demonstrate tolerance and understanding of what a young generation of voters need to see occurring," said Greg Strimple of GS Strategy. A few former Republican members of Congress – and an anonymous congressional aide – have publicly warned the party will lose voters, especially among the young, if it is seen as anti-science. Obama, who has grown more high-profile about climate change in his second term, has played into those perceptions, calling out Republican climate cranks as "flat-earthers" in his climate speech last month. At the moment there is no sign elected Republicans are eager for a climate makeover. At a Senate environment and public works hearing this week on climate change Republican Senators freely aired their personal doubts on established climate science and attacked Obama for failing to show "tolerance" to their alternative views. In the house, meanwhile, Republicans were preparing bills to drastically reduce the powers and cut the budget by one-third of the Environmental Protection Agency – the main executor of Obama's climate plan. Outside Washington, however, Strimple said a rethink was under way. "I think there is a broad soul-searching going on with Republicans," he said. | ['environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'us-news/us-politics', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/republicans', 'us-news/democrats', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2013-07-25T01:43:00Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
world/2012/nov/02/new-york-subways-hurricane-sandy | New York City subway repairs: what's going on under ground? An explainer | We've heard it many times: the damage to New York City's subway system won't be fixed overnight. And although some trains were up and running on Thursday, there are still huge queues for shuttle buses on Friday and bumper-to-bumper gridlock traffic in parts of Manhattan. With millions dependent on New York City's subways and tunnels, repair to the transit system is being watched very closely. Here's a round-up of what we know about what's going on underground, with information from the Guardian and elsewhere. Is there something we're missing? Have another question? Tell us in the comments. We'll update the explainer over the next week. Q: Who is working on cleaning up the subways? They are a familiar sight now to residents of Manhattan: MTA employees "unwatering" the subway tunnels. Another group in evidence is the US army corps of engineers (USACE). They've been brought in to assist in emptying out the vehicular tunnels (the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, Holland tunnel, Queens midtown tunnel) and the New Jersey Path train tunnels. Chris Gardner of the USACE told us that they expect to remove approximately 400m gallons of water from those tunnels alone. The army corps engineers are serious – they're part of a planning and response team based in Illinois and are regularly deployed around the country to help with events like this. Many of them assisted in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. Q: How are they going to get the water out? And where will it go? In a word: pumps. But the process is more complicated than switching "ON" and watching the water disappear. As New Scientist explained: The flooding itself is unlikely to cause structural problems, says Nick Buenfeld, a civil engineer at Imperial College London, as tunnels are designed to withstand the weight of the ground above. "If you fill the tunnel with water you are pressing back against the external pressure," he says. "You could argue structurally it is in a better state when it is full of water than when it is empty." Q: Tell me more about these pumps Spencer Akerman at Wired's Danger Room got all the goods on the pumps. He wrote that the Corps is looking at bringing in two types of pumps: a "high-head submersible" and a centrifugal one. The MTA's pump plans, however, aren't as clear. One thing we do know is that the MTA's existing subway pumps (that handle regular rainfall) are bound to be in bad shape. As Dick Knadle, an engineering consultant explained to New Scientist: "The salt water damages pumping equipment. The damage will be compounded by the fact that there is no power to operate the pumping equipment right now." Q: Wait, the MTA had existing pumps? What happened to them? Well, as we said, the water damaged them pretty bad but aside from that, they were really (really) old. Before Gizmodo's site crashed last week (Sandy drowned all of Gawker's servers) it ran a great piece (here's a cache of the site) on how vulnerable the MTA's tunnels are to flooding. The piece included insightful nuggets, noting that some of the pumps were bought secondhand from the builders of the Panama Canal. And that on any given day (sunny, no rain) it pulls 13m gallons of water out of the subway. And that back in the 1990s, the MTA had to send scuba divers to fix a broken water main that flooded the station at 125th Street and St Nicholas Avenue. Q: Can we assume that after the water is out of the tunnels, that service will resume as usual? Unfortunately, getting the water out is just the first step in the process. According to a recent Quartz piece, rebuilding and refurbishing the equipment that has been damaged by the water (and corroded by the salt) is a problem and finding trained personnel to do the work on the ancient equipment won't be easy. The Wall Street Journal noted that some of the equipment may be obsolete. Quartz said such equipment would have to be redesigned and then installed – a long process. | ['us-news/hurricane-sandy', 'us-news/new-york', 'world/hurricanes', 'tone/resource', 'environment/flooding', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-weather', 'cities/cities', 'type/article', 'profile/ruth-spencer'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-11-02T14:57:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2022/jul/16/polar-preet-aims-to-become-first-woman-to-trek-solo-across-antarctica | ‘Polar Preet’ aims to become first woman to trek solo across Antarctica | When she became the first woman of colour to complete a solo, unaided trip to the South Pole, Capt Preet Chandi wanted to prove “no matter where we are from, no matter what we look like, we can achieve anything we want”. Now, “Polar Preet” has her sights set on a greater challenge – to become the first woman to complete a solo and unsupported journey across the entire continent of Antarctica. Not content with trekking 700 miles in 40 days mere months ago, the 33-year-old is currently preparing for “phase two” of her trailblazing tour, which will involve travelling more than 1,000 miles in temperatures of up to minus 50C. Preet will navigate wind speeds of up to 60mph while pulling a sledge alongside her kit during the coast-to-coast journey, which is expected to take around 75 days. In an Instagram post announcing the expedition, she said: “Why did I go to Antarctica in the first place and why am I going back? “I wanted to show that no matter where we are from, no matter what we look like, we can achieve anything we want. “I want to inspire others to push their boundaries and encourage them to believe in themselves. I want to break that glass ceiling!” The army physiotherapist will be taking a period of leave at the end of the year as she attempts to once again etch her name into the record books. In a blog entry detailing her preparation, Chandi confessed that she was “doing so many things now that I wouldn’t have thought I was capable of even five years ago ... don’t limit yourself.” Her training regime features cardio and strength training, as well as dragging tyres to replicate the weight of her sledge. | ['world/antarctica', 'uk/uk', 'science/exploration', 'environment/poles', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/cash-boyle', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/poles | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-07-16T14:21:24Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2015/jan/17/country-diary-new-forest-trees-fungi | Colourful surprises among the muddy browns of winter | The air is chill as I walk across the heath towards the pines on the northern flank of Milkham Inclosure. This is not a season for woodland colour so my attention is drawn to a solitary gorse bush in full flower set against the dark trunks of the conifers outside the fencing. Its florets glow just a little as they catch the rays of the now dropping sun filtering through the grey clouds of another weather front coming up from the west. This Inclosure occupies a valley slope at the top of which the understorey has been cleared. The brushwood of removed birches litters the ground, creating a tangle of silvery-browns interwoven with the winter-tan of decaying bracken. As I stop to consider the hundreds of young holly trees that are sprouting up through it, a wren breaks cover almost at my feet and disappears in a flash into the perfect camouflage the foresters have created. Surprisingly, there is colour here. Midway down the muddy track, someone has laid a posy by a tree, large blue hyacinths and iris. Beside it, nature has provided its own tribute. On a rotting stump, a group of diminutive bright gorse-yellow coral fungi stand erect, as if in salutation. Lower down the slope, across the ride, the landscape changes. The conifers give place to a mix of oak and beech and, for some metres, the understorey is a nursery of young conifers, mostly Scots pine but with others dotted around. Milkham Inclosure was created in the 1860s and these trees lack the girth of forest ancients. Beeches are always worth a close look. Blending subtly with the grey-green bark are the soft tubular larval cases of bagworm micro-moths. A few intrepid slugs are out and about. At first I find only juveniles, too young to identify, but then I spot a tree slug, Lehmannia marginata, heading down towards the frost protection of the crevasses and warmth of the leaf litter around the roots. A hint that it’s time for home. | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'travel/newforest', 'environment/winter', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/grahamlong', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2015-01-17T05:30:11Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
football/2022/sep/03/sarina-wiegman-really-excited-about-england-taking-on-usa-at-wembley | Sarina Wiegman ‘really excited’ about England taking on USA at Wembley | Sarina Wiegman said it is “absolutely” time to start getting excited about England’s showdown with the USA after her European champions secured their place at next summer’s World Cup with a 2-0 away defeat of Austria. England’s friendly against the world champions at Wembley was contingent on the team qualifying for the World Cup but tickets for the pending game sold out in less than 24 hours. “I’m really, really excited about that game but you have to put it to the back of your mind until you’ve qualified and you never know what happens,” Wiegman said after England’s first game a month on from their triumph over Germany at Wembley. The Lionesses next face Luxembourg in the final game of their qualifying campaign. “Of course, with our standards we should beat Luxembourg, but that’s not how we think, we approach the first game [against Austria] wanting to win and play well and show who we are.” The manager expressed her pride in how her players – who are still in pre-season – had handled the pressure of playing the same Austrian starting XI that faced Germany in the Euros quarter-finals. “I think after all that I’m very proud of the team,” she said. “It looked so easy but I think it was very hard.” The win took Wiegman’s tally to 19 wins and two draws in her 21 games in charge of England and a point in Wiener Neustadt sealed top spot in Group D and a place at next summer’s showpiece in Australia and New Zealand. Wiegman maintained she certainly had not forgotten what it is like to lose. “Of course you remember losing, but you never get bored with winning,” she grinned. Among the fans were some Austrians supporting England and who requested Wiegman’s autograph, and the manager was asked if she had made England cool: “I think we made England cool. England has been cool before. I think they just like the shirts. “The way we played, the way the tournament was, not just England I think there were so many very good games. We wanted to inspire the nation but I think this tournament inspired Europe. That’s pretty exciting too. People come up to us and they want our signatures and they’re Austrian people.” | ['football/england-womens-football-team', 'sport/austria-womens-football-team', 'football/womens-world-cup-2023', 'football/football', 'sport/sport', 'football/womens-world-cup', 'football/womensfootball', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/suzanne-wrack', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/sport', 'theobserver/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/austria-womens-football-team | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-09-03T20:29:22Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2023/dec/01/king-charles-to-give-call-to-arms-cop28-opening-statement-says-pm | King Charles issues call to arms in Cop28 opening statement | King Charles gave a call to arms in his Cop28 climate summit opening statement, as Rishi Sunak expressed delight over the monarch’s record championing the issue. Sunak said it was a “proud moment” for him to witness Charles deliver his speech on Friday, which “speaks volumes about our type of leadership as a country”. “We’ve got our head of state there, delivering a call to arms in the opening statement, which speaks volumes about the respect that he’s got on this issue around the world. “We’ve got the head of government there with me, and we’ve got our chief diplomat there and the foreign secretary. There are very few countries that will be able to say what I’ve just said.” Speaking to reporters, the prime minister attempted to shut down any insinuation that Downing Street had interfered with the monarch’s speech and movements. Last year, Charles, a climate enthusiast, was unable to attend Cop27 after Sunak spent weeks deliberating over whether he would attend the summit for even one day. In his speech on Friday, Charles warned the world remained “dreadfully far off track” in key climate targets from the Paris agreement in 2015 and called for meaningful change. The king said: “I pray with all my heart that Cop28 will be another critical turning point towards genuine transformational action at a time when, already, as scientists have been warning for so long, we are seeing alarming tipping points being reached. “Despite all the attention, there is 30% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now than there was back then, and almost 40% more methane. “Some important progress has been made, but it worries me greatly that we remain so dreadfully far off track as the global stocktake report demonstrates so graphically.” The prime minister’s spokesperson had earlier said that Sunak and the king’s Cop28 diaries were designed to “complement not duplicate”. Cop28 is the first time that countries will assess progress towards this goal in what is being called the “global stocktake”. Sunak’s attendance comes after he scaled back a host of pledges designed to help the UK reach net zero by 2050, vowed to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves by granting new North Sea drilling licences, and faced accusations from former colleagues of being uninterested in the environment. In September, he delayed the ban on new diesel and petrol cars to 2035, watered down plans to strip out polluting gas and oil boilers, and scrapped the requirement for energy efficiency upgrades for homes, arguing that hitting climate targets should not burden the public. The prime minister committed to attend the climate conference after criticism of his initial decision not to go to Cop27 in 2022 led to a last-minute U-turn. Sunak insisted the UK was a “world leader” in tackling the climate crisis, as he rebuffed claims the UK was no longer a serious partner at Cop based on his weakening of the UK’s green pledges. Before attending the summit, he was accused of sending out the wrong signals on tackling the climate emergency as he headed to the summit in Dubai after saying his revised net zero targets showed he was “not in hock to the ideological zealots”. The prime minister outlined plans to allocate about £1.6bn of climate finance during the summit and claimed the UK would exceed its target of spending £11.6bn over the five years to 2026. He faces accusations from charities and non-governmental organisations that the UK is on track to meet the target only by changing the way it calculates climate aid – and otherwise would fall far short of the total. • Cop28: Can fossil fuel companies transition to clean energy? On Tuesday 5 December, 8pm-9.15pm GMT, join Damian Carrington, Christiana Figueres, Tessa Khan and Mike Coffin for a livestreamed discussion on whether fossil fuel companies can transition to clean energy. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live | ['environment/cop28', 'politics/rishi-sunak', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'uk/prince-charles', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/aletha-adu', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | environment/cop28 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2023-12-01T14:18:12Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2016/mar/06/clean-for-queen-campaign-accused-using-racist-term-spic | Clean for the Queen campaign accused of using racist term | The Clean for the Queen campaign, intended to encourage people to tidy up for Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday, has been accused of dropping a racist clanger. Posters and T-shirts to promote the drive (pdf), which is taking place this weekend, included the words “spic and span ma’am”, prompting people to suggest that by missing out a “k” on “spic”, the organisers had inadvertently used a racial slur. The Collins English dictionary refers to “spic” as a “derogatory term for a person from a Spanish-speaking country in South or Central America or a Spanish-speaking community in the US”. Twitter user @dismalchips contacted the campaign last week, asking: “Are you aware you’ve put a racist term on your asinine posters? You’re missing a k.” Adrian Evans, the campaign director, denied the wording was offensive. “It is an ancient phrase, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which suggests two options on spelling,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “Spic and span means neat and clean – which sums up our campaign perfectly.” Clean for the Queen was created by Keep Britain Tidy and Country Life as a way of encouraging people to participate in litter-picking events to “show our gratitude to Her Majesty”. Billed as the largest ever cleanup of the British environment, schools, community groups, individuals, charities, companies, local authorities and parish councils are being encouraged to take part. The event has been backed by the government and politiciams including Michael Gove and Boris Johnson have been photographed dressed in purple T-shirts, clutching litter-picking equipment, to publicise events. Neither had the offending word on their T-shirts. | ['world/race', 'environment/waste', 'uk/queen', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/haroonsiddique', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2016-03-06T13:27:19Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
commentisfree/2015/sep/01/charlotte-church-dismissed-as-silly-girl-wont-stop-fighting-for-arctic-greenpeace-shell | I’ve been dismissed as a silly girl and an activist for hire, but it won’t stop me fighting for the Arctic | Charlotte Church | It has come to my attention that public response to my recent activity – I have been campaigning with Greenpeace against drilling in the Arctic – has been really quite angry. Not necessarily because these critics disagree with what I am saying, but because it is me who is saying it. I can sympathise – I have felt the same thing. It’s always galling to hear an actor telling us all why they object to the gay marriage laws or a multi-millionaire musician imploring us to put our hands in our pockets while avoiding tax. People feel they are being preached to by self-absorbed, self-promoting celebrities who know next to nothing about the issues they are moaning on about, other than the information pack they skimmed through 10 minutes before the interview. But, in the face of overwhelming scientific consensus against it, how can anybody possibly think that drilling in the Arctic is OK? There have already been many, much more scholarly and informed articles and books written on the subject than I could offer, such as Rick Steiner’s essay on Arctic drilling, Terry Macalister’s book Polar Opposites: Opportunities and Threats in the Arctic; and Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben and Annie Leonard, published in June. I wouldn’t have read any of them had I not been approached by my drummer’s mum, who spoke to me extensively in my kitchen about the (at that point) intended drilling plans, and encouraged me to sign the Arctic Declaration. I implore you all to go speak to your own drummer’s mum. It has been fascinating to observe the range of opinion on my involvement with the Arctic issue. Some people are just dead against protecting the planet: one online critic said we should take what we need for this generation to survive and hang the next; let them deal with the consequences of our actions. Another (on the Guido Fawkes website) said that the melting ice caps were just what happens in summer, before calling me a “silly girl”. I think he was maybe confused – we don’t actually live in modern-day Westeros, but I’m sure I don’t need to point out what George RR Martin would agree “is coming”. Some people are angry that I’m not campaigning for every issue going, or for issues more local to me. I’m sorry, I’d love to do my bit for all of them, but there’s only so much time and, to be honest, it’s not my day job. What I think perplexes me the most when people get wrathful at celebrities campaigning is that they don’t react that way when a celebrity is being paid to endorse a product. I mean, if I have to see a cutesy bit of yoghurt on the end of Nicole Scherzinger’s cutesy bloody nose just one more time … How many of our nation’s most beloved actors have uttered the words “every little helps”? Is Tesco more worthy than Greenpeace? I can’t speak with too much sanctimony. I did similar things years ago. So criticise me for cashing a cheque from Walkers, but not for defending the people’s planet. It hasn’t all been awful. I should mention that the overwhelming majority of comments across social media and below the line on news websites have been truly supportive, not necessarily of me (because that’s not the point), but of the plight of Greenpeace in fighting this monstrous villain; the sharp edge of humanity’s axe, wielded by the very few and impacting upon every living thing. People can say that I’m irrelevant, an anachronism, an “activist for hire”. But the only relevant fact here is that not just Shell, but Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, Norway’s Statoil and, I don’t know, let’s just call them all Psychopaths Anonymous, have so little respect for scientific research that they are going to bore into the Earth’s achilles heel to steal and burn the very stuff that will weaken this extraordinary wilderness further. They haven’t been able to do it before because there hadn’t been enough melting of the ice cap. It is the stuff of nightmares, the sort of thing a 20th-century science-fiction writer would have posed as a trigger for the apocalypse. And we can stop it, before it’s too late. After more than 10 years of protest, Greenpeace managed to get 44 nations to sign the Madrid Protocol, which came into force in 1998 and protects the Antarctic from mining, preserving it as “a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”. That protocol becomes open to review in 2048. This is the precedent. Until similar papers are written for the Arctic, you can count me as one who will be fighting for its safety. And even if you’re not the sort of person whose opinion will be swayed by a smug, egocentric has-been who is only interested in promoting her new record/TV show/autobiography/fitness DVD (or whatever else I have been accused of selling; bloody socialists, eh?), if you’ve read this far, you’ve entered into the debate, whether you like it or not. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'tone/comment', 'environment/greenpeace', 'environment/activism', 'environment/environment', 'music/charlotte-church', 'world/arctic', 'world/world', 'business/royaldutchshell', 'type/article', 'profile/charlotte-church', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features'] | environment/greenpeace | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2015-09-01T19:00:12Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
money/2020/oct/15/its-a-soldiers-life-for-me-at-75-apparently | It’s a soldier’s life for me at 75, apparently | Brief letters | Re your article (Researchers crack question of whether couples start looking alike, 12 October), now in my 93rd year and having been married for 71 years, I find it amazing that none of the quoted scientists have thought to look at couples’ pictures on their wedding day. For many years, I have always commented on how many couples look alike. I have understood that if one is satisfied and happy with their own physical appearance, then they are attracted to someone with the same basic facial appearance. My husband and I would support this theory – it certainly proved a good choice for us. Joan Carter Torrington, Devon • Like Zoe Williams (I’m a middle-aged pacifist – so why do Rishi Sunak and co want me to join the army?, 9 October), I completed the government’s careers questionnaire. I filled it in as honestly as I could and was rather impressed to find that as a 75-year-old, I am recommended a career in armed combat or the police. Lesley Cunneen Norwich • Re your report (High number of fatal Australian shark attacks prompts concern hunting grounds are shifting, 13 October), who in their right mind would want to deliberately provoke a shark? David Wright Durham • My uncle, when questioned about his honeymoon, said he and my aunt spent two weeks at Loggerheads (Letters, 13 October). Derek Taylor London • At the risk of causing Lewis Rudd greater annoyance (Letters, 14 October), the pop group ABC accurately predicted nearly 40 years ago that “tiers are not enough”. Ian Grieve Gordon Bennett, Llangollen canal | ['money/work-and-careers', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'money/money', 'science/science', 'lifeandstyle/relationships', 'environment/sharks', 'society/unemployment', 'music/music', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'environment/marine-life', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-10-15T16:59:13Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2020/sep/28/new-super-enzyme-eats-plastic-bottles-six-times-faster | New super-enzyme eats plastic bottles six times faster | A super-enzyme that degrades plastic bottles six times faster than before has been created by scientists and could be used for recycling within a year or two. The super-enzyme, derived from bacteria that naturally evolved the ability to eat plastic, enables the full recycling of the bottles. Scientists believe combining it with enzymes that break down cotton could also allow mixed-fabric clothing to be recycled. Today, millions of tonnes of such clothing is either dumped in landfill or incinerated. Plastic pollution has contaminated the whole planet, from the Arctic to the deepest oceans, and people are now known to consume and breathe microplastic particles. It is currently very difficult to break down plastic bottles into their chemical constituents in order to make new ones from old, meaning more new plastic is being created from oil each year. The super-enzyme was engineered by linking two separate enzymes, both of which were found in the plastic-eating bug discovered at a Japanese waste site in 2016. The researchers revealed an engineered version of the first enzyme in 2018, which started breaking down the plastic in a few days. But the super-enzyme gets to work six times faster. “When we linked the enzymes, rather unexpectedly, we got a dramatic increase in activity,“ said Prof John McGeehan, at the University of Portsmouth, UK. “This is a trajectory towards trying to make faster enzymes that are more industrially relevant. But it’s also one of those stories about learning from nature, and then bringing it into the lab.” French company Carbios revealed a different enzyme in April, originally discovered in a compost heap of leaves, that degrades 90% of plastic bottles within 10 hours, but requires heating above 70C. The new super-enzyme works at room temperature, and McGeehan said combining different approaches could speed progress towards commercial use: “If we can make better, faster enzymes by linking them together and provide them to companies like Carbios, and work in partnership, we could start doing this within the next year or two.” The 2018 work had determined that the structure of one enzyme, called PETase, can attack the hard, crystalline surface of plastic bottles. They found, by accident, that one mutant version worked 20% faster. The new study analysed a second enzyme also found in the Japanese bacteria that doubles the speed of the breakdown of the chemical groups liberated by the first enzyme. Bacteria that break down natural polymers like cellulose have evolved this twin approach over millions of years. The scientists thought by connecting the two enzymes together, it might increase the speed of degradation, and enable them to work more closely together. The linked super-enzyme would be impossible for a bacterium to create, as the molecule would be too large. So the scientists connected the two enzymes in the laboratory and saw a further tripling of the speed. The new research by scientists at the University of Portsmouth and four US institutions is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team is now examining how the enzymes can be tweaked to make them work even faster still. “There’s huge potential,” said McGeehan. “We’ve got several hundred in the lab that we’re currently sticking together.” A £1m testing centre is now being built in Portsmouth and Carbios is currently building a plant in Lyon. Combining the plastic-eating enzymes with existing ones that break down natural fibres could allow mixed materials to be fully recycled, McGeehan said. “Mixed fabrics [of polyester and cotton] are really tricky to recycle. We’ve been speaking to some of the big fashion companies that produce these textiles, because they’re really struggling at the moment.” Campaigners say reducing the use of plastic is key. Those working on recycling say that strong, lightweight materials like plastic are very useful and that true recycling is part of the solution to the pollution problem. Researchers have also been successful in finding bugs that eat other plastics such as polyurethane, which is widely used but rarely recycled. When polyurethane breaks down it can release toxic chemicals that would kill most bacteria, but the bug identified actually uses the material as food to power the process. | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/special-supplement', 'theguardian/special-supplement/special-supplement', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2020-09-28T19:38:13Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2014/jan/21/walk-through-woods-wenlock-edge | Country diary: Wenlock Edge: All's well until it doesn't end well on a walk through the woods | There is sunshine out in Ape Dale, on its ripple of vivid fields, through its gaunt oaks, splashing across its gate puddles. There is a pony and trap on the road pulled by a cob that looks as if it has clip-clopped out of the 19th century. There is a pied wagtail perching on a telephone wire through a blue sky. The wooded scarp of Wenlock Edge stands over the dale, soaked in shadow, a black wave. Up in the woods, paths are claggy, the clay slick – and the first rolled tongues of cuckoopint stick out of it. There is a man with a cudgel and no dog. There is a small field where the sheep are indistinguishable from the mud they've trampled; they bleat and follow for food. There is a path over stiles into another wood where the water from Five Springs and the White Well gathers in sedgy beds under coppiced alders. The path leads up a steep stepped bank below the witchy cackle of invisible redwings in the treetops. There is a place where the fallow deer go, and there they are, black-backed and wary, leading the way to another place. And, there, is a disaster. Four ancient lime pollards were once the boundary of the parish and its wood, long before it spread out along fields too awkward to plough. For centuries these great fluted trunks must have been known, had names, been worked on and kept with sideways veneration. For a long time now, they've been hidden; only the deer stay near them. One blew out in a storm two years ago. Now the largest, most hollow, most elephantine of them has been felled by gales, its dark inner space smashed. A door is closed. The other two will soon break up now that the wind can worm into their grove. Soon none will stand, and all the things that don't matter and have been forgotten will go back where they came from. There is a piece of dead lime the size of a dagger. It comes with me back up the Edge to where there is sunshine. Twitter: @DrPaulEvans1 | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'tone/features', 'environment/forests', 'type/article', 'profile/paulevans', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2014-01-21T20:59:00Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2015/oct/08/second-solar-firm-in-two-days-goes-bust-blaming-tory-policy | Second solar firm in two days goes bust, blaming UK government policy | The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has denied that subsidy cuts were responsible for the collapse of two solar panel installers in as many days, blaming the company failures on “commercial decisions”. Amid warnings of a crisis in the green energy sector following the failure of Mark Group and Climate Energy and a forecast that 20,000 solar jobs could eventually be threatened, the Decc defended aid cuts for solar and energy efficiency. “All job losses are regrettable and we sympathise with those affected, but commercial decisions are a matter for the company concerned,” said a DECC spokesman. “Our priority is to keep bills as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses, and to build a long-term energy-efficiency system that gives consumers value for money. We are protecting existing investment and billpayers, while reducing our emissions in the most cost-effective way,” he said. However, the dramatic demise of two leading companies following a series of cuts, and proposals for more, brought a furious reaction from environmental and trade groups. A Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, Alasdair Cameron, said: “Government policy threatens over 20,000 UK solar jobs – with many more at risk in other green sectors. It seems the Treasury is happier to give sky-high subsidies to Chinese nuclear power than support British solar. The renewable energy industry around the world is booming and costs are falling rapidly but the UK government seems to be stuck in the wrong century.” Neil Marshall, chief executive of the National Insulation Association, called for urgent help from ministers to avoid further company closures, job cuts and loss of confidence. “While the government has outlined its intention to introduce a new long-term policy framework for energy efficiency, which we welcome, the insulation industry is currently in a state of crisis.” After almost 1,000 redundancies on Wednesday at the Mark Group after it was forced to call in administrators from Deloitte amid mounting financial losses, the solar panel and insulation installers Climate Energy also folded into administration, blaming government policies. About 30 of Climate Energy’s 128 staff have been immediately laid off by FTI Consulting, the professional services firm brought in to try to rescue the firm and its subsidiaries, which had revenues of £47m last year. The administrators said the company, which has offices in Bristol, Croydon and Motherwell as well as headquarters in Witham, Essex, said solar-subsidy cuts were a “contributory factor” in Climate Energy’s demise. The Mark Group was, until hours before its failure, owned by the major US group SunEdison, which passed the Leicester-based business on to its managers who immediately announced it was insolvent. Mark Babcock, vice-president of SunEdison’s residential and commercial business unit in Europe, pointedly blamed the government for Mark Group’s problems: “Given the latest changes and proposed changes to the feed-in tariff [subsidy regime], it is difficult to see [Britain] as a viable market going forward.” In the months since the general election and Amber Rudd taking over as secretary of state for energy and climate change, there has been a major change in policy direction. A range of cuts have been made to wind, solar and energy-efficiency subsidies – the latest a consultation on a proposed 87% reduction in financial aid for householders installing solar panels. Rudd argues that continuing subsidies are no longer needed at past levels because technology costs have fallen while other consumers need to be protected from higher energy bills. Figures published by the regulator Ofgem and other sources show the rate of solar subsidies for small-scale rooftop installations dropping from 41.3p per kilowatt hour in 2010 to a proposed level of 1.63p while costs have stagnated over the last 12 months. It would take 25 years for an investment in solar to pay back under the proposed new scheme, which is under consultation for implementation in January, 2016. Critics believe the attack on subsidies is driven by the chancellor, George Osborne, as part of a wider austerity policy and as a means to please Conservative backbenchers, who believe “green” power is expensive and unnecessary. Boris Johnson, the Conservative leadership hopeful, and a small number of other MPs have expressed disquiet about the cuts. On Thursday night, the Tory MP David Warburton, described the proposed cuts as “draconian”. The MP for Somerton and Frome said: “We know the solar industry fully expected some rationalisation, but a drop of up to 87% in subsidies overnight is draconian and more than I suspect the industry can bear.” | ['environment/solarpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'business/job-losses', 'business/energy-industry', 'politics/conservatives', 'business/business', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'environment/green-economy', 'environment/friends-of-the-earth', 'money/energy', 'technology/energy', 'technology/technology', 'money/money', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2015-10-08T17:48:41Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2023/dec/29/stategy-protect-temperate-celtic-rainforest-england-atlantic-woodland-aoe | ‘Jewel of Britain’s nature crown’: Plan to restore rainforest welcomed by campaigners | Conservationists have praised the launch of a new government strategy to revive the remaining fragments of the vast temperate rainforests that were once “one of the jewels of Britain’s nature crown”. Temperate rainforest, also known as Atlantic woodland or Celtic rainforest, once covered most of western Britain and Ireland. The archipelago’s wet, mild conditions are ideal for lichens, mosses and liverworts. But centuries of destruction have meant that only small, isolated pockets remain. In England, just 189 sq km (46,624 acres) survive from the ecosystem that once stretched from Cornwall to the west of Scotland, and these remain threatened by overgrazing from sheep, invasive species and nitrogen pollution. After three years of campaigning, the government published the strategy at the end of November to protect and recover England’s temperate rainforests, and committed £750,000 for research and development. The strategy includes a commitment to protect and restore the internationally rare ecosystems and use public-private partnerships to help fund their conservation. There is also a pledge to reduce pressure from grazing by deer, which is one of the main factors preventing forests’ recovery. The government says it will work with farmers and landowners to protect areas of temperate rainforests on their land. Guy Shrubsole, who leads the Lost Rainforests of Britain campaign, said the move was “exciting” but called for a target to be set to double the area of British rainforests by 2050. “Before 2021, no politician had even mentioned temperate rainforests in the UK parliament. Now, the government themselves have not only mentioned it, they’ve actually devoted entire official policy documents to this habitat,” he said. “That’s really cool to see.” Shrubsole, who wrote a bestselling book about Britain’s rainforests, added: “The government has to set a very clear ambition: that this is about doubling the rainforests. “They really need to tackle things like rhododendron and there has to be a reckoning about overgrazing sheep,” he said, urging members of the public to volunteer and keep getting involved with the effort. Joan Edwards, director of policy for the Wildlife Trusts, said: “Temperate rainforest is a globally rare habitat that was once one of the jewels of Britain’s nature crown. The remnants that still exist contain some of the highest floral diversity in the world, including a vast array of mosses, lichens, liverworts and ferns. “We welcome the government’s intention to invest in temperate rainforest restoration and management, as part of protecting 30% of land by 2030, and look forward to a more detailed strategy in the coming months.” Environmental organisations have long been campaigning for a government strategy and to raise the profile of the ecosystem, including the Wildlife Trusts, Woodland Trust, RSPB, National Trust and Plantlife. Members of the public have been helping to map and identify remaining fragments by looking for indicator species such as lichens, mosses and liverworts. The private sector has also contributed to reviving the rainforests, with Aviva pledging £38m in February for restoration efforts through the company’s sustainability programme. Wildlife Trusts are partnering with the insurance firm, and Edwards said they were already putting the money to work “expanding British rainforests with projects already under way in north Wales, Devon and the Isle of Man”. The forestry minister, Rebecca Pow, paid tribute “to campaigners on this issue, who have led an inspiring movement, and I look forward to working with them on our shared endeavour to protect these unique places”. She added: “The UK is home to globally rare temperate rainforests supporting rich native habitats and rare species and plants. Most of our temperate rainforests are centuries old and form an important part of our natural heritage. It is vital they are supported and protected for future generations.” Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/plants', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-12-29T08:00:03Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2012/nov/27/flood-warning-government-climate-change | Letters: Flood warning: will it force UK government to act on climate change? | With nations meeting in Doha to discuss a global plan to tackle climate change, the terrible floods hitting the UK are a stark warning about the need for urgent action to cut emissions (Labour accuses ministers of flood defence cuts, 27 November). Scientists predict the UK will experience severe flooding more frequently as climate change takes hold. The floods have severely disrupted people's lives and will cost the economy millions of pounds – highlighting the foolishness of the chancellor's insistence in only talking about the costs of tackling climate change. The UK government must stop dragging its feet on decarbonising our economy and show global leadership. Craig Bennett Campaigns director, Friends of the Earth • Would all potential flood victims and actual victims (800 homes hit as rain and high winds cause havoc across the west and north, 26 November) feel more secure if some of the £100bn to be spent on upgrading Trident was instead used to massively upgrade flood defences? Sometimes simple solutions seem so obvious. Graham Marsden Bolton | ['environment/flooding', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'world/natural-disasters', 'uk/trident', 'uk/military', 'uk/uk', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-11-27T21:00:03Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2013/apr/09/david-youlton-obituary | David Youlton obituary | My friend David Youlton, who has died aged 68 after suffering from cancer, was an inspiration to all who knew him. At various times seaman, co-operative Marxist, mature student and Buddhist monk, he found fulfilment through transforming a small electronics company into a leading provider of equipment for the emerging digital broadcasting industry. Snell and Wilcox had been set up by his friend Roderick Snell. After David became chairman and chief executive in 1988, he applied the principles of co-operative self-management that he had observed at the Mondragón co-operatives in the Basque country of Spain. The research engineers, he believed, were their own best managers; his job was to manage the future with those on whom the success of the new digital TV and film industry depended. This included chairing the industry group set up to co-ordinate the introduction of digital TV in the UK with common national standards. By focusing on innovation, he ensured the growth of the workforce from 25 to 500 in a decade. All the company's work in Havant, Hampshire, including the manufacturing, was housed in small, beautifully reclaimed buildings, which David's architect wife, Jill Manson, designed in the Arts and Crafts tradition. By 2000, Snell and Wilcox, guided by David's emphasis on the human spirit and its capacities, was valued at £300m and had won eight Queen's awards. Born in Brixton, south London, David left school and joined the merchant navy at the age of 15. A decade later, he returned to formal education at Ruskin College, Oxford, for two years, and I first met him in 1970 when he went on to Sussex University. From the outset, I was aware of how forward-looking he was: in a tutorial I was taking, he gave us the conclusions of his Ruskin thesis on how containerisation would change shipping, and he was right. As president of the students' union, he persuaded the vice-chancellor, Asa Briggs, of the viability of raising funds for new student housing. When his illness was diagnosed, David was given three years to live. In the event, he lived for another 12, helped by the biochemist Moshe Rogosnitzky. Together they established a charity, MedInsight, to promote low-cost, less invasive treatments for a range of diseases. David is survived by Jill. | ['business/electrocomponents', 'business/business', 'education/electronicsandelectricalengineering', 'education/education', 'uk/uk', 'technology/engineering', 'technology/technology', 'technology/digitalvideo', 'technology/television', 'theguardian/series/otherlives', 'tone/obituaries', 'type/article'] | technology/digitalvideo | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2013-04-09T14:06:55Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
commentisfree/2021/nov/11/female-leaders-climate-crisis-cop26-diverse | We need more female leaders in the fight against climate change | Maria Tanyag | In a stirring speech at the opening of the Cop26 world leaders summit, Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, asked: “When will leaders lead?” The problem she identified is that “both ambition and needed faces are not present in Glasgow”. The over-representation of white men in climate change decision-making processes is stifling for both the imagination and the implementation of transformative solutions. Globally, only 26 women serve as heads of government and state. At the last Cop summit, held in 2019, approximately 80% or 155 of the 196 heads of delegation were men. Progress has been made to increase women’s participation in Cop events, but gender parity in climate leadership is estimated to be achieved only in 2068. The global climate change agenda has met with not only political inaction, but resistance in the form of populist denialism that threatens to derail or undo existing efforts. For example, studies on “conservative white males” in the US and Norway have highlighted the connections between climate change denialism, patriarchal beliefs and rightwing nationalism. People who directly benefit from the status quo are more likely to feel threatened by the kind of political, economic and societal overhaul that solutions to climate change require. Rather than an aberration, Donald Trump’s withdrawal in 2020 from the Paris agreement is arguably the conservative white male effect writ large. The United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) came into force in 1994. Since then, the convention has generated complex global governance processes, institutions and actors, with gender equality now widely recognised as core to the climate change agenda. The first reference to gender balance appeared in the outcome document of Cop7 in 2001. By Cop25 in 2019, states had agreed to strengthen efforts toward gender-responsive climate action. However, women are still underrepresented in climate change negotiations, as shown in a UNFCCC secretariat report presented at Cop26. As well as finding that women remain in the minority and are less likely to lead a government delegation, it also analysed speaking times at selected Cop25 meetings to provide insights on active participation. It found that “men were overrepresented in terms of presence and tended to speak more than women”. Women tend to do better in terms of representation and participation in the civil society sector. Research shows that “women occupy a larger share of NGO representatives to each Cop than their government delegate counterparts”. Allowing civil society groups to play a direct role in climate negotiations creates space for diverse perspectives and forms of expertise. This is important because when decision-making processes incorporate gender perspectives, and meaningful participation by women, solutions are often more comprehensive and durable. One study found female representation in national parliaments across 91 countries correlates with more stringent climate change policies and lower carbon emissions. This reinforces evidence that gender equality improves societal outcomes in relation to the environment and peace-building efforts. The point here is not that female leaders are necessarily naturally pro-environment, but rather that female participation indicates a better quality of political representation. Rethinking who leads us in addressing the climate crisis, and how, requires recognition of expertise and leadership from the most climate-affected parts of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Environmental factors already limit the participation of people from these regions. Emerging accounts show female community leaders struggle to participate in climate activism due to weather, distance and transport needs in addition to their care responsibilities. Cop26 is likely to be the most exclusionary summit yet given the compounding economic costs and visa restrictions for participants from the global south. We cannot afford for decision-making spaces to be closed off to women and global south voices at the time we need their participation the most. I have found in my own recent research that the lack of diversity at UN climate summits is both a cause and effect of the “securitisation” and “scientisation” of climate change. Dr Sherilyn MacGregor of the University of Manchester argues that climate change has been represented both as a scientific problem and as a threat to security. Science and security have been traditionally male domains, where knowledge production and validation have been seen as the territory of a very narrow and male-centric set of “knowers”. For instance, the participation of female scientists in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the authoritative international body responsible for assessment on all scientific information relating to climate change – has gradually increased but remains low, with women making up just 32% of authors of a recent report. Unless the way our global leaders frame the climate crisis changes, we will continue to force women’s participation to fit within very rigid sets of expertise, procedures and diplomatic styles that do not lend themselves to creating radical global and systemic change. And we will continue to witness global leaders lagging far behind the monumental task of ensuring humanity’s survival. Dr Maria Tanyag is a research fellow and lecturer in international relations at the Australian National University | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/unitednations', 'world/gender', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'inequality/inequality', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/maria-tanyag', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-11-11T14:02:08Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
commentisfree/2009/mar/26/climate-change-europe-us | Nigel Purvis: By trying to impose unrealistic obligations on the US, Europe risks undermining international progress on global warming | Europe is inadvertently undermining President Obama on global warming, with potentially damaging consequences for climate co-operation and transatlantic relations. Consider these troubling developments. First, many European policymakers have unrealistic expectations about how quickly Obama can reduce US emissions. Europe expects all developed countries to cut their emissions to 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. This may be reasonable for Europe, which expects to be 8% below 1990 levels by 2012, but it's unfeasible for the United States, whose emissions are 17% above 1990 levels today. It is unfortunate that the United States is getting started late, but it is wrong to hold Obama accountable for the sins of George W Bush. Obama has already done more to address climate change than his predecessors. He has called on Congress to adopt strict emission controls, allowed California to move ahead more quickly, secured the single largest increase in US funding for low-carbon technologies, and staked the credibility of his first budget on revenue from climate levies. Obama has proposed that the US should cut emissions to 14% below 2005 levels by 2020, on the way to an 83% reduction by 2050. Convincing a reluctant Congress will be a major test of his leadership. If he succeeds, Europe should declare victory rather than quibble with the numbers. By most measures, the US target would be entirely comparable to Europe's. Second, European officials are not asking enough from developing nations, either environmentally or politically. Under the plan put forward last month by the European Commission, developed nations would commit to legally binding national emission targets this year, whereas emerging economies such as China and India would merely be obligated to submit loosely defined climate action strategies in 2011. Furthermore, European Commission proposals have been vague about whether emerging economy actions would be voluntary or legally binding. It is precisely this type of asymmetry that doomed the Kyoto Protocol in the United States. Today, US policymakers are prepared to accept that China and the United States should have different levels of ambition when it comes to emission reductions, reflecting real differences in their levels of development and national circumstances. But Congress will insist on common international obligations with respect to timing, legal form, domestic enforceability and international verification. As ensuring that all major emitters are subject to these common standards is in everyone's economic and environmental interest, Europe should work with the United States to secure symmetrical obligations for these countries. Third, some European environment ministers are overestimating how much official development assistance the United States is prepared to provide to help developing nations mitigate their emissions. The Commission has proposed that global investment in climate protection increases 170bn euros annually by 2020. In this context, they propose that developed nations provide tens of billions of euros annually in new climate-related foreign aid, of which 40% would be provided by the United States and only 28% by Europe. Even leaving aside the apparent unfairness of these numbers, the proposal will run into trouble in Washington. Foreign aid is unpopular in the United States in the best of times, and Congress is unlikely to provide anywhere near this level of new support during the worst economic downturn in almost a century. Other elements of the European Commission proposal are more likely to fly, such as creating market-based incentives for private sector investment in low-carbon strategies around the world. Europe is correct in arguing that developed nations need to help developing nations defray the higher cost of climate-friendly growth and that foreign aid has a role to play in this effort. But mobilising private capital must be the primary focus to achieve economic efficiency and political success. Instead of loading up the next global climate agreement with foreign aid obligations that the United States cannot accept, Europe should propose financial commitments that are in step with the times, market-based, and that grow as our economies recover. European officials are playing with fire by putting forward proposals that are so far removed from US political realities. The world risks either a dangerous breakdown in global climate talks, or another Kyoto where the US president agrees internationally to something he cannot deliver at home. A practical agreement that gets a truly global effort up and running would be vastly preferable to an ideologically pure agreement that keeps the United States on the sideline for another decade. So far, Barack Obama is the greenest president in US history. If Europe cannot make peace with him on climate change, there may be little hope for a broader transatlantic rapprochement. | ['commentisfree/cif-green', 'commentisfree/commentisfree', 'tone/comment', 'us-news/barack-obama', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/carbon-offset-projects', 'global-development/global-development', 'world/eu', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'profile/nigel-purvis'] | environment/carbon-offset-projects | EMISSIONS | 2009-03-26T12:30:00Z | true | EMISSIONS |
sport/2019/jul/13/england-scotland-world-cup-netball | Layla Guscoth out of World Cup after England victory over Scotland | A thumping 36-goal victory for England in their second World Cup game over Scotland should have been a cause for confidence in the team. Instead it has dealt them a nasty blow after the key defender Layla Guscoth ruptured her achilles tendon in the first quarter of the match. Guscoth, who pulled up and limped off court with Jade Clarke’s arm round her shoulder, was immediately taken for medical assessment. Within a few hours came the news that she would play no further part in the Liverpool tournament. England’s manager, Tracey Neville, who went straight to the team hotel to check on Guscoth after the game, later issued a statement confirming the player’s withdrawal. “It is devastating that her journey in this World Cup is over but myself and all of the Roses are by her side supporting her through this time,” said Neville. “We will do everything we can to ensure she is back playing again soon.” Asked after the game – and before the scope of the injury was confirmed – if England’s defence could cope without Guscoth, her fellow defender Geva Mentor had sounded optimistic. “I think defensively we’d be fine,” said Mentor, although she did raise the issue of the increased workload on the rest of the squad. “At the moment we’re using a lot of these games not only to improve performances but also keep people as fresh as possible, particularly leading into the pointy end of this tournament. That’s probably where it changes things but we’ve done enough work leading into this that our fitness is high and we can handle it.” There are no injury replacements available to World Cup squads, which include only 12 players per nation. The news certainly took the shine off a 70-34 victory spearheaded by the shooting efforts of Rachel Dunn. For 25 minutes from the start of play Dunn had maintained a 100% scoring rate; she failed only on her 22nd attempt, a long shot taken from near the edge of the circle that deflected off the rim. Only three players – Guscoth, Helen Housby and Eboni Usoro-Brown – returned from the starting line-up of the Uganda game as Neville tried out a host of new combinations for England. It was the pairing of Dunn and Clarke, Wasps team-mates, that captured the imagination, Clarke feeding long balls into the circle that Dunn would reach out and collect with telescopic arms. “We’ve built a good connection over the past couple of years,” said Dunn. “It’s just quite comfortable out there playing with her.” Scotland, currently enjoying their all-time best world ranking of seventh, defended doggedly, using all the team awareness that has come from playing alongside each other as the Strathclyde Sirens in the Superleague. England responded by sending the ball long and high, looping poetic strings of passes from one side to the other. Then Guscoth turned her left ankle and called for a time out. As a qualified doctor, Guscoth was better positioned than anyone to know that she had a problem. In fact, she missed out on last year’s Commonwealth Games while she finished her medical training – which will make this disappointment all the more bitter. Gail Parata’s women also had their own injury worry in Hayley Mulheron. The veteran goalkeeper, who has suffered shoulder problems, took to the bench twice before rejoining battle with Dunn, and Scotland cannot afford to lose her experience. She is one of only three Scottish players who has played at a World Cup before, and of the 390 caps shared by their squad, 115 belong to her. There was another strong showing from Scotland’s youngest member, however. Seventeen-year-old Emma Barrie made her international debut on Friday against Samoa and she once again demonstrated an icy cool temperament, scoring 11 from 13. As England pulled away in the third quarter, Parata experimented widely with her team’s combinations but the deficit just kept growing. Scotland are still on course for the second round of preliminaries, with only the bottom of each group destined to get the chop. It is almost certain to be Samoa, who lost to Uganda on Saturday and face England on Monday. All three British sides, in fact, should make the cut after Northern Ireland beat Sri Lanka 67-50, the captain, Caroline O’Hanlon, winning her 100th cap – and showing no ill effects – 24 hours after she sustained a head injury against Australia. | ['sport/netball-world-cup-2019', 'sport/england-netball-team', 'sport/sport', 'sport/netball', 'tone/matchreports', 'type/article', 'profile/emmajohn', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/sport', 'theobserver/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/england-netball-team | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2019-07-13T20:45:34Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2015/jul/28/french-climate-ambassador-paris-deal-cop21 | French climate ambassador concerned over slow progress of Paris draft for negotiations | France’s top climate ambassador has said she is very concerned at the slow rate of progress on a negotiating text that will form the basis of a new international deal on global warming in Paris later this year. But Laurence Tubiana also said that negotiators from nearly 200 countries were making headway on the document, and made clear that the French government wanted to see serious progress on the text by October. The comments, in an interview with the Guardian, came as climate ministers met last week to advance international climate talks before a crunch UN summit in Paris this November and December. The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said in June that the negotiations were proceeding at “a snail’s pace” after a fortnight of talks in Bonn cut the 90-page text by just four pages. Last Friday a new streamlined version was published, with the two officials overseeing it warning the “pace was slow” and there was an “urgent need, owing to serious time constraints, to accelerate the work”. The final document that governments hope to agree in Paris will have to be far shorter - with points of disagreement ironed out and swathes of potential text currently in brackets removed. “We are all very concerned, but it’s progressing,” Tubiana said, hours before the latest version was published. “What we do as a normal presidency [of the talks] anxious to have a result in Paris not at the last minute, is to say we need something [a better, shorter text] to be cleared in October.” She said that making the deal legally-binding was less challenging, as only certain elements of any accord would need to be binding. But she said the most difficult element of an agreement would be the issue of the rich countries most responsible for global warming financially helping poorer countries adapt to climate change, echoing previous comments by the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius. He said in May that financing would be “decisive” in reaching a deal in Paris. “I would say the most difficult [part of an agreement] is finance,” she said. “It has to be clear that money is flowing from developed to developing countries, that’s for sure. It should be a significant share of public money as well.” What form such finance took after 2020, when $100bn of private and public money is meant to be delivered to poorer countries each year, was “less clear” and “conceptually difficult”, she said. However, Tubiana was upbeat about the big picture on renewable energy and prospects for a deal in Paris, saying that “powerful interests” in the business world were pushing for a cleaner economy. Comparing Paris to the run-up to the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, which ended in scenes of chaos and confusion, she said: “the business sector [then] were looking for a signal to deliver it [the low carbon economy]. Now they are pushing for the signal.” In June, the heads of Europe’s oil and gas majors wrote a letter to the FT urging governments to take “decisive action” at the Paris summit, and introduce carbon pricing. Negotiations ahead of Paris were already on a better track than Copenhagen, Tubiana claimed. “Before Copenhagen, there was a disconnect between the political process and technical process at the negotiator level. Here we have a very good connection between the two.” Tubiana said that while president François Hollande would be inviting heads of state for the first day of the Paris summit to create political momentum, they would not be part of the talks as they were in Copenhagen, when Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and other leaders debated the fine detail of an accord. “We do not want to recreate the Copenhagen scenario where everybody hopes they will solve the problem. What we do not want is them enmeshed with the process, which would be terribly difficult to manage.” • This article was amended on 28 July 2015 to make clear that France wanted to see progress on the Paris text by October, not that France would step in by October to take action on the text itself. | ['environment/cop-21-un-climate-change-conference-paris', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/environment', 'world/france', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-vaughan'] | environment/cop-21-un-climate-change-conference-paris | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-07-28T07:47:38Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2022/jul/01/fuel-poor-homes-face-taking-250-energy-hit-due-to-poor-insulation | Fuel-poor homes face taking £250 energy hit due to poor insulation | People in “fuel-poor” households in England are facing annual bills about £250 higher than need be because of their poorly insulated homes, according to Local Government Association (LGA) research. The LGA has identified about 3 million households where better insulation would save large sums for people struggling with the rising cost of living. About £770m is wasted each year trying to heat these leaky homes, according to analysis for the LGA by WPI Economics. The LGA has called for all fuel-poor homes to be properly insulated by 2030, and calculates that at least two-thirds of the 3 million will need some form of government help to achieve this. David Renard, a councillor and environment spokesperson for the LGA, which represents 350 local authorities in England and Wales, said: “So many homes are leaking more and more money as energy prices increase. This will hit stretched household budgets hard and the public purse, while adding to the climate crisis. Investment now will save households further down the line, ease the cost of living crisis and mean families have added security and flexibility within their budgets.” The LGA said improving people’s homes would save about £500m for the NHS each year, as cold and damp homes contribute to illness. It would also lead to tens of thousands of new green jobs, the LGA said. Government help for insulating homes is targeted at the most vulnerable through the energy company obligation scheme, paid for through energy bills. However, this fails to reach many households and there is no widely available government scheme to help most other households in the UK. The Climate Change Committee warned in a scathing report this week that ministers were failing on insulation. The government has targets of insulating about 900 homes a day by 2030. The LGA said it was best placed to deliver insulation and energy efficiency, a view also taken by the CCC. But the CCC warned that the government had proved unwilling to work with local councils. Renard said: “Ensuring homes are well insulated also means fewer people are at risk of the health risks associated with living in cold, damp conditions, and this is work we have to do as part of our drive to net zero. Councils are keen to help the government deliver on this win-win policy and increase the number of buildings insulated by winter.” | ['environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/energy', 'uk/uk', 'society/localgovernment', 'society/society', 'politics/politics', 'money/energy', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'money/household-bills', 'money/money', 'business/cost-of-living-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-06-30T23:01:02Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2012/nov/23/barack-obama-doha-climate-change | Obama under pressure to show Doha he is serious on climate change | Barack Obama is being pressed for proof of his intent to act on climate change ahead of next week's United Nations global warming summit in Doha. The proof might boil down to just two words: two degrees. An early statement at Doha that America remains committed to the global goal of limiting warming to 2C above pre-industrial levels would be a clear sign. Every statement from US diplomats at the Doha negotiations will be closely scrutinised for signs that Obama will indeed make climate change a priority of his second term – and that America remains committed to the global agreement diplomats have been seeking for 20 years. Campaigners say Obama's re-election, superstorm Sandy and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's endorsement – predicated on climate change – put climate change back on the domestic agenda. Opinion polls suggest public concern in the US about climate change was rising even before Sandy. Campaigners argue Obama needs to engage on climate, if he wants to safeguard his legacy as president. "President Obama's re-election provides him with an opportunity to seal his legacy as a truly transformative leader, but he needs to address climate change," said Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute. "I think history will judge any president from now onwards not to have succeeded if he doesn't really grapple with this issue seriously." Early indications are that Obama will spend more time on climate change than in his first term. He invoked "the destructive power of a warming planet" in his re-election speech. He told reporters he would make climate change a personal mission of his second term. At his first White House press conference, Obama spoke of starting a national conversation about climate risks, and building a bipartisan consensus for action. But the president also made clear the economy remained his number one focus. At Doha, negotiators will be looking for signs of how Obama plans to put his climate mission in action. Hardened climate observers will be watching whether Todd Stern, the state department climate envoy, reaffirms America's commitment to the climate platform reached in Durban last year – including a core goal of limiting warming to 2C. Some campaigners fear America is backing off from that promise, following a speech at Dartmouth University earlier this year in which Stern said signing on to the 2C goal was unrealistic for some countries. "It makes perfect sense on paper. The trouble is it ignores the classic lesson that politics – including international politics – is the art of the possible," Stern said in the speech. "If countries are told that, in order to reach a global goal, they must accept targets their leadership sees as contrary to their core interest in growth and development those countries are likely to say no." The talk, with its suggestion of a retreat from the Durban platform, caused enormous concern among campaign groups. Jennifer Morgan of WRI said in the reporters' conference call she would be watching to see whether America continued to back away from the goal, or whether it was back on side. Stern has not been giving interviews prior to the Doha talks. The larger question, however, is how Obama intends to use his authority to act on climate in his second term – even if Congress remains opposed to additional regulations. Obama committed America to a 17% cut in emissions this decade from 2005 levels. That was seen as too weak in most of the world, but efforts for economy-wide action collapsed in the Senate in 2010. Republicans in Congress then fought to undercut the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency. But Obama did manage to steer $90bn towards green investment in the economy recovery plan, and set new 54.5mpg fuel efficiency standards. Even after Obama's re-election, the House of Representatives is still controlled by Republicans, including a heavy contingent from the Tea Party conservatives who discount the very existence of climate change and oppose government intervention in the economy. But campaign groups in the US are hoping the Environmental Protection Agency steps up – by finalising a rule approved in March that would put severe limits on the construction of new power plants. Campaigners are also looking to the EPA to bring in new rules on existing coal-fired plants. "We recognise there are constraints on the president – in no small part from Congress – but the electorate wants action on climate change before superstorm Sandy becomes business as usual," Janet Redman, co-director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network said in a statement. "There are measures we can take now. We can join European countries and agree to tax financial transactions, which could raise hundreds of billions of dollars for climate programmes and other public goods. And we can promote the Green Climate Fund as the main channel for public finance to support low-carbon and climate-resilient sustainable development priorities of countries and communities most impacted by climate change." | ['environment/cop18-doha-climate-change-conference', 'world/world', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/barack-obama', 'us-news/us-politics', 'us-news/us-news', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2012-11-23T12:00:03Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
global-development/2012/jun/15/rio20-voice-washington-dc-us | Rio+20: A voice from Washington DC, US | Thousands of participants from nearly every country will assemble in my city of Rio in June for the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development. I wonder, of those experts, how many have actual "on the ground" expertise? Let me venture to say – not enough. Certainly, UN conference organisers have made great strides in recent years to include more participants from marginalised populations, but how these voices are heard among the cacophony of such an event remains to be seen. Unfortunately, much of their day-to-day work doesn't include these voices either. Communities and grassroots organisations are too often considered the lowest common denominator in the development discourse. Yet what is undeniable to me, during my decade of service in the international aid sector, is that poor people are not getting by due to sweeping national-level policies or major internationally funded programmes. Robert Chambers, of the Institute of Development Studies, talks about the strong centripetal forces that draw resources and educated people into the "core" where there is mutual attraction and reinforcement of power, prestige, and resources. What happens to the "periphery", then, especially when it's those on the periphery that those gathered at Rio+20 are trying to serve? Those on the ground, who have fundamental knowhow and the resources needed to bring about long-term social change, are excluded. Wiser.org, a social network for sustainability, has already registered over 113,000 local organisations and indigenous movements working on a wide variety of issues in 243 countries. Conservative estimates indicate there may well be over 4m such local groups operating across the globe. This leaves me asking – what is the cost to all of us when so many of the best minds and perspectives from the community-level are left out of navigating the paradox of sustainable development? Here, we clearly need all the help we can get. | ['global-development/environmental-sustainability', 'global-development/global-development', 'environment/rio-20-earth-summit', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'environment/environment', 'tone/interview', 'global-development/series/global-development-voices', 'type/article'] | environment/sustainable-development | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2012-06-15T09:40:48Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
politics/2020/mar/09/boris-and-boudicca-a-perfect-match | Boris and Boudicca: a perfect match? | Brief letters | In the summary of the life of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (Profile: will reputation survive, 6 March), it is stated that “he studied at Cambridge.” Well, not quite. In 1966 he studied in Cambridge, at what was the Bell English language school (now the Bell Educational Trust). In the scale of the accusations against him, a triviality, though perhaps a relief for the University of Cambridge that the sheikh can’t claim alumnus status. He could, of course, if he hasn’t already, endow a chair in racehorse studies, with the Duke of Cambridge as patron. Bruce Ross-Smith Oxford • It’s fascinating that Boris Johnson cites the warrior queen Boudicca as one of the “five women who have shaped my life” (Pass notes, 5 March), given that she sought her redress by bringing intense violence against the British government and butchering innocent children, women and men in their thousands in St Albans, Colchester and London. Andrew Dailey Mold, Flintshire • At a funeral in a Welsh village church for a man who had loved trees and music, a fitting end to the service was Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees sung by Paul Robeson, it was extremely moving (Tree of the week, G2, 9 March). Helen Evans Ruthin, Denbighshire • The composer Michael Tippett started making marmalade when he was 30 (Letters, 9 March). He said eating it helped ease a severe stomach complaint. He lived until he was 93. Leslie East Enfield, London • My wife has just panic-made 30 jars of marmalade. Julian Roberts Ilkley, West Yorkshire • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition | ['politics/boris-johnson', 'world/sheikh-mohammed-bin-rashid-al-maktoum', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'food/food', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-03-09T18:28:01Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2019/nov/11/norway-set-to-gain-more-from-drilling-in-great-australian-bight-than-australia | Norway set to gain more from drilling in Great Australian Bight than Australia | The Norwegian government stands to gain $400m more from drilling in the Great Australian Bight than the South Australian and federal governments combined, according to a new study. A report by the Australia Institute, to be released on Monday, finds that through its two-thirds ownership of Equinor the Norwegian government stands to make $8.1bn from oil and gas exploration in the Bight. That compares with the equivalent of $7.4bn of revenue for the federal government from company tax and petroleum resource rent tax and $300m in payroll tax for the South Australian government over a 40-year period. Despite Equinor arguing that it can be conducted safely, its proposal to drill a well more than 370km off the coast of South Australia, starting in late 2020, has prompted community backlash. The Australia Institute has been an outspoken critic of drilling in the Bight, warning it will likely require decades of subsidies because during the exploration phase production would be minimal, paying no royalties or taxes. The authors of the Australia Institute report, Rod Campbell and Tony Shields, analysed economic modelling by ACIL Allen commissioned by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association. The two scenarios examined were a base case in which 1.9bn barrels of oil equivalent is produced and a high case in which 6bn barrels is produced, both over the period 2028 to 2060. The report noted the modelling predicted a total of $1.5bn a year would be paid in PRRT and company tax but – in today’s dollars – that equates to just $7.4bn over the 40-year project life because “payments are modelled to occur far in the future, so are heavily discounted to reflect uncertainty and time value of money”. Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning However, the $7.4bn of federal government revenue under the base case scenario rises to $35.3bn in the high production scenario. “We focus on the base case because it is still unknown whether the development will be economically viable let alone whether production is viable at a higher level,” the report said. Assuming Equinor is the sole developer, the Norwegian government would receive annual average benefits of $1.4 to $4.1bn, with present value of $8.1bn in the base case to $24.4bn in the high production scenario. “PRRT would not be paid until 2047 under the base case and 2040 under the high production scenario,” the report said. The modelling appears to suggest that no royalties will be paid, which would mean that oil and gas lies in commonwealth waters and that “the commonwealth will give away Australia’s oil for free”. Campbell and Shields argue that Norway reaps the rewards from “direct ownership” of oil and gas fields, with global revenue of $46bn from the petroleum industry in 2019 compared with the $1.2bn Australia received from PRRT in 2017-18. “As a result of the Australian government’s decision to raise little revenue from the exploitation of its oil and gas resources, drilling in the Bight is effectively a no-win proposition for Australia and the communities along its south coast,” the report said. “While Australians are being asked to shoulder all of the economic and environmental risk of the project, a foreign government is likely to enjoy much of the financial gain.” | ['australia-news/energy-australia', 'australia-news/south-australia', 'world/norway', 'australia-news/business-australia', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/oil', 'business/gas', 'environment/oil', 'environment/gas', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/paul-karp', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-politics'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2019-11-10T17:00:44Z | true | ENERGY |
books/2018/nov/16/serhii-plokhy-chernobyl-exposed-soviet-secrecy | Serhii Plokhy: 'Chernobyl exposed Soviet secrecy' | Serhii Plokhy, who on Wednesday won the Baillie Gifford non-fiction prize for Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy, always intended to write about the world’s worst nuclear disaster, not least because he lived through it. “I was there at the time,” he says of his days as a young university lecturer living 500km downstream from the explosion at the Ukrainian nuclear plant in 1986 that contaminated vast swaths of Europe, worrying if the waters of the Dnieper River had been contaminated. “I remember the horror.” Former classmates were directly affected by the radiation released by the explosion, and he suffered from an inflamed thyroid he believes may have been the result of exposure. Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union in 1986, and the disaster had such an impact on the country that the 61-year-old Plokhy, now professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard, felt he should tell its story. But he was almost too close to it; the testimonies of survivors were too emotional, too powerful. As a historian, he felt he lacked critical distance. It was only with the Ukrainian revolution of 2014 and the subsequent conflict with Russia that Plokhy felt liberated to write about Chernobyl, in part because the catastrophe had suddenly been trumped by new dramas but also because he realised it could be seen as central to everything that followed: glasnost in the Soviet Union, the growth of a nationalist movement in Ukraine, and the collapse five years after the disaster of the crumbling edifice of the Soviet empire. Plokhy was born in Russia to Ukrainian parents but has been based in the US for 20 years. He likens his multiple identities to “a matryoshka doll – open one up and you find another”. “To get a tenure, you have to ask the big questions and think broadly,” he says. “That came naturally. It was how I was trained. But then I integrated a lot of human stories and voices.” The key to the success of the book is that union of personal stories – the managers of the plant who made terrible mistakes and paid with their lives or ended up in prison, the firefighters and soldiers who consigned themselves to almost certain death by trying to stabilise the reactor, the scientists who covered up the design faults – and globally significant history. “The trick was to bring together the very human voices and the bureaucratic documents,” he says. “It looks like the judges [of the prize] think I managed it.” But should we really see Chernobyl as the key to the unravelling of the Soviet Union? “There is a very direct line,” he insists. “The first mass movement in the Soviet Union gathered around ecological issues, and Chernobyl was responsible for that. That was permissible under glasnost; Chernobyl and glasnost are one and the same. I’m not saying there would have been no glasnost without Chernobyl, but glasnost happened when it happened and how it happened because of Chernobyl. It exposed the culture of secrecy and it hit everybody. It didn’t just affect non-party members; it affected party members, the police, the KGB, everybody felt threatened and it suddenly became a legitimate concern of the entire society. Before that, there had been very few concerns that the entire society shared.” According to Plokhy, the pro-independence movement in Ukraine came out of the mobilisation around Chernobyl. “The leaders of the movement maybe don’t say that now,” he argues, “but they used to say it again and again in the late 1980s.” Their success was politically crucial. “The Ukrainian referendum [on independence in December 1991] was the last blow to the dying Soviet Union,” he says. The Soviet empire finally collapsed later that month. He accepts the Soviet Union would eventually have disintegrated anyway – “this was the century when the majority of multi-ethnic, multicultural empires collapsed” as nationalism took root, he says at his big-picture best – but Chernobyl was a crucial trigger, the radiation it released fatally weakening the Soviet body politic. Who was really to blame for the disaster? “There were two sets of characters,” says Plokhy. “The people who made [operational] decisions that led to the disaster and the people at the top who kept silent and didn’t tell their own people what was going on.” He argues that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was culpable. “I see Gorbachev as responsible for being silent,” he says. “It took him two weeks to address the nation. Gorbachev is a hero in many narratives and he did many good things, but I don’t trust him when he says he didn’t have enough information [about the disaster].” Plokhy also blames the Soviet system itself for corrupting science and cutting corners. “There was little regard for safety,” he says. “The attitude came from the race for the atomic bomb; the sacrifice of health and life was almost expected. That culture was transferred to the nuclear power establishment.” The book ends with an impassioned call for the world to learn the lessons of Chernobyl and for the countries beyond the west that are now developing nuclear energy capacity to pay heed to safety concerns. “The next great nuclear-power frontier is Africa,” he writes. “Egypt is currently building two reactors – its first in history. Are we sure that all these reactors are sound?” Autocracy, contempt for the wellbeing of the public and a lax approach towards nuclear safety are a dangerous combination, as the people living close to Chernobyl and the rickety old Soviet empire itself found to their cost. • Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy is published by Allen Lane (£20) | ['books/books', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'culture/culture', 'environment/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'world/russia', 'world/ukraine', 'world/europe-news', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'tone/interview', 'profile/stephenmoss', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2018-11-16T16:30:29Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/blog/2011/apr/18/mekong-hydropower-xayaburi-laos | Decision looms on Mekong River dam opposed by conservation groups | jonathan watts | I've just arrived in Bangkok for a report on tiger conservation, (more on that later), but the big environment story in south-east Asia this week is without doubt the upcoming decision on the proposed Xayaburi dam in Laos. I reported last year on the dispute surrounding this project, which poses a risk to some of the world's biggest freshwater fish. Conservationists warn that the 820m barrier threatens catfish the length of cars and stingrays that weigh more than tigers. The Laotian government counters that economic benefits outweigh the environmental impact. The Mekong River Commission gathers in Vientiane tomorrow to consider the Xayaburi (also spelled Sayabouly) dam. On Friday, they are expected to make a final recommendation to the four member states: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It will be the biggest decision ever taken by the commission, which was set up in 1995 to share the resources of south-east Asia's most important river. But approval already seems to have been taken for granted. In the past two days, the Bangkok Post and New York Times have reported that residents are being moved out of the area and preparatory work on the dam is already underway. In an editorial headed "Shame on the dam builders", the Post said the approval process had hit an "abysmal low". "The sham promise to consult and then to decide whether to build Xayaburi should stand as an example of how not to proceed with huge public projects. Authorities involved should be ashamed of misleading their people and civil society." Serious doubts about the plan persist. The Mekong River Commission's technical reports on the dam admits there is a strong possibility that the giant catfish could become extinct and that fish ladders and other measures were unlikely to prevent risks to the migration patterns of up to 100 species. "There are no obvious design modifications beyond those proposed that can further mitigate these issues...The potential disruption of downstream migration and drift could have serious ramifications for maintaining the fishery production for this region." Scientists and environment groups have united to condemn the project. WWF warned the environmental impact assessment was flawed and scientific advice had been ignored. "WWF fears a much larger scale repeat of the environmental damage of the dam on the Mun River in Thailand, a key Mekong tributary. After similar bland assurances of only low level impacts on fisheries prior to construction, the first decade of the dam's operation saw damaging impacts on 85 per cent of fish species present before the dam's construction, with 56 species disappearing entirely and reduced catches for a further 169 species, according to a World Commission on Dams study." The potential impact on food security is enormous, warns Aviva Imhof of International Rivers in this opinion piece: "The Mekong River - known locally as the "Mother of all Rivers" - is the world's largest inland fishery. This fishery constitutes the primary source of protein for the majority of the basin's 60 million inhabitants, many of whom are subsistence farmers. To harm the fishery is to harm the food security of the region's poor." A coalition of 263 NGOs sent a joint letter to the prime minister of Laos Thongsing Thammavong urging him to reject the plan, but received no response. They might have been better off addressing it to the premier of Thailand, the country which has most to gain from the project. A Thai construction firm - Ch. Karnchang - will build the hydropower plant. The Thai utility EGAT will buy almost all of the electricity. No surprise then that the Thai government are backing the project on the international stage. Officials from Cambodia and Vietnam have objected to the plan, which could reduce the water flow needed by their fishermen and paddy farmers. But they too want to build hydropower plants in their own countries. For Laos, this is just the start. The government wants revenues from hydropower to develop an impoverished nation. If the 1,285 MW plant at Xayaburi goes ahead, it wants to build a cascade of 10 more dams on the Mekong. China – which has refused to even join the Mekong River Commission - has pressed still further ahead with four huge hydropower projects upstream. It seems the "Mother of all rivers" is increasingly being milked for power instead of nutrition. Given how much cropland is also now being turned over to biofuels, is it any wonder that the world faces a food crisis. | ['environment/blog', 'tone/blog', 'environment/environment', 'environment/water', 'environment/rivers', 'environment/wave-tidal-hydropower', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'environment/wwf', 'environment/fishing', 'world/laos', 'world/thailand', 'world/world', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/jonathanwatts'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2011-04-18T10:20:22Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2018/jun/25/government-rejects-plan-for-tidal-lagoon-in-swansea | Government rejects plan for £1.3bn tidal lagoon in Swansea | The government has rejected plans for a £1.3bn tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay, dashing industry hopes of Britain leading development of a new source of renewable energy and sparking widespread criticism. Ministers said the project, which would have been subsidised through household energy bills for decades, was too expensive compared with alternatives such as offshore windfarms and nuclear power. The business secretary, Greg Clark, told parliament he had “left no stone unturned” in considering whether to support the scheme. “The inescapable conclusion of an extensive analysis is, however novel and appealing the proposal that has been made is … the cost that would be incurred by consumers and taxpayers would be so much higher than alternative sources of low-carbon power that it would be irresponsible to enter into a contract with the provider,” he said. Clark said backing a series of lagoons would cost the average consumer £700 more by 2050, compared with a mix of offshore wind and nuclear power. The capital cost for the lagoon, per unit of electricity generated, would be more than three times as much as the Hinkley Point C power station, he said. The minister said the government’s analysis had concluded there was little potential for cost reductions from future lagoons and limited local economic benefits. However, the long-awaited decision was condemned by the renewable energy industry, green groups and MPs. Mark Shorrock, the chief executive of the company behind the project, Tidal Lagoon Power, accused Clark of being misinformed. “This is a vote of no interest in Wales, no confidence in British manufacturing and no care for the planet,” he said. Labour said it was “remarkably ironic” that the announcement came on the same day as a vote on Heathrow airport expansion. Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, said: “Once again the Tories have defied all logic and failed to make the right decision for our economy, the people of Wales and the future of our planet.” Carolyn Harris, the Labour MP for Swansea East, where the lagoon would have been based, told Clark: “You will never understand the frustration and anger felt in our city today.” Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, formally tabled a vote of no confidence in the secretary of state for Wales, Alun Cairns, at the Welsh assembly. The Plaid assembly member Simon Thomas said: “The UK government has time and time again failed to invest in Wales. “The failed electrification of Wales’ railways, and now the rejection of the tidal lagoon prove that the secretary of state for Wales has no credibility and is not fit to represent Wales in public office. He must resign at once.” The trade body RenewableUK said it was disappointed by the rejection, while the Green party co-leader Caroline Lucas said it was “a double blow” because jobs and green energy production would be lost. Clark defended the government’s stance, saying it believed in renewable energy. He disclosed that he had more than 10 meetings this year alone with the Welsh government, which had offered a £200m equity stake or loan to make the project viable. Clark’s statement comes nearly 18 months after an independent government review strongly backed the scheme. Charles Hendry, the report’s author and a former energy minister, said the Swansea project would add the cost of only a pint of milk to annual energy bills and provide predictable, low-carbon electricity. Hendry told the Guardian that the government had failed to recognise the longer lifetime of lagoons compared to alternatives. “The offshore wind turbines will have to have been replaced three or four times during the lifetime of a lagoon; a nuclear plant would only last half as long,” he said. The project’s dismissal comes shortly after ministers said they were considering taking a multibillion-pound stake in a new nuclear power station at Wylfa in Wales. That reversed a decades-long policy of avoiding direct state ownership and will have made it possible to aim for a subsidy price much lower than the lagoon’s. The Swansea scheme’s planned generating capacity is about a 10th of Wylfa but backers said it could be followed by five large-scale lagoons, providing a home-grown source of renewable energy, jobs and an export opportunity. Gloucester-based Tidal Lagoon Power had hoped to agree a guaranteed power price with the government – known as a contract for difference – for the “pathfinder” lagoon at Swansea. The Swansea project envisaged a U-shaped breakwater built across the bay and the tide passing through 16 turbines, generating power for 155,000 homes. First proposed in 2011, the lagoon won backing from the then chancellor George Osborne, who used his 2015 budget to announce the government was commencing negotiations with Tidal Lagoon Power for the plan. Clark insisted that if future tidal lagoons could demonstrate value for money, the government would consider them. However, industry observers think Monday’s rejection is likely to kill off prospects for any future lagoons in the UK. Other technologies that harness the power of the tides are still seen as having potential. | ['business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/water', 'environment/wave-tidal-hydropower', 'uk/uk', 'uk/wales', 'politics/politics', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-vaughan', 'profile/stevenmorris', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2018-06-25T18:06:56Z | true | ENERGY |
food/2023/nov/06/hooray-for-the-herring-king-of-fishes | Hooray for the herring, king of fishes | Letter | It’s great that herring, the king of fishes, is at last a trending dish with top chefs (Comeback kipper: the fall and rise of Britain’s favourite breakfast fish, 4 November). Torched mackerel doth not compare. But England’s strange opposition to herring-eating goes back to the Reformation at least – popular Protestantism was rooted less in knotty questions about transubstantiation than resentment of fasting. The Herring Industry Board, set up in 1935, desperately tried to develop a home market, but failed. When in 1937 MPs discussed the idea of giving surplus salt herring to the poor, Walter Elliot, the then minister of agriculture, said: “You cannot feed necessitous children on raw salt herring. I can imagine nothing which would upset a child more.” It’s a wonderful fish – fresh, salted, kippered, bloatered, bucklinged, vinegar-pickled, red, silver or golden. It would be good if England’s quota owners hadn’t sold 95% of it to the Dutch, but maybe they just couldn’t sell it here. Come on, England. Graeme Rigby Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section. | ['food/fish', 'food/food', 'environment/fishing', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/fish', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-11-06T17:38:19Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2022/nov/16/politicians-growth-fetish-sunak-budget-climate | Sunak’s growth fetish is a problem: he’s heading for the same budget trap as Truss | Tim Jackson | If things had been different, Rishi Sunak might have topped off his trip this week to the G20 summit in Bali with a quick dash back to Sharm el-Sheikh for the final hours of Cop27. But gone, sadly, are the days when getting a climate deal over the line was top priority for world leaders. Now they prefer to show up for the opening ceremony and then leave. It’s safer to grace the platform when there’s only hot air and the moral high ground at stake. And besides, Sunak has a diary clash tomorrow. He and Jeremy Hunt don’t have time to save the planet. They have to try to save the Tory party. Like a couple of cleaners wading around in the aftermath of a bloodbath, the prime minister and his chancellor have been warning everyone for weeks how messy things are going to be in their autumn statement. Cut spending. Raise taxes. Raid pensions. Everyone is going to have to make sacrifices. Nothing is off the table. Nothing, that is, except identifying (and punishing) the architects of the chaos. Admittedly, this particular crime scene was carnage, so apprehending the villains was never going to be easy – particularly after the most obvious culprit fired her co-conspirator and then fell on her sword. Even the cleaners could see that the Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng mini-budget was the most immediate cause of the “eye-watering choices” now facing them. Lurking in the background were the unprecedented global conditions prompted by the war in Ukraine. Not to mention the failure to insulate our homes against rising energy costs. “These are tough times for people everywhere,” wrote Hunt in his latest constituency column. It’s a sentiment that doesn’t quite gel with the dramatic increase in profits from the energy companies and the banks. But behind all this is the rumble of something more pernicious and more deeply rooted. The spark that lit the Trussonomics fire was the siren call of “growth, growth and growth”. The utter fantasy of trickle-down economics was given a brand new lease of life by Kwarteng, several decades after it patently stopped working. In her ill-fated conference speech, Truss pulled no punches. It was the anti-growth coalition who were holding Britain back. Her government would root them out once and for all. This is where the forensic trail gets confusing. Strangely, most people on her target list were as gung-ho for growth as she was. Barely two months before that speech, Keir Starmer had offered – almost word for word – the same prescription. After painting a not-inaccurate picture of a broken social contract, the leader of the opposition explained how three things would be needed to fix it. “Growth. Growth. And growth.” The maths is off, but the call is familiar. Though they trumpet “stability first”, Sunak and Hunt are as obsessed with economic growth as the rest. It’s only their specific prescriptions that differ. They lean ideologically towards austerity 2.0. But in one sense, there’s not much difference between tax giveaways and huge public spending cuts. Both of them hurt the poor more than the rich. All of it is legitimised by the promise of growth. None of it actually works. Growth in advanced economies has been declining for decades – not just since the financial crisis but since the mid-1960s. The former US treasury secretary Larry Summers has argued that the growth rates yearned for by politicians may now be a thing of the past. Most reactions to this unwelcome news consist of denial and a frantic attempt to kickstart growth again. Cheap money, tax cuts, fiscal stimulus. Or high interest rates, deregulation and fiscal austerity. Round and round we go. More of the same will emerge tomorrow. Like an economic whack-a-mole, we smash away at the underlying problem in one place only to find it surface somewhere else. Could it be that our growth fetish was the villain all along? Our attempts to prop up an ailing capitalism have only hindered the investments needed to reach net zero, reinforced inequality and undermined stability. Seen kindly, the Tory mess is then a symptom of this deeper dynamic. More likely, it’s a concerted effort to protect the first-class passengers on a sinking liner. What’s clear is that, to all intents and purposes, we’re already living in a post-growth world. And it’s time to take that challenge seriously. To focus on protecting wellbeing. To distribute wealth fairly. To invest in the care economy. To improve education. To strengthen community. To build an economy that works for everyone. And to turn up at Sharm el-Sheikh with something more than empty promises. Saving the Tory party is a lost cause. Saving our kids from runaway climate breakdown may still be a possibility. But only if we face this new reality. Tim Jackson is professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey and director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/cop27', 'politics/rishi-sunak', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'business/economics', 'politics/jeremy-hunt', 'politics/conservatives', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/tim-jackson', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/cop27 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2022-11-16T12:31:32Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2012/jun/21/web-chat-rio-20-outcome | Web chat: environment and development experts on the Rio+20 outcome | On the final day of the Rio+20 Earth summit, we're joined by a panel of experts from Stop Climate Chaos (SSC), which is a coalition of more than 100 organisations, from environment and development charities to unions, faith, community and women's groups. The panel, who will be online on Friday between 1-2pm to answer your questions on the outcome of the summit, includes: • Dr Tim Stowe, director of international operations at the RSPB. Tim will be answering your questions from the Rio summit. • Laura Taylor, head of public policy at Tearfund. • Serguem Jessui Machado da Silva, Tearfund country representative for Brazil. On the table at Rio+20 are three main themes: better governance, plans to grow the "green economy", and progress on agreeing sustainable development goals. Amid the widespread anger and disappointment from politicians and campaigners in response to the the draft agreement text adopted on Tuesday, Brazil's foreign minister, Antonio Patriota, said it will be "a blueprint for international co-operation on sustainable development for years to come". Whatever you want to ask about the outcomes of conference, just post your question below. Please note anything off-topic will be removed. | ['environment/rio-20-earth-summit', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'global-development/global-development', 'type/article', 'profile/shiona-tregaskis'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2012-06-21T10:04:00Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
technology/2006/sep/14/comment.comment1 | Charles Arthur: Energy stressed? Take some silicon and lap up the sun | It was only last year that the use of silicon for solar cells outdistanced - or perhaps "outarea-d" - that for semiconductors. Whichever way you look at it, that's remarkable: chips are tiny, even though they're made by the thousand, while solar panels are large objects, intended to cover a roof rather than fill a little gap in a motherboard. Yet it's taken this long - despite solar panel use growing at 40% annually over the past decade - to get to the stage where we are starting to make more silicon to generate energy than to use it up. Sometimes, you have to wonder at our priorities as a species. But you can have so much more fun with a computer than with a solar panel. At least until the power runs out. Then you want both. If you listen hard enough, you can hear the signs of what we could call "energy stress" all around. Oil prices aren't coming down. Power suppliers keep hiking their fuel prices, sighing along with their customers (yet somehow increasing profits). And, mirabile dictu, the Sun newspaper this week came out in favour of being green, saying: "Too many of us have spent too long in denial over the threat from global warming. The evidence is now irresistible ..." And there you were thinking that red-top newspapers had green colour blindness. So solar is beginning to look increasingly attractive, because - unlike nuclear power - you can getyour own, and as Ashley Seager showed in this paper on Monday (Soaring energy costs make solar power a bright idea, September 11), make an economic return on capital. Thus amid all the gloom, there are smiles on the faces of people who work in the industry, such as Charles Gay, a 30-year veteran of the solar business. He's general manager of the solar panel business at the wonderfully-named Applied Materials (a moniker so generic it sounds like James Bond's front company). He's full of optimism about the future of his sector: "The big companies take this seriously - it's a genuine growth area." The OPEC oil embargo of 1973 kickstarted the business, and since then it's gone up and down, but right now is on the up: Japan and China are big users, and following another summer in which California's power business sunk to its knees as everyone turned on the air conditioners, Arnold Schwarzenegger (turning out to be the ideal politician, more interested in pragmatism than party politics) has initiated a scheme to put 3kW of photovoltaic capacity on 1m Californian rooves - to generate as much electricity as three power plants - in the next 10 years. But panel costs still remaintoo high for us to rush out for them. Yet what's the bottleneck? A tug-of-war between chip plants and solar panel makers? Not precisely, explains Gay. The problem is supply; but unlike chip manufacturing, where prices wax and wane as new generations of chip foundry come along, we can't make enough silicon to meet demand. "Purifying silicon is like building a petroleum cracking plant," says Gay. "It takes two or three years." And while the pub bore will tell you that silicon is the second most plentiful element in the Earth's crust, the problem is wrestling it from the grip of the oxygen it's bound to. Just as with aluminium (which has to be electrolysed from bauxite), the principal cost of silicon's manufacture is electricity. Thus the world's biggest silicon manufacturing plants are in Scandinavia and China, where hydroelectric power is plentiful. (China is a big fan of solar power too.) I like the circularity: renewable energy being used to create the raw material for another renewable energy source. Yes, dams create problems of their own, and silicon is toxic. But if it's a choice between that and pushing a plough, I'll take the first one every time. · If you'd like to comment on any aspect of Technology Guardian, send your emails to tech@theguardian.com | ['technology/technology', 'tone/comment', 'technology/series/inside-it', 'environment/energy', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'science/energy', 'type/article', 'profile/charlesarthur', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/technologyguardian', 'theguardian/technologyguardian/technology1'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2006-09-13T23:19:22Z | true | ENERGY |
us-news/2019/nov/26/support-the-guardian-reporting-projects | Support the Guardian – and help us do more hard-hitting journalism like this | For years, the residents of Reserve, a town in southern Louisiana next door to a chemical plant, have suffered a cancer risk rate 50 times the national average. Many of those affected are African American residents who trace their lineage here for generations. My former colleague Jamiles Lartey and I visited Reserve numerous times for the Guardian’s in-depth, year-long reporting project Cancer Town. Our project has so far published investigative reports, profiles, historical context and reporting from neighboring communities fighting similar battles against big polluters. We followed activists from Reserve as they marched dozens of miles to protest. We covered two trips that residents made to Japan, where they tried to force meetings with the Japanese petrochemicals company they believe responsible for the dangerous pollution in Reserve. We also co-sponsored two town hall events in New Orleans and Reserve with the national civil rights leader the Rev William Barber. This work has not gone unnoticed. Since our project launched, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren released an environmental justice platform placing Reserve at the center of her ambitious policy pledge. Louisiana’s state environmental agency announced plans to sue two chemical companies over alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. The governor of Louisiana has commissioned a study of cancer rates in Reserve. The local school board is examining whether to close an elementary school a few hundred feet from the plant. We were drawn to this story as the residents of Reserve have received little sustained national coverage and almost no political advocacy locally or in Washington. As one resident told us: “We felt like nobody cared. What are we supposed to do, stay here, be sick and die?” Our series is an attempt to draw national and international attention to the plight of those living in Reserve. Cancer Town is one of the reporting projects we funded with the $1m in reader donations we raised during our end-of-year drive last winter. Now through January, we hope to raise $1.5m to fund more journalism like this in 2020. With your help, we will continue to fight for the progressive values we hold dear – democracy, civility, truth. Please consider making a contribution. And as always, thanks for reading. | ['us-news/end-of-year-2019', 'us-news/series/cancer-town', 'us-news/louisiana', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'us-news/new-orleans', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/laughland-oliver', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-11-26T09:15:17Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
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