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environment/damian-carrington-blog/2014/aug/05/uks-new-environment-ministers-arent-climate-change-deniers | Good news! UK's new environment ministers aren't climate change deniers | Damian Carrington | Happy days! It appears the UK now has a full suite of environment and energy ministers who actually accept that dangerous climate change is being driven by human activities and needs to be tackled. What? You say that should be the minimum qualification for such important roles? Well, you are right. But, given the recent occupants of these offices of state, we should celebrate good news where we find it. It was, however, weirdly tricky to establish. A couple of days after the reshuffle that saw the sacking of climate change sceptic Owen Paterson as environment secretary, I contacted the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ask the views on global warming of his successor Liz Truss. I also got in touch with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc), as the departing Michael Fallon seemed to despise the green policies he oversaw, describing climate change as “theology” and wishing he could scrap “strong environmental and climate change commitments”. Would the new ministers back the overwhelming consensus of scientists and governments that climate change is a real and present danger? Of Truss’s views we knew nothing. Fallon’s replacement Matthew Hancock was one of the 100 Tory MPs who wrote to David Cameron in 2012 demanding wind power subsidies were slashed. So I asked Defra and Decc: “Do the new ministers agree with the following statements made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?” Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all components of the climate system. Limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive, and irreversible impacts. It was, of course, a trick question in one sense. The IPCC is the most authoritative source of information on this issue and these statements had already been approved by every government on the planet, including the UK. So the obvious answer to my question would be a single word: “Yes.” But it took days and multiple prompts for Defra to respond. Eventually, they did: “The Environment Secretary [Liz Truss] shares the government view on climate change.” OK, I thought, but that doesn’t actually answer the question. So I tried again. Back came Defra: “The government’s view is in line with the IPCC’s.” I was getting close. So I called up and asked: “So that must mean Liz Truss agrees with the IPCC?” Finally, it came: “Yes.” Decc had responded much more swiftly. “The government’s view on climate change is in line with the IPCC’s and we have a diverse portfolio of policies to lessen the risk it poses to the UK and world - all Decc Ministers are signed up to that agenda.” Again, not a simple “yes”, but a pretty clear statement that Hancock and the other new Decc minister Amber Rudd agree with the IPCC statements. Yet the inability to give the simple “yes” is telling. It betrays the Conservative party’s dilemma of understanding the reality of climate change but having to pander to those Tory supporters who think it’s a communist plot. Cameron hugged the husky then derided the “green crap”; George Osborne promised to be a “green ally, not a foe” then decided that saving the planet was going to “put the country out of business”. These dilemmas are ugly and damaging to the UK’s fast-growing green economy but there is a word for them: it’s politics. | ['environment/damian-carrington-blog', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/ipcc', 'environment/green-politics', 'type/article', 'tone/blog', 'profile/damiancarrington'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-08-05T08:43:43Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2017/apr/13/londons-plastic-water-bottle-waste-out-of-control-mayor-warned-deposit-return-scheme-recycling | London's plastic water bottle waste is out of control, mayor is told | The amount of waste from single-use plastic bottles in London has risen out of control, according to a report from the London assembly environment committee. It calls on the mayor to consider introducing a deposit return scheme and to provide free tap water as an alternative. The report, published on Thursday, finds that the London population consumes more plastic bottled water than anywhere else in England – 7.7bn a year – yet has the worst recycling rate in the UK – 32%, compared with a national average of 43%. Plastic bottles make up 10% of all litter found in the Thames, the Thames21 waterways group revealed recently. A separate study found three-quarters of the flounder swimming in the river had ingested plastic. Plastic bottles take 450 years to break down. The report urges the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to address the specific issue of plastic water bottle waste in his upcoming environment strategy. It recommends that he examines the feasibility and practicalities of a bottle deposit return scheme, which the government could later roll out nationwide. Such a scheme would offer an incentive to return plastic bottles by adding a reclaimable amount to the price of bottled drinks. To reduce Londoners’ thirst for bottled water, tap water should be more readily available from community refill facilities and at mainline rail and underground stations as well as bus stops, the report says. HydraChill water refilling stations have been trialled at Hammersmith bus station in west London and a number of piers along the Thames, which have proven popular with both commuters and staff. Apps could also be promoted to help consumers locate businesses willing to provide free water refills, the report suggests. “Plastic waste is out of control in London,” said Leonie Cooper, who chairs the environment committee. “It litters our parks, pollutes the Thames, harms marine life and adds waste to London’s landfill sites, which may be full by 2025. We have to turn the situation around. Firstly, Londoners need an alternative to buying bottles of water – this is a crucial part of the solution. Tap water needs to be more readily available. Secondly, we need to improve our recycling of plastic bottles. Currently, far too many end up in landfill or in the natural environment.” Cooper said voters had heard Khan’s pledge to be “the greenest mayor London has ever had”. “Now it’s time for him to fulfil that promise by addressing our thirst for plastic bottled water,” she said The mayor’s spokesperson said: “Sadiq is extremely supportive of initiatives to help boost access to tap water on the go, such as stores and restaurants providing free tap water, and, rather than just a London scheme, believes that government needs to consider a national deposit return scheme to encourage the re-use of plastic water bottles. “The mayor’s forthcoming environment strategy will include proposals aimed at reducing food and drink waste, including packaging, and increasing recycling rates.” The average UK household uses 480 plastic bottles a year, but recycles only 270 of them, according to Recycle Now, a campaign group funded by the government’s waste advisory group Wrap. In a significant policy U-turn this year, the soft drinks firm Coca-Cola threw its weight behind a deposit return scheme for drinks bottles in Scotland. It said 63% of consumers supported the introduction of such a system in the UK, and 51% said they would be more likely to recycle as a result. Coca-Cola had previously strongly opposed the idea, fearing it could negatively affect its business. | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/waste', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'uk/london', 'politics/london', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/money', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rebeccasmithers', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-04-12T23:01:10Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/oct/27/food-waste-news-teaching-resources | Food waste: news and teaching resources round up | Following the news earlier this year that almost half the world's food is thrown away, many of us have been keeping a keener eye on our food waste. But how much has really changed since January when a report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers revealed that as much as 2bn tonnes of food never makes it on to a plate? New figures from Tesco suggest not much. Most bagged salad and almost half of its bread goes to waste, the supermarket has revealed. Food waste is an issue that has can be explored in a range of subjects and lessons, so for teachers keen to discuss the issue in the classroom and schools that want to change their habits, we've compiled the stories, resources and links to help you do it. News stories from the Guardian Food waste: Tesco reveals most bagged salad and half its bread is thrown out Supermarket giant promises to improve processes and educate customers to cut waste. Food waste: the mountains of food thrown away each week – interactive Tesco has released a report highlighting the waste in the supermarket supply chain. But the worst culprits are the consumers - especially with bagged salad and bakery items ... How can Britain tackle its mountain of food waste? BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth explores how small changes, from robots to berry picking, can add up to big improvements. Up to two-fifths of fruit and veg crop is wasted because it is 'ugly', report finds Produce that does not meet retailer standards in UK is fed to animals or ploughed back into ground, according to study. What's going off in your fridge? We throw away almost half the apples, bread and bagged salad we buy, according to Tesco. Guardian writers confess how much food they waste. Spoilt rotten: good and bad mould Some fungal growths add flavour to food while others are toxic. So how do you spot the right kind of rot? Almost half of the world's food thrown away, report finds Figures from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers show as much as 2bn tonnes of food never makes it on to a plate. The original food waste report from earlier this year. Reduce food waste dramatically with simple acts, says UN Smaller portions, freezing leftovers and donating to food banks can make a difference, says Think, Eat, Save campaign. What's in our food? News and resources round up Following the horsemeat-in-burgers scandal, to explore what we eat and analyse food production in more detail, we have a selection of news, multimedia and teaching resources. Twitter list: top 10 tweeters on sustainable food A combination of individuals, organisations and think tanks tweeting on food issues. Top chefs' tips on cutting food waste – video Top chefs offer their advice on creating great meals while cutting back on waste. Resources on the Guardian Teacher Network Mission:Explore food waste Beautifully-illustrated 'missions' and ideas that challenge children to think creatively and critically about where their food comes from. This chapter focuses on food waste and includes a task on keeping a poo diary! Where in the world is food grown? Lovely presentation slides from Traidcraft exploring where fairtrade produce such as sugar, rice and honey come from. World Food Day hunger statistics poster The world has (and throws away) so much food, why are so many people going hungry? As well as offering an interesting discussion point for your class, this ActionAid poster shows world hunger statistics from how many people are hungry to food. Food chain display banner You could use this printable wall display as a header for your students' work and studies into the food chain. Best of the web Global food: waste not, want not – Institute of Mechanical Engineers website Lots of information about food production and waste, plus the full global food report highlighting losses of over one billion tonnes of food each year. Feeding the 5000 This campaign hopes to help and inspire communities all over the world to come up with solutions to tackle the global issue of food waste – and then put them into action. Also has a handy food waste facts section. TED Talks – Tristram Stuart: The global food waste scandal – video In this video, author Tristram Stuart delves into the shocking data of wasted food, calling for a more responsible use of global resources. The Food Waste Network The people to contact if you want to sort out food waste at your school. The network is a free service matchmaking any UK business, school or organisation with its ideal food waste recycling. Recycle Now Teaching resources, information and presentations for schools. An overview of global food wastage – infographic This infographic visualises a range of datasets to paint a picture of food waste and food shortage across the world. Could make a good poster. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Looking for your next role? Take a look at Guardian jobs for schools for thousands of the latest teaching, leadership and support jobs. | ['teacher-network/citizenship', 'teacher-network/series/news-and-resources-round-up', 'teacher-network/green-schools', 'teacher-network/teacher-network', 'education/education', 'teacher-network/teacher-blog', 'tone/blog', 'education/teaching', 'environment/environment', 'education/geographyandenvironmentstudies', 'environment/food', 'environment/waste', 'type/article', 'profile/kerry-ann-eustice'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2013-10-27T07:00:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2024/feb/27/european-parliament-votes-for-watered-down-law-to-restore-nature-farmers-protests | European parliament votes for watered-down law to restore nature | The European parliament has given the green light to a watered-down law to restore nature, after weeks of fierce protests from farmers and a last-ditch attempt from rightwing parties threatened to sink the deal. “Today is an important day for Europe as we move from protecting and conserving nature to restoring it,” said César Luena, a Spanish MEP from the centre-left Socialist and Democrats, who led negotiations on the proposal. The new law – a key pillar of the EU’s contested green deal – sets a target for the EU to restore at least 20% of its land and sea by the end of the decade. By 2050, that should rise to cover all ecosystems in need of restoration. “This law is not about restoring nature for the sake of nature,” said the EU environment commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius. “It is about ensuring a habitable environment where the wellbeing of current and future generations is ensured.” The centre-right European People’s party (EPP), the biggest group in the parliament, joined far-right lawmakers in voting against the law on Tuesday. It argued that its rules placed too big a burden on farmers but welcomed that the text, which it pushed to weaken last year, “bears little resemblance” to the original proposal. “We do not want new and more forms of bureaucracy and reporting obligations for farmers,” said Siegfried Mureșan, a Romanian MEP from the EPP, before the vote. “Let farmers farm.” The EU and its member states have rowed back on several plans to protect the environment as farmers’ protests have spread across the continent and in some cases turned violent. In a clash with riot police on Monday, farmers set fire to tyres, sprayed police with liquid manure, and drove tractors through blockades in the European quarter of Brussels where agriculture ministers were meeting. The nature restoration law, which must be approved by the EU Council before it comes into force, calls on member states to restore at least 30% of drained peatland by 2030 and make progress on indicators of agriculture biodiversity that include increasing the number of grassland butterflies and farmland birds. Environmental groups praised the outcome of the vote, which passed with the support of 329 lawmakers and was opposed by 275. A coalition made up of BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, European Environment Bureau and WWF EU said: “We are relieved that MEPs listened to facts and science, and did not give in to populism and fear-mongering. Now, we urge member states to follow suit and deliver this much-needed law to bring back nature in Europe.” Nature is dying faster than humans have ever observed, according to a review of the research from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes). In Europe, where 81% of habitats are in poor shape, the destruction of wildlife is set to cost farms and ecosystems as pollinators die out, soils degrade and extreme weather grows more violent. The nature restoration law was subject to an intense and negative media campaign before a key vote last year. In an open letter, 6,000 scientists criticised opponents of the law for spreading misinformation. Since then, farmers have loudly protested against a range of policies to protect wildlife and cut pollution, which they say they cannot afford, as well as opposing trade deals with South America and grain imports from Ukraine. Luena said: “I would like to thank scientists for providing the scientific evidence and fighting climate denial, and young people for reminding us that there is no planet B, nor plan B.” | ['world/eu', 'environment/farming', 'environment/biodiversity', 'world/europe-news', 'campaign/email/this-is-europe', 'world/world', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ajit-niranjan', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-02-27T14:31:41Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2015/may/19/global-businesses-must-lead-the-way-on-climate-action | Global businesses must lead the way on climate action | Major business leaders will gather in Paris this week for the Business and Climate Summit. It comes six months before the Paris climate conference, COP21, the aim of which is well known: to reach a universal agreement limiting the rise in global average temperature to 2C above pre-industrial levels. Until recently, action against climate change was trapped in a sort of vicious circle: many businesses were waiting for political decisions before taking action, while governments, for their part, were waiting for a mobilisation of the private sector. Now the situation is changing. Firstly, most governments are committing themselves. To date, nearly 40 countries – including the 28 member states of the European Union, the US, Mexico, Gabon, etc – have submitted their “national contributions” – that is, their commitments in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change. We are counting on all countries to join this collective effort and submit their contributions before the deadline of 30 October. Secondly, many businesses now include climate action in their long-term strategy and their daily activities. General Motors, Google, Amazon, Apple have signed major agreements on renewable energy use. A few weeks ago, 43 business leaders from companies in over 150 countries, declared their responsibility to support sustainable development. Ikea, Toshiba Corporation, AkzoNobel, Enel, Hindustan Construction Company, ING Group, Marks & Spencer, Suez Environnement and other large and medium-sized enterprises have undertaken to reduce their environmental impact by setting goals to lower their emissions and their energy consumption. They have also committed to promoting innovative technologies and incorporating climate risks into their decision-making processes. These positive developments can be explained by a general increase in awareness and by business interests. One thing is gradually becoming clear: investing in green growth, which is the growth of the future, can be a source of profit and employment. A report by the Carbon Disclosure Project shows that businesses which actively take into account the issue of climate enjoy 18% higher returns on investment than those that do not. For a long time, climate action was seen as a cost rather than an opportunity, whereas today, the debate centres on the cost of taking no action. According to some estimates, inaction to combat climate change could cost $28tn (£18tn) globally by 2050. As we head towards COP21, we expect business leaders from around the world to call for ambitious policies and to join this collective effort themselves by taking concrete steps, for example by setting themselves a target of 100% renewable energy use, or progressive emission reduction targets. The efforts made by businesses – along with those made by cities, regions and civil society – are obviously no replacement for the crucial measures that must be taken by states, whose action is decisive, but they will strengthen these measures. The central – and fair – idea is that governments should not be the only ones combating climate change. The Paris climate agreement that we are working actively towards will not provide an immediate solution to the problem of climate change, but it can and should provide a way forward. Today, we are convinced that a large number of public and private stakeholders are ready to commit, in specific ways, to building a more sustainable world. The time for climate action has therefore come, and businesses need to play their full part. | ['environment/global-climate-talks', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/cop-21-un-climate-change-conference-paris', 'world/paris', 'business/business', 'environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/laurent-fabius', 'profile/christiana-figueres'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-05-19T10:34:15Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
lifeandstyle/2016/mar/02/kitchen-gadgets-review-fast-slow-pro-pressure-cooker-full-steam-ahead | Kitchen gadgets review: Fast Slow Pro pressure cooker – full steam ahead | What? The Fast Slow Pro pressure cooker (Sage, £199.95) is an airtight, pressurised pot. Trapped steam raises water’s boiling point; the superheated liquid accelerates cooking, adds flavour and saves energy. Why? Because unlike everything else from the 1970s it isn’t ... problematic. Well? I thought they had sent me a life-sized droid from the new Star Wars film. Or from its name, a cricketer’s training cannon. Sage’s new gizmo is, in fact, a slow/pressure cooker, promising to make food “tastier under pressure” or “tender with time”, like an Elvis Presley lyric. I’m not interested in the slow stuff any more; I am over pulled pork, pulled chicken, beef, turkey. Why are we obsessed with pulling our meat? (Note to self: rephrase this.) I’m intrigued by pressure cooking, though, which was in vogue 40 years ago, just like Star Wars. Being young-ish, I know the pressure cooker mainly through metaphors: life in a submarine, politics of the Middle East, Ikea trips on a Saturday – all pressure cooker situations. They don’t sound … great. So, why bring this back? Because, unlike you, when faced with the lies on your CV, food does react well under pressure. Pressure raises water’s boiling point – meaning you can stew liquids at up to 120C, maximising flavour and quartering cooking time. Sounds incredible/dangerous. The box asks: “How do you know the PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE AND TIME different foods need?” and doesn’t supply an answer, which feels quite undermine-y. (HOW DO YOU KNOW I DON’T? WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?) Anyway I don’t, so I bung in ingredients for a chicken pho and let the machine take charge. It starts by building up 50 kilopascals (7.25 psi) of pressure – mmm, pressure – a superbly orange LCD screen tells me. The thing is huge, and periodically vents, loudly, like an old-time locomotive. It might be doing all the work, but it wants you to watch. In 20 minutes, it’s over. And the results are ... amazing. Chicken falling off the bone. The cinnamon is singin’, the star anise is a goddamn celebrity. Pressure cooking? Pssshh. I made a risotto in seven minutes, with no stirring. I danced myself dizzy to Queen and David Bowie while the old pro made vibrant ratatouille. This is no-pressure cooking, and I’m hooked on the feeling. Not everything from the 70s is awful. If you’re interested in a one-pot wonder, I’m thinking fast and slow. Any downside? Knows its way around a Vietnamese broth, pho sho. But at £200, it’ll make me a po’ boy even faster. Counter, drawer, back of the cupboard? This is the droid you’re looking for. 3/5 | ['food/food', 'technology/gadgets', 'lifeandstyle/series/inspect-a-gadget', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'technology/technology', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/rhik-samadder', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2016-03-02T12:26:51Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
australia-news/2024/nov/10/its-gang-gang-country-the-landholders-restoring-farmland-to-forest-in-the-victorian-alps | ‘It’s gang-gang country’: the landholders restoring farmland to forest in the Victorian alps | Three and a half years ago, Karst Kreun bought 60 hectares (150 acres) of land by Mount Buller in memory of his late wife, Lindy. Located in Mansfield in Victoria’s north-east, the property, named “Karlindy” after his wife, had been used for generations for intense farming and seed production. “It had 11 mature trees on it,” Kreun says. “That’s it.” Kruen has planted 13,500 native trees and shrubs so far and is aiming for 90,000 by the time he is finished. “I’ve always been keen on conservation and I thought this was a good project to work on,” he says of his mission to attract more birds and wildlife. Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter “They come for miles. Robins and swallows, wrens and the gang-gang. They have a unique sound.” Gang-gang cockatoos are listed as endangered under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act due to habitat loss in the cool alpine forests they call home. Rewilding rural Victoria A similar project is under way at Tillabudgery, a property in the hamlet of Woodfield, near Bonnie Doon, owned by Kirsten Hutchison and her sister Neridda. They inherited the land after their father’s death four years ago and have been continuing his conservation efforts with help from the Victorian government’s BushBank program. The scheme is funding 20,000ha of native forest replanting across the state through partnerships with private landowners. Hutchison says their aim is to provide foraging habitats for the native wildlife, including gang-gangs, through restoring 43ha of native forest. The site is steep and challenging to work on but they have managed to plant thousands of trees and to control weeds, rabbits and sambar deer. “It is gang-gang cockatoo country,” Hutchison says. “We sometimes see or hear them during the warmer months when they return to the higher, wetter forests.” Conservation was their father’s passion. “We always grew up with a strong sense of moral social conscience when it came to the environment,” Hutchison says. “It is our hope that our restoration project will help provide more foraging habitat and help buffer the adjacent Maintongoon bushland reserve to reduce any edge effects for [the gang-gang].” “Edge effects” are the intrusion of invasive plants and animals into native vegetation through adjacent cleared farmland. Sean Dooley, the public affairs manager of Birdlife, an Australian non-profit organisation, says gang-gang cockatoos were first listed as endangered in 2022. “Many people attribute this uplisting of threatened status to the impacts of the black summer bushfires, however, the declines in population were happening well before this,” Dooley says. The most reliable surveys of the species show population declines of as much as 69% between 1999 and 2019. “The black summer bushfires were another hammer blow with somewhere between 28 to 36% of their habitat burnt, and an estimated 10% of the population killed in the fires,” Dooley says. According to the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020, habitat loss, particularly nesting hollows, due to land-clearing and continuing native forest logging is the main threat to the bird. Hutchison says she and her sister are also working with the conservation organisation Trust for Nature to permanently protect the property in a conservation covenant, ensuring it remains a long-term habitat for the cockatoos. “Dad spent most of his time on the property and really threw himself into planting trees on the land,” she says. “We thought we would fulfil Dad’s dream and legacy, transform his property and leave something for the future.” At Karlindy, Kruen has a similar plan: “The aim is to bring it as close as I can to what it was 200 years ago.” Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter | ['australia-news/series/the-rural-network-victoria', 'australia-news/series/the-rural-network', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/birds', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/victoria', 'australia-news/rural-australia', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/farming', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/forests', 'campaign/email/the-rural-network', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/dellaram-vreeland', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/the-rural-network'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-11-09T19:00:04Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
uk-news/2019/jan/03/sperm-whale-stranded-scottish-loch-eriboll | Rescuers rush to help whale stranded in Scottish loch | Rescuers are on their way to a loch in the far north of Scotland to help a whale thought to have become ensnared in rope. The nine-metre (30ft) animal, believed to be a juvenile sperm whale, has become stranded in Loch Eriboll, a 10-mile-long (16km) sea loch on the north coast of Scotland, close to the village of Durness. A disentanglement team from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) was expected to arrive at the scene on Thursday afternoon. A spokesperson for the organisation said the whale probably experienced some sort of navigational problems for it to have swum into the loch in the first place. The animal was first spotted swimming slowly in Eriboll, one of Scotland’s deepest sea lochs, on Wednesday. Local coastguard rescue teams along with Scottish SPCA officers were monitoring the young whale. A spokesperson for Shetland Coastguard, which is coordinating the operation, said: “The whale is less than 100 metres from the shore. It is very close to the mouth of the loch and we are concerned it will come ashore. It appears to be entangled and in distress so we would ask people to stay away from the scene so as not cause any more distress to the animal.” The BDMLR team will assess whether the whale has become entangled in floating debris. If this is not the case, there is little more that can be done for the animal. The use of boats to herd it out of the loch and back to sea would be deemed too stressful for the whale and too dangerous for rescuers. It is unusual for a sperm whale in particular to become trapped in this way, because the species tends to favour far deeper waters. One of the deepest diving mammals in the world, adult sperm whales can grow to up to 18.3 metres (60ft) in length. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has asked members of the public to take care along the rugged coastline if they are trying to find a vantage point to see the whale, and told people to leave the rescue effort “to the experts”. In 2016, members of BDMLR were able to free a humpback whale from the same loch after it became tangled in creels used to catch prawns. | ['uk/scotland', 'uk/uk', 'environment/whales', 'environment/cetaceans', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/libbybrooks', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-01-03T13:06:44Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2023/jul/19/wildfires-athens-greece-third-day-water-bombers-join-effort | Wildfires rage around Athens for third day as water bombers join effort | The battle to douse wildfires raging for a third day around Athens has intensified as water bombers flown in from Italy and France joined the operation to extinguish flames often fanned by strong winds. Firefighters, backed by soldiers, police special forces, volunteers and water-dropping aircraft, resumed efforts to contain blazes that by Wednesday had encroached on the town of Megara. The fire, which initially broke out in Dervenochoria, about 18 miles (30km) north of the Greek capital, had ripped through land turned tinder dry by temperatures that surpassed 40C (104F) last week. By late Tuesday a fire front stretching for more than five miles had spurred mass evacuations and decimated homes, cars, olive groves and pine forests in the area of Mandra, where police could be seen helping panic-stricken residents get into vehicles as the flames approached. “We are living a nightmare,” the mayor of Mandra, Christos Stathis, told Open TV. “Houses and properties are on fire.” In dramatic scenes overnight, firefighting forces had battled to stop flames reaching a coastal complex of oil refineries close to Corinth, with Skai TV reporting the blaze had come within 500 metres (1,600ft) of the installation. “Last night men and women in civil protection [forces] and all the state machinery made a superhuman effort,” said the climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias. “The efforts will continue because climatic conditions are expected to be difficult today.” Fires were on Wednesday reported to have come “within a breath” of homes in Megara, with Greek media describing a 4km front of flames on the periphery of the 30,000-strong town. Constantly shifting winds made the work of firefighters that much harder. “We evacuated the area in time,” said Megara’s mayor, Grigorios Stamoulis, appealing for more aircraft to be dispatched to the area. “Aerial means are the only ones that can act and bring about a decisive result. Ground forces can’t stop the fire in the forest.” Authorities said firefighters were also battling flare-ups in the region of Loutraki, where at least 32 homes were burned to the ground and a state of emergency was declared on Tuesday, while fires were also reported on the islands of Rhodes and Crete. On order of the fire brigade three villages were evacuated on Rhodes because the blazes were deemed to be out of control. “Conditions are extreme and are likely to remain so for another week,” Kostas Tsigas, who heads the fire brigade officers’ association, told Skai TV. In a week that has highlighted the realities of the climate emergency, thousands have been forced to flee homes as a result of the forest fires and countless others have lost properties they have worked a lifetime to acquire. On Monday, as Etesian winds blew in after a four-day heatwave, fires had ripped through seaside towns south-east of Athens, gutting holiday homes and leaving a trail of disaster in their wake. “We have always had wildfires and we always will,” said the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, cutting short a visit to Brussels to return to Athens, where he held emergency talks with Kikilias on Wednesday. “But with the effects of the climate crisis, we are experiencing fires with increasing intensity.” Greece is poised for a second heatwave once winds drop on Thursday. Temperatures are forecast to reach 44C over the weekend, with Greek meteorologists saying the worst is yet to come. “Although the winds will recede from tomorrow [Thursday] this doesn’t mean that the danger of fires will lessen,” the forecaster Theodoros Yiannaros told state-run TV. “There will be a drop in danger perhaps tomorrow but during the weekend the risk will be very high … difficult times are ahead of us.” Greek culture ministry officials told the Guardian it was “likely” the Acropolis in Athens would once again be closed to the public if temperatures were deemed dangerously high. | ['world/greece', 'world/wildfires', 'world/extreme-weather', 'world/world', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helenasmith', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-07-19T14:42:14Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2011/may/16/water-firms-uk-dry-spell | Water firms upbeat amid UK dry spell | Water companies are "confident" of maintaining supplies in the face of dry conditions, the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, said after a drought summit today. But she warned against complacency and said the Environment Agency, together with water companies, would be providing ministers with an update on supplies and reviewing drought plans. The Environment Agency will also be reporting next week on the likelihood of a drought in the longer term, and how it might affect farmers, food production and consumers. The drought meeting comes after the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) warned in its latest monthly summary that large parts of southern Britain are suffering from drought conditions in the wake of an exceptionally hot, dry April. The CEH said last week that England and Wales had experienced the lowest March/April rainfall for decades, it had been the warmest April in records dating back 100 years, river flows in some rivers were below levels seen in the 1976 drought and some reservoir stocks and groundwater aquifers were well below average for this time of year. After a meeting with water industry leaders, government agencies, farming and horticultural organisations and the communities and local government department, which has responsibility for fire services, Spelman said: "We're not in a drought yet, although the severity of dry conditions differs from place to place." But she added: "It is important that we are as prepared as possible for a prolonged dry spell and the effects it may have, and I want to make sure that all the right agencies and organisations are working together to anticipate any potential problems before they happen. "I have asked the Environment Agency to report next week on the likelihood of a drought in the longer term, and how it might affect our farmers, our food industry and consumers. "Water companies are continuing to monitor the situation and are confident of maintaining supplies, partly because the industry has improved its resilience. "But this shouldn't make us complacent – the Environment Agency, together with the water industry, are going to provide me with an update on water supplies and they are also going to review their drought plans." She said she had arranged a further meeting of those who get their water from rivers to find steps they can take to make the water go further, and Natural England was working with conservation groups to reduce the impact of a long, dry spell on wildlife. "The actions agreed at the meeting today are the first steps we're taking to protect the country from a potential drought, and the group will meet again next month if there has not been a change in the situation. "But we should remember that we can all play our part in using our valuable water resources wisely," she added. | ['environment/drought', 'environment/water', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'uk/uk', 'type/article'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2011-05-16T17:13:33Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2023/jan/18/chile-rejects-dominga-iron-copper-mine-planned-near-penguin-reserve | Chile rejects $2.5bn iron and copper mine planned near penguin reserve | Chile’s government has rejected a controversial $2.5bn iron and copper mining project proposed in an important area for biodiversity and marine life. The Dominga project, 70km north of the city of La Serena, would have seen an open-pit mine, processing and desalination plants, as well as a large port, installed just 30km from a famed Humboldt penguin reserve. “Unanimously, the ministerial committee decided to accept the 12 objections raised, [and] as such, is left with an unfavourable impression of the Dominga mine and port project,” announced Chile’s environment minister, Maisa Rojas, on Wednesday. The committee found that the plan included insufficient efforts to mitigate the impact on nearby marine and nature reserves, which are home to bottlenose dolphins, several species of whale and the Humboldt penguin. Since its conception, the Dominga project has been a flashpoint for environmental and political concerns. It failed an environmental assessment in 2017, prompting the resignation of three ministers within the former president Michelle Bachelet’s government. In 2021, the Pandora Papers leak revealed that then president Sebastián Piñera’s family and his associates were 56% majority stakeholders in the Dominga project. It also uncovered evidence to suggest irregularities in the 2010 deal by which billionaire businessman Piñera’s family sold its stake in the project to close friend and business partner, Carlos Alberto Délano. The leak suggested that a third installment of the payment contained a clause requiring the government not to strengthen environmental protections in the proposed area for the mine – although Piñera’s government eventually did so anyway. In November 2021, Piñera narrowly survived a senate impeachment vote prompted by the allegations. Piñera, whose fortune amounts to $2.5bn according to Forbes magazine, rejected the accusations and argued that no irregularities had been found in the deal. On Wednesday, protesters for and against the project braved the heat in Santiago, Chile’s capital, to demonstrate outside the environment ministry with banners and placards. The announcement of the decision – fulfilling an election pledge made by Piñera’s successor, Gabriel Boric – was greeted by cheers. But the mayor of a town close to the project proposed site said: “When are we going to talk about people and stop talking about little fish and birds?” | ['world/chile', 'world/world', 'news/pandora-papers', 'world/americas', 'environment/mining', 'business/mining', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/john-bartlett', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2023-01-18T17:49:10Z | true | ENERGY |
science/article/2024/aug/21/plantwatch-why-fig-trees-emblem-sheffield-industrial-past | Plantwatch: Why fig trees are an emblem of Sheffield’s industrial past | On the banks of the River Don in Sheffield, within sight of the vast Meadowhall shopping centre, grow some highly exotic specimens – wild Mediterranean fig trees. In the days of heavy industry, fig biscuits were a favourite local delicacy. After they were eaten, the fig seeds passed through people’s digestive systems and ended up discharged as sewage into streams and rivers. When Sheffield was the centre of a great steel-making industry on the banks of the Don, the factories used its water to cool the hot metal and then dumped the waste warm water back into the river. For the fig seeds, this would have seemed like being back in the Mediterranean, and they germinated and thrived in the warm waters. The trees grew into quite large specimens bearing fruit, and some of those trees are now thought to be over 70 years old. And so the wild fig trees of Sheffield became an emblem of the city’s industrial heritage, and after a campaign by local people including botanists and ecologists at the University of Sheffield, the figs were given protected species status, making them the only protected alien plant species in Britain. | ['science/series/plantwatch', 'environment/forests', 'uk/sheffield', 'environment/plants', 'environment/environment', 'culture/heritage', 'uk-news/south-yorkshire', 'uk-news/yorkshire', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/paulsimons', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-08-21T05:00:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
music/2019/jul/03/youre-never-too-old-to-go-to-glastonbury | You’re never too old to go to Glastonbury | Letters | Those who write from their comfy chairs (Letters, 3 July) to criticise the overall positive effect Glastonbury festival has had for 49 years should explore coming as a volunteer. WaterAid, Oxfam and Greenpeace are where to start. Stewarding to raise funds for one of the numerous smaller charities, which I have done for six years, is an option. Like other festivals, Glastonbury is not the province of the privileged. Many come from every background imaginable. They have saved for the opportunity to experience not just the music but the spontaneous friendship and vast range of alternative activities for all ages – children come free! This atmosphere cannot be delivered by television. Obviously the complete absence of single-use plastic water bottles, 1 million fewer, escaped the attention of eager critics, and I can reassure Judy Gahagan that the cows have a nice holiday and the other inhabitants of Worthy Farm rapidly reclaim their rural habitat, including the Eavis family. Andrew Wilkinson Oxford • Re Pam Fraser’s regret (Letters, 3 July). My wife and I started going to Glastonbury when we were 60. We’ve gone every year since, and plan on continuing to go. At 70 this year, we were among the older attendees, but not the oldest. Don’t regret not going, Pam – go next year! You’ll enjoy it. Mike and Helen Harper Catterick, North Yorkshire • I, like Pam Fraser, also regret (at the age of 66) that I’ve never been to Glastonbury. But I did go to the Weeley festival in 1971 – the only time it took place. It was organised by the local Round Table as a charity fundraising event. They had planned for about 5,000 people, but nearer 110,000 attended as the Isle of Wight festival didn’t happen that year. It was three days of non-stop music, day and night, with the most wonderful weather – which was a blessing as my friend and I had only black bin bags to sleep in! An amazing experience. Karen Braddon Cumbria • 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 | ['music/glastonbury-2019', 'culture/festivals', 'music/glastonbury', 'music/music', 'environment/greenpeace', 'environment/activism', 'environment/environment', 'world/oxfam', 'world/world', 'society/older-people', 'society/society', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/greenpeace | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-07-03T17:18:08Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/article/2024/aug/07/australia-sea-lions-cameras-ocean-floor | ‘Best slow TV ever’: scientists mount cameras on endangered sea lions to map Australia’s ocean floor | The Australian sea lions glide and dart through underwater tunnels, over seagrass beds and rocky reefs, searching for a meal and dancing with dolphins around a giant bait ball of fish – all the action captured by a camera stuck on their back. “I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.” The Australian sea lion is in trouble. They were hunted until the early 20th century. Commercial fishing nets and pots have proved to be a more modern threat. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Numbers have crashed by 60% in the past 40 years, leaving only about 10,000 of them mostly spread thinly across 80 breeding sites along Australia’s south and west coastline. Goldsworthy’s “slow TV” is the result of new efforts to employ the sea lions to map the ocean floor – and their own habitats – by sticking cameras with satellite tracking to their backs. So far, eight females from two seal colonies have filmed almost 90 hours of footage across more than 500km, helping scientists to map 5,000 sq km of habitat. The sea lions have mapped rocky reefs and seagrass meadows along the continental shelf, and shown humans the places that are important to them. With that information, conservationists will have much clearer ideas on how to protect the country’s only endemic seal. Goldsworthy, of the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), has been studying the fast-disappearing marine mammal for 25 years. But he says the cameras are a gamechanger. “Information has been so elusive, because they’re feeding at the bottom of the sea,” he said. “Now we get this amazing, exquisite detail. They’re giving us a window into their world that we haven’t had before. “Just like humans know our streets, the sea lions know the sea bed in intimate detail for hundreds of kilometres and they build up this knowledge over time. They have a mental map of their environment and they are leading you to places of profound significance for them.” Mapping and understanding the seabed habitat is an expensive and laborious business, often done by towing cameras behind boats, or by leaving baited cameras underwater. The sea lions are faster, cover more ground, are untroubled by the weather and do the work for free. So far, sea lions from colonies at Olive Island and Seal Bay in South Australia have been doing the work. Nathan Angelakis, a PhD student at the University of Adelaide and SADI, said the video was mapping critical habitats as well as previously unexplored areas of the seabed. He said: “We deployed the instruments on adult females so we could recover the equipment a few days later when they returned to land to nurse their pups.” To trial the cameras, scientists first had to attach them. After darting the sea lion with a sedative, researchers gave them a short-acting anaesthetic through a breathing mask while they stuck the camera on to a piece of fabric, which was then stuck with resin on to the sea lion’s fur. The fabric is left on the fur, to fall off at the next moult. One revelation from the footage, Goldsworthy said, came when one mum took her pup out to hunt while she had a camera attached. The female was showing the pup where to go and how to hunt. The team has also discovered that individual animals have different tastes – some like to eat lots of cod, others go for octopus, sting rays or cuttlefish, while others dig out prey by rolling over rocks with their noses and flippers. A study outlining the sea lions’ camera work, funded by the Australian government’s National Environmental Science Program and the Ecological Society of Australia, was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. | ['environment/marine-life', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-08-07T04:14:38Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2014/sep/12/japanese-newspaper-apologises-fukushima-sex-slave-errors-asahi-shimbun | Japanese newspaper apologises over Fukushima and sex slave errors | One of Japan's leading newspapers has been forced into a climbdown over serious errors in articles about two of the most contentious issues in the country: the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the use of wartime sex slaves. Executives at the Asahi Shimbun, a left-leaning daily whose morning edition has a circulation of 7.6m, said the newspaper's executive editor, Nobuyuki Sugiura, would be dismissed and other staff severely punished. The newspaper retracted a 20 May article in which it claimed that about 650 Tepco workers at Fukushima Daiichi, 90% of staff, had defied an order by the plant's then manager, Masao Yoshida, to stay and make a last-ditch effort to regain control of the reactors in the days after the earthquake and tsunami hit in 2011. The article, citing leaked testimony from Yoshida, claimed that the workers fled to the nearby Fukushima Daini nuclear facility three days into the crisis, as the pressure and temperature inside one of the damaged reactors reached dangerous levels. But Yoshida's testimony before the government panel, which was released this week, contradicts the paper's claim. He said that although he had not asked workers to evacuate to Fukushima Daini, he thought it had been "perfectly reasonable" for them to go to the site, 6 miles (10km) away. The Asahi's president, Tadakazu Kimura, told a packed press conference that an internal investigation had found the article to be incorrect. "We have caused significant damage to the trust our readers place in us," he said. Kimura, who said he would decide on his own future at the paper at a later date, attributed the error to the reporters' "mistaken assumptions and insufficient checking. I offer profound apologies to our readers and people at Tokyo Electric Power." Yoshida died of throat cancer last year, aged 58. Doctors said his illness had not been caused by exposure to radiation. In his testimony, given over several months from July 2011 and running to 400 pages, Yoshida said that although non-essential workers were encouraged to go home, he and other Tepco officials at the plant had always intended to retain a skeleton staff to tackle the crisis. That version appeared to be challenged in testimony given by the government's spokesman at the time, Yukio Edano, who told the same panel that Tepco's then president, Masataka Shimizu, had called him and mentioned a possible withdrawal. "I don't clearly remember [his] exact words … but I'm sure it was about a complete withdrawal," Edano said, according to a translation by Kyodo. Yoshida was scathing about senior Tepco executives and politicians, whom he accused of failing to grasp the gravity of the situation and of causing confusion. The Asahi's claims about fleeing Tepco workers were repeated by the international media. Other Japanese newspapers claimed their interpretation of Yoshida's leaked comments on the evacuation differed significantly from those of the Asahi. The Asahi recently admitted that articles it ran in the 1980s and 90s on the diplomatically explosive subject of Japan's use of sex slaves before and during the second world war were also false. The articles were based on the testimony of Seiji Yoshida, a former soldier who claimed he had witnessed women from the South Korean island of Jeju being abducted to work as sex slaves in military brothels. Seiji Yoshida, who died in 2000, has been discredited by independent investigations by academics and other newspapers. Despite issuing a retraction earlier this summer, the Asahi came under pressure to issue a public apology. "I apologise to readers for publishing the erroneous articles and being too late in making the correction," Kimura said on Friday. While Seiji Yoshida's false testimony does not in itself disprove the existence of tens of thousands of mainly Korean wartime sex slaves, the Asahi's errors have encouraged historical revisionists who insist the women were not forced to work in frontline brothels. The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who has voiced doubts that the women were coerced, said erroneous reporting of the issue had "caused agony to many people and damaged Japan's international reputation". Speaking on a radio programme, Abe added: "Generally speaking, media reports have significant influence inside and outside the country and sometimes dishonour our country." | ['world/japan', 'world/asia-pacific', 'world/world', 'media/newspapers', 'media/pressandpublishing', 'media/media', 'tone/news', 'environment/fukushima', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'environment/environment', 'world/secondworldwar', 'type/article', 'profile/justinmccurry'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2014-09-12T13:51:41Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2005/sep/04/hurricanekatrina.usa8 | Black fury at Bush over rescue delay | Civil rights leaders, church officials and rap stars have united in ferocious criticism of President George Bush's attitude towards the tens of thousands of black people still trying to escape the hell of New Orleans. An overwhelming majority of the refugees are African-Americans, who make up 67 per cent of the city's half-million population, and some are questioning whether the government's response would have been quicker had the catastrophe struck a white community. The Reverend Calvin Butts, president of New York City's Council of Churches, writes in today's Observer: 'If this hurricane had struck a white middle-class neighbourhood in the north-east or the south-west, his response would have been a lot stronger.' In an extraordinary outburst during a live television fundraising concert broadcast on America's NBC network, the rapper Kanye West said: 'Bush doesn't care about black people. It's been five days [waiting for help] because most of the people are black. America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. We already realised a lot of the people that could help are at war right now.' The episode was further proof of growing anger within the black community and a belief that race was a factor in the days of delay before troops and emergency supplies began to arrive. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, said he saw 'a historical indifference to the pain of poor people and black people' in the US and said it was poignant that blacks were suffering in New Orleans, for many years the south's biggest slave-trade port. 'Today I saw 5,000 African-Americans on Highway 10, desperate, perishing, dehydrating, babies crying - it looked like the hold of a slave ship. It's so ugly and obvious. The issue of race as a factor will not go away.' It was always likely that a controversy would emerge over the racial make-up of the survivors. Almost a third of blacks in New Orleans live below the poverty line and many simply did not have the means to heed mayor Ray Nagin's mandatory evacuation order before the storm hit, while most in the more affluent white community were able to escape. Nagin, who is black, was criticised for not mobilising buses for those who lacked transport, but Jackson said the blame lay elsewhere. 'The mayor of New Orleans did not cut the budget on building a stronger levee to protect the city from a flood in the event of a storm,' he said. | ['world/world', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'world/natural-disasters', 'profile/richardluscombe'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-09-04T00:27:43Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
media/2006/dec/07/marketingandpr | Mastercard wins World Cup sponsorship court case | Mastercard has won a US court battle challenging Fifa's £150m deal to switch sponsorship of the World Cup to rival credit card company Visa. Football's governing body was sued by Mastercard in April, with the credit card firm arguing that Fifa had signed its deal with Visa for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups even though Mastercard had first right of refusal as an existing sponsor in that category. US federal judge Loretta Preska today ruled in Mastercard's favour in a move that could see Visa's deal annulled. Fifa immediately issued a statement saying it is "dismayed by the decision" of the US federal court in New York, which "upheld MasterCard's complaint regarding the granting of the financial services category sponsorship package". The football governing body intends to appeal the decision and "fully expects to prevail". "Fifa remains convinced that at all times it acted in good faith and it will therefore continue to vigorously pursue its case," Fifa said in its statement. "Furthermore, Fifa notes that the Zurich arbitration tribunal is competent to hear this dispute, and Fifa awaits the outcome of this proceeding." Visa swooped in early April, signing a shock sponsorship deal with Fifa for the next two World Cups estimated at £150m that broke a long-standing relationship the football body had with Mastercard. The eight-year deal was for a top-tier partner sponsorship for Visa under Fifa's revised structure that slimmed the number of primary sponsors from 15 to six, but charged each brand significantly more than previous deals. · To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332. · If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". | ['media/marketingandpr', 'media/media', 'media/worldcupthemedia', 'football/fifa', 'type/article'] | media/worldcupthemedia | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2006-12-07T11:21:05Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2013/jan/08/chris-christie-new-jersey-sandy | Chris Christie praises 'indomitable spirit' of New Jersey in wake of hurricane Sandy | Proclaiming New Jerseyans "among the toughest, grittiest and most generous citizens in America," governor Chris Christie on Tuesday called on the nation to reciprocate with additional hurricane Sandy aid. "We've waited 72 days, seven times longer than the victims of Katrina waited" for an aid package, Christie said in his state-of-the-state address at the capitol in Trenton. "One thing I think everyone understands is that New Jersey, Republicans and Democrats, will never stand silent when our citizens are being shortchanged." On Friday the House of Representatives passed a $9.7bn relief package to cover insurance claims by homeowners affected by Sandy, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Monday. The House is scheduled to take up a larger, $51bn aid package for New York and New Jersey when the legislature reconvenes on 15 January. Christie, who has seen his approval rating jump 20 points to 73% in the months since the 29 October storm, opened his annual address by singling out citizens sitting in the gallery whose heroic acts saved lives after Sandy hit. A nurse swam out of her flooded home, hitchhiked to the hospital where she worked and put in a 12-hour shift to help storm victims, Christie said. A couple put on wetsuits and jumped in a rowboat to rescue a parent. Then they went back to the area and saved more than 50 neighbors with their pets, he said. "I want to thank them for saving lives and making a difference," Christie said to loud applause. Hurricane Sandy ravaged the New Jersey coastline, killing at least 24 people in the state, washing away entire towns and leaving 41,000 residents without a home. Damage in the state has been estimated in the tens of billions. As he did in a pugnacious news conference last week after the House postponed voting on Sandy aid, Christie repeatedly called for a "quick and clean" aid bill "now, next week". "Some things are above politics," Christie said. "Sandy was and is one of those things." The governor faces re-election next year, and the whisper campaign behind a Christie presidential run in 2016 started well before the recent national election. At times, Christie sounded unmistakably like a candidate. "I stood at the spot where the Atlantic Ocean flowed into the bay, where route 35 once carried thousands of cars," he said of the Sandy aftermath. "Now, merely 10 weeks after our state's worst storm, you see a permanent route 35 already being rebuilt. That's what an effective government can do, that's what a determined people can do, and that's how we will lead New Jersey in the months and years ahead." Christie said "the indomitable spirit of this great state" would see New Jersey through. "There's plenty of evidence that New Jersey will not let [the storm] stop our turnaround," he said. | ['us-news/chris-christie', 'us-news/new-jersey', 'us-news/us-congress', 'us-news/hurricane-sandy', 'us-news/us-politics', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/tommccarthy'] | us-news/hurricane-sandy | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2013-01-08T20:39:31Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2008/jul/24/plasticbags.waste | Los Angeles to ban plastic bags by 2010 | Los Angeles yesterday became the second US city to end the use of plastic bags, although its ban would only take effect if the state of California does not follow through with plans to charge shoppers 25 cents for each bag. The city council unanimously approved a plastic bag ban that would take effect in 2010, shaking off an intense lobby campaign against the proposal by bag manufacturers. Los Angeles goes through more than 2bn plastic bags each year, only 5% of which are recycled, according to city estimates. The city's ban would impose a 25-cent fee for paper or biodegradable bags if shoppers do not bring their own, but council members said their plan would not be needed if the California legislature approves a pending plan to charge the same fee for plastic bag usage across the state. Supporters of the ban cited the comparatively high 21% recycling rate for paper bags in addition to the fossil fuels consumption and environmental damage wrought by plastic bag use. The ban also gained momentum after popular furniture chain Ikea imposed a 5-cent fee on US shoppers and saw plastic bag use plummet by 92%. The Los Angeles council also voted to end official city purchases of polystyrene containers for takeaway food, beginning next year. San Francisco, which uses less than half as many plastic carriers as Los Angeles, became the first American city to ban plastic bags last year. China unexpectedly followed suit in January by ending production of bags and barring shops from giving them away. Not every US city is embracing the idea of eco-friendly packaging, however. The Baltimore city council this week rejected a proposed ban on plastic bags at stores with annual revenues above $500,000 (£251,000), despite the endorsement of the mayor. Bangladesh was the first nation to ban plastic bags in 2002 amid rising worries that disposed bags were blocking drains during the monsoon season. | ['environment/waste', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'us-news/los-angeles', 'type/article', 'profile/elanaschor'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2008-07-24T13:48:34Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2018/oct/16/uk-restaurants-and-cafes-bin-320m-fresh-meals-a-year-data-shows | UK restaurants and cafes bin 320m fresh meals a year, data shows | Almost 900,000 perfectly edible, freshly prepared meals end up in the bin in the UK every day, new figures reveal, because they haven’t been sold in time by restaurants and cafes. This means that more than 320m meals are thrown away by British food establishments every year – enough meals for everyone in the UK five times over, according to food waste app Too Good To Go. While consumers are increasingly aware of the food wasted in their homes and by supermarkets, waste by restaurants is still largely overlooked. Figures from the government’s food waste advisory body Wrap state that the problem costs UK businesses over £2.5m every week. The app – which allows users to “rescue” surplus meals at a discounted price – is calling on more food businesses and consumers to join forces to help cut waste. “No one leaves the lights on when they leave the house,” said Hayley Conick, UK managing director at Too Good To Go. “Yet, whether it’s in restaurants, food shops or our own homes, we don’t think twice about throwing away perfectly good food.” Separately, Britons are being urged to help cut their food waste at home by setting their fridges to a colder temperature to make fresh milk and other chilled foods last longer. The advice from campaign group Love Food Hate Waste comes as a new survey revealed that half the UK population do not realise that their fridge should be set at below 5C to maximise its efficiency. According to official figures from Wrap, £15bn worth of edible food is binned by UK households every year, with incorrect storage cited as a major cause of waste. That includes 290m litres of milk poured down the sink every day. In a fridge set at the right temperature, milk – the country’s third most wasted food product after bread and potatoes – and other fresh foods can last three days longer. | ['environment/food-waste', 'environment/waste', 'business/fooddrinks', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rebeccasmithers', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-10-16T12:02:12Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
world/2021/oct/14/fire-ravaged-greek-island-of-evia-hit-by-floods-and-mudslides | Fire-ravaged Greek island of Evia hit by floods and mudslides | Storms and heavy rain have laid bare the scale of the destruction wreaked by massive fires on the Greek island of Evia, with communities now having to deal with flooding and mudslides. After a summer of record temperatures igniting unprecedented wildfires across Greece, authorities in affected regions have now been put on the defensive as the nation is hit by a second bout of severe weather in less than a week. “We’ve already seen unusual amounts of rain in some parts of the country,” said Dr Kostas Lagouvardos, a research director at the National Observatory of Athens. “But from Thursday we expect this [new] weather system will create a very dangerous situation, especially in burned areas where the soil is already saturated and streams are overflowing.” An estimated 300,000 acres of forest and bushland were incinerated in Greece over the summer amid temperatures that hit 47.1C, the highest on record. More than a third of the devastated area was in northern Evia, according to the national observatory. In recent weeks communities have been in a race to construct flood barriers to compensate for lost forest cover, with authorities clearing riverbeds and people piling sandbags around their homes. However, for many the storms have already been calamitous: more than 200 houses were damaged at the weekend as heavy rain and widespread flooding made roads impassable, sending mudslides cascading down mountains now devoid of vegetation into the sea. “The situation is dramatic. A mountain of mud has been removed from the village,” said Giorgos Tsapourniotis, the mayor of Mantoudi, likening the scenes to a biblical catastrophe. “We have hundreds of calls to pump out water from homes.” By Thursday as the storms reached Athens, ripping masonry from the Greek parliament and in some cases forcing children to be evacuated from schools, the weather service had issued a red alert warning people to avoid any unnecessary movement. Heavily forested areas north of the capital were also decimated by wildfires in August. “What we are witnessing is the loss of critical ecosystem services that forests provide,” said Demetres Karavellas, who heads WWF Greece, noting that the Evia wildfire was the biggest ever recorded in Greece. “The natural ability of the soil to withhold water, to act as a flood control mechanism, has been destroyed across a massive area.” The Mediterranean has been singled out as a wildfire hotspot, with forest fires erupting from France to Turkey over the summer. Scientists agree that the climate crisis is partly to blame for creating the conditions that make forests more vulnerable and floods easier. With temperatures hotter than they had been for 30 years, bone-dry terrain had been transformed into a tinderbox fuelling hundreds of fires “in every corner of the country”, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said at the time. Without assistance from more than 20 countries deploying firefighters and water-dropping planes, emergency services would not have been able to cope. Karavellas said there was “a sense of deja vu” with fires of ever-growing ferocity being recorded because of poor forest management policies and lack of follow-up after the blazes. “The key issue here is prevention. We have to stop such fires happening in the first place by moving from a paradigm of suppression to prevention with whatever that entails,” he said. “If we were ill-prepared in the past, there is no excuse now.” | ['world/greece', 'world/wildfires', 'environment/flooding', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'world/europe-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helenasmith', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-10-14T12:34:24Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2012/jan/12/green-energy-investment-increases | Green energy investment soars to $260bn | Global investment in clean energy reached a new high of $260bn (£169bn) last year – despite the financial crisis and the anti-environment agenda of Republicans in the US Congress, a United Nations investors' summit was told on Thursday. Data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which tracks clean energy investment, showed a 5% increase compared with 2010, driven largely by a surge of money going to the solar industry. Investment in solar power rose 36% last year to $136.6bn. And while the US domestic political scene was riven by the furore over a $535m government loan to the now bankrupt solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra, there was apparently little immediate direct fallout for industry. The US made $56bn in clean energy investment last year, overtaking China, which invested $47.4bn. It is the first time since 2008 that the US has invested more. The surge reflected the phasing out of Barack Obama's economic recovery plan, which set aside as much as $80bn for the green economy, once investment in high-speed railways is factored in. "The stimulus went out with a bang," said Ethan Zindler, head of policy analysis for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The analysis was presented to 500 global investors meeting at the UN to try to mobilise the large-scale funds needed to address climate change. The $260bn figure includes investment in renewables, biofuels and smart technologies. It does not include natural gas, nuclear energy or clean coal. The summit, organised by the Ceres sustainable business group, was also aimed at giving momentum to the Rio sustainability summit, to be held in June. A separate analysis by Deutsche Bank's climate change advisors' group, which used a narrower definition of global investment in clean energy and energy efficiency, found an even more striking rise to $140bn in the first nine months of last year from $103bn over the equivalent period in 2010. Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Asset Management, said: "Investors really have no excuse any longer for dealing with climate risk because it's going mainstream." But there were also big losers in the clean energy world last year. Investment in wind fell 17% to $74.9bn. Meanwhile, manufacturers of wind turbines and solar panels are being squeezed by a drop in the price of raw materials and oversupply. The same pressures led to the downfall of Solyndra, which collapsed after receiving half a billion dollars under Barack Obama's recovery plan. Republicans used the company's collapse to try to discredit Obama's entire clean energy agenda. But while those at the meeting dismissed the Republican charges as "smoke and mirrors", they acknowledged the difficulties for clean energy manufacturing. In an another such example, Vesta Wind Systems, the world's biggest turbine maker, said on Thursday that it was halting production at one factory and cutting 2,335 jobs, or about 10% of its staff, to try to compete with Chinese manufacturers. The company said another 1,600 jobs in the US were at risk as tax credits supporting the industry expire at the year's end. That phasing out of economic recovery plans around the world could also affect prospects for 2012, Zindler said. "Most of those dollars have now been spent," he said. "What that means is that next year industry will have to be more competitive and more cost-effective without government support." But he said the "vast majority" of the $260bn figure was private funds. And – despite the political climate — there remained growing demand in America for renewable power, with 29 states in the US requiring utilities to generate a share of their electricity form wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. Analysts believe those mandates will create a demand for as much as $400bn in new construction of renewable power plants – a process under way despite the harsh Republican rhetoric against the shift to clean energy. "This is about building stuff. This is about infrastructure," said one analyst. There is also strong interest in clean energy from developing countries, with emerging economies such as India and Brazil needing more power. "They need more power generation and they don't necessarily want that to be coal," said Zindler. | ['environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2012-01-12T20:10:00Z | true | ENERGY |
australia-news/2021/dec/19/soil-carbon-sequestration-on-farms-alone-wont-absolve-our-daily-emission-sins | Soil carbon sequestration on farms alone won’t absolve our daily emission sins | Soil carbon sequestration is front and centre in the government’s plan to combat global warming, and it makes political sense, because politicians have a dilemma. Voters and big business want climate change action. But on the eve of an election, it’s a game politician who tells the voters to fly less, drive less, use less internet, watch less television, waste less food and turn the lights off. Nor is it popular to slam shut the coal industry in places like New South Wales and Queensland, or impose enormous regulatory costs on publicly owned companies whose investors vote. It’s less politically risky to expect the farming community to deliver this wishlist of climate change mitigation and clean and green food. After all, farmers are only 2% of the population but occupy 55% of the Australian land mass. Never mind that it’s a tough ask and a vulnerable position to be in with 98% of voters riding on your future. With the emphasis on carbon sequestration, big business can buy carbon credits and tick that off the risk register. Green consumers can clear their conscience and sleep better at night by ordering carbon “neutral” produce. But there are three problems with that scenario. The first and biggest problem is technical. Our soils can only accumulate so much carbon. Not all soils are equal and not all farming systems can store carbon at the same rate. In Victoria alone, soils range from sands with soil organic carbon (SOC) of about 0.5% to deep clays with SOC in the range of 1 to 2% or greater. Across the country, the bulk of our rainfed soils managed as broadacre agriculture have a sequestration limit of less than 4%. Dairy pastures under irrigation have recorded SOC up to 14%, but these soils represent a tiny portion of the country. Soil carbon sequestration is governed firstly by soil type, secondly by rainfall and temperature, and finally by management techniques. Management systems that sequester high levels of carbon in one environment may not have the same effect elsewhere. Essentially, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. You can’t turn desert sand into peat moss. The second problem is commercial. Farmers and their communities need to feed themselves and remain profitable. The good news is that farming techniques that improve SOC also improve productivity and long term profitability. Maintaining soil cover, reducing tillage and growing good pastures and crops all contribute to building SOC. Around a quarter of farmers are returning double the average profit, so there is plenty of room to improve profitability across the country without compromising sustainability. Of course, there is more to be done, and the mainstream farming community has the will to do more. Farming communities don’t require convincing about global warming. Rainfall patterns have shifted, it’s hotter, frosts are more frequent at critical times, and the variability between seasons is like a rollercoaster. It’s as exhausting and confusing as it sounds. Farmers are becoming astute risk managers out of necessity. As for soil carbon payments contributing to farm profitability, gains from soil carbon payments of $400m across the industry by 2050 sound great. But they are a tiny proportion (0.3%) of total output conservatively modelled at $131bn by 2050 according to the University of Western Australia economist David Pannell. The third problem is the human aspect. Farming is an uncertain game and uncertainty is hard on the head and the heart. On top of trying to make money, stay well and leave a legacy for the next generation, farmers are expected to store carbon so politicians, directors, shareholders and consumers can sleep better at night. An extra 0.3% in carbon payments doesn’t seem like much when one has to wait 25 years to get the benefit, if in fact there is a benefit after all. These contracts are not enticing for farmers when soil carbon is hard to gain and easy to lose. The prospect of signing up for 25 years – when the starting point is hard to measure, and the climate conditions that largely determine the outcome are completely unknown – seems like a risky bet. That doesn’t mean farmers are ignoring the challenge. The innovators are already tracking their greenhouse gas consumption and aiming for net zero emissions, but it’s not a simple task. The reality of soil carbon is that it is highly variable, hard to measure, hard to shift and easy to lose. Agriculture is in the political hot seat this election. This time, it’s not what the government and society needs to do for farming; it’s what farming is expected to do for society. The bottom line is, out in the landscapes beyond back yard veggie patches, farming communities can’t turn sand into compost. It’s time to get real about the expectations of carbon sequestration. Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter We need to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced in the first place, to really prevent global warming from being any greater than 1.5C. If we are to have any chance of winning the war against global warming, perhaps it’s time to look beyond the farmyards to reducing emissions in both the big industrial back yards and the suburban ones, as well as agriculture. Dr Kate Burke is an agricultural scientist with a PhD in agronomy and plant breeding, working as an agri-strategist in Echuca. Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community | ['australia-news/series/the-rural-network', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/soil', 'environment/environment', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/carbon-offset-projects', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'australia-news/series/rural-network', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/the-rural-network'] | environment/carbon-offset-projects | EMISSIONS | 2021-12-18T19:00:06Z | true | EMISSIONS |
business/2023/jan/17/britishvolt-collapse-uk-electric-future | Where does the Britishvolt collapse leave UK’s dream of an electric future? | The battery startup Britishvolt eyed a big opportunity. With the looming UK ban on sales of internal combustion engine cars after 2035, big demand for batteries was guaranteed. The problem was actually building the batteries. The company’s efforts have now come to nothing. It collapsed into administration on Tuesday after funding talks failed, leaving a string of disappointed backers ranging from the FTSE 100 companies Glencore and Ashtead to the property investor Tritax, owned by investment group abrdn, which had committed to fund a battery “gigafactory” in Northumberland. Some of the investors are sanguine. Britishvolt – with no customers and no ready product – was always “something of a lottery ticket”, said one, who joined before the Guardian revealed a funding crunch that forced Britishvolt to put the project on “life support” last summer. The bigger investors have lost millions of pounds, but not enough to make a material impact on their balance sheets. It is the UK government that must now answer some big questions about the future of the British car industry. In January 2022 Boris Johnson hailed the “EV battery pioneer” for planning to create “thousands of jobs”. Less than a year later, Johnson is out of Downing Street, Britishvolt is bankrupt, and the future of the UK car industry is under serious threat. The British industry is painfully reliant on producing cars with petrol or diesel engines, but it still has a shot at retooling for the battery age. The one shining example is the Chinese-owned Envision AESC. It is working on a “gigafactory” in Sunderland, with 38 gigawatt hours (GWh) of annual output to supply the Japanese carmaker Nissan next door. Envision managers estimate that 100GWh would be enough to attract a full supply chain and its well-paid jobs to the UK. Britishvolt’s failure could give Tata group, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover, a stronger hand in negotiations over where it builds its battery factory. Tata Motors’ chief financial officer, P.B. Balaji, last week said the company would make batteries in Europe – a disconcertingly vague promise for UK officials desperate for more gigafactories. Others will be considering the Britishvolt site with interest: the Slovakian outfit InoBat, chaired by the ex-Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer, is deciding between sites in the UK and mainland Europe – and seeing what government support is on offer. There is still a chance for the UK industry to be part of the electric car revolution, but every failure to build a British gigafactory leaves it more exposed. | ['business/automotive-industry', 'environment/electric-cars', 'business/manufacturing-sector', 'environment/environment', 'technology/motoring', 'technology/technology', 'business/technology', 'technology/startups', 'business/business', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'uk/uk', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'type/article', 'tone/analysis', 'profile/jasper-jolly', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2023-01-17T16:39:29Z | true | EMISSIONS |
business/article/2024/may/16/m-and-s-teams-up-with-recycling-tech-group-to-trace-plastic-packaging | M&S teams up with recycling tech group to trace plastic packaging | Marks & Spencer is teaming up with a recycling technology group to enable the retailer to trace what happens to its drinks bottles, cartons and other plastic packaging. The Polytag system prints an invisible tag on to containers, which can be picked up by electronic readers located at recycling centres. Products featuring the tags will begin appearing on shelves in the next three months. Different aspects of the system have been tested with The Co-op, Aldi and Ocado, the online grocery specialist which has also invested in Polytag, but this will be the first full-scale use of the scheme. As part of the project, M&S will also fund the installation of two readers at recycling sites in Northern Ireland and Edmonton, north London, which will add to two existing sites on Teesside and one in north Wales. The Welsh government is also funding the installation of readers at a further three recycling centres in the country. In a year’s time, Polytag is aiming to have more than 12 sites that will account for half of all the single-use plastic household waste recycled in the UK, as it expects to sign up additional retailers who will fund the installation of further readers at recycling centres. It is hoping to increase that to 48 UK sites covering 95% of household waste recycling. The project launches as retailers prepare to pay new fees towards the disposal of plastic packaging next year under the government’s delayed extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime. Retailers are already bound to monitor and report the amount of packaging they sell and future fees are expected to be based on those measures. The retail industry has called for the money raised by the EPR scheme to go towards building better recycling infrastructure in the UK so that materials can be reused locally. Alice Rackley, the chief executive of Polytag, which is based in Deeside, near Chester, said the system would aid the sorting of plastic pots and bottles so that items that once contained food, which are worth more than those contaminated with household chemicals such as bleach, could be separated out more easily. “There is a massive single-use plastic crisis and we have got to start collecting data about it and to use that to try and sort it out,” Rackley said. She added that the ability to show items had been properly recycled might also be used by retailers as a way to demand lower EPR fees. The system will not be able to monitor what happens to products sent overseas or show how many items end up in landfill. However, Rackley said the scheme could be used to check that waste disposal partners were handling plastic in the correct manner. | ['business/marksspencer', 'business/packaging', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'environment/ethical-living', 'business/business', 'business/retail', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'environment/plastic', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sarahbutler', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-05-15T23:01:51Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2022/mar/24/wolverine-fish-with-secret-spikes-is-one-of-212-new-freshwater-species-found-aoe | Wolverine fish and blind eel among 212 new freshwater species | Scientists are celebrating 212 “new” freshwater fish species, including a blind eel found in the grounds of a school for blind children and a fish named Wolverine that is armed with a hidden weapons system. The New Species 2021 report, released by the conservation organisation Shoal, shows just how diverse and remarkable the world’s often undervalued freshwater species are, and suggests there is plenty more life still to be discovered in the world’s lakes, rivers and wetlands. “It’s fascinating that over 200 new freshwater fish species can be described in just a single year,” said Harmony Patricio, Shoal’s conservation programme manager. “You might see this level of new discovery for organisms like plants or insects, but not really for vertebrates. “It means there are still hundreds and hundreds more freshwater fish out there in the world that scientists don’t know about yet,” she said. “Also, many of the newly described species have pretty unique and unexpected traits.” One of those unexpected physical traits is the hidden weapons system of the Wolverine pleco (Hopliancistrus wolverine), which earned it an X-Men-inspired name. “This species has strong lateral curved spikes called odontodes tucked under the gill covers that can be extended to jab anything that tries to mess with them,” Patricio said. “Other related species in the same family, even those with big spines, aren’t known to demonstrate such behaviour. The researchers who described this species ended up with quite a few finger injuries while collecting specimens from the wild.” An average of four freshwater fish species a week were newly described last year. Other findings include the bright red Mumbai blind eel (Rakthamichthys mumba), which has no fins, scales or eyes, and was found at the bottom of a well in the grounds of a school for blind children; the tiny, translucent Danionella cerebrum, discovered in southern Myanmar and only slightly larger than a thumbnail; and the colourful Kijimuna and Bunagaya gobies (Lentipes kijimuna and Lentipes bunagaya) in southern Japan, named after woodland spirits in Okinawan folklore. Each of the 212 discoveries offers new possibilities for scientists to increase their understanding of freshwater species, including their anatomy, evolution and the connections between other creatures and their habitats. The male Danionella cerebrum, for example, has got researchers curious about its ability to make a drumming sound, most likely by tapping a thin strip of cartilage on its swim bladder, like a drumstick – a relatively complex and unusual form of communication for such a tiny creature. The same species has no roof to its skull – its brain cavity is covered only by a thin layer of skin – making it possible for scientists to study brain activity twinned with function without harming the fish. There are at least 18,267 species of freshwater fish, according to the standard reference book, Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes. But the overall freshwater picture is concerning. According to the World’s Forgotten Fishes report, which Shoal, WWF and other partners published in 2021, more than a third of freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction, despite their importance to biodiversity and as a food source to billions of people. “We know that 80 species of freshwater fish have gone extinct in modern times, while there are usually around 150-200 or more new species discovered in an average year,” said Patricio. “But population levels of many freshwater fish have declined massively over the past 50-plus years. “There’s a whole suite of factors that has led to their decline, but the primary causes are impacts from invasive species, pollution, overfishing and habitat loss and degradation.” More work is needed to protect lakes, rivers and other freshwater sources, and their inhabitants, including other numerous “new” species waiting to be discovered. Shoal hopes its inaugural new species report will raise awareness “about the freshwater biodiversity crisis we’re facing”, said Patricio, “so people realise freshwater fish are disappearing at twice the rate of marine or terrestrial species. “Hopefully,” she said, “they’ll be motivated to support conservation efforts and encourage their governments to do more.” 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/fish', 'environment/rivers', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'global-development/global-development', 'science/science', 'science/zoology', 'science/biology', 'world/mumbai', 'world/india', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'world/world', 'world/myanmar', 'world/japan', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/biodiversity', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graeme-green', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-03-24T09:00:53Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
money/2015/may/08/template-letter-pension-divest-fossil-fuels | Template letter to urge your pension fund to divest from fossil fuels | Copy and paste the below text into an email to send to your pension scheme trustee, or click on the link above for a printable version. Don’t forget to enter the name of the recipient at the top and sign your own name at the bottom. Dear I am concerned about the real threat posed by climate change, and believe it is morally and financially misguided to invest in companies dedicated to finding and burning more oil, gas and coal. As the trustee/investment manager of my pension fund, I would appreciate it if you could provide some answers and guidance on this issue. • How much of the pension fund is invested in companies involved in the extraction of fossil fuels? • What options, if any, do I have to ensure my pension fund money is not invested in fossil fuel companies? • If there are no current fossil fuel-free options, will you seek to offer members an option in future? I note that several organisations, such as FTSE and MSCI, already offer indices which exclude fossil fuels. • Will the pension scheme commit to moving our investments out of fossil fuels? I would like the fund to commit to divesting from the top 200 fossil fuel companies within five years and to immediately stop any new investments in those companies. I am concerned about the financial risks of investing in fossil fuel companies which are likely to be forced to leave their existing reserves in the ground. Indeed, I see that in recent years pension funds that have divested from fossil fuels have financially outperformed those that remain invested in fossil fuels. • If the pension fund will not commit to divestment, will it consider reducing the carbon exposure of the fund? • Are there any plans to increase investment by the pension fund to help facilitate a low carbon economy? I look forward to hearing from you. | ['money/pensions', 'money/occupational-pensions', 'environment/fossil-fuel-divestment', 'environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground', 'money/work-and-careers', 'money/money', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/business', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'type/article'] | environment/fossil-fuel-divestment | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2015-05-08T15:01:25Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2018/sep/20/air-pollution-sickens-us-in-a-car-addicted-society | Air pollution sickens us in a car-addicted society | Letters | Your report (School run is the ‘biggest polluter’ of air children breathe, 18 September) highlights the continuing failure of government to recognise the dangers of air pollution, specifically from diesel engines, and to take necessary action to limit the number of premature deaths. But the school run is only part of the problem facing infants, children and the wider population. Many schools are on what are now extremely busy roads; only a minority have had an air pollution survey; and because of austerity measures they seldom have the resources to take remedial action by acquiring air purifiers. School buses keep their diesel engines ticking over for half an hour or longer and legal restrictions are simply ignored by bus companies and the police. Ice-cream vans in public parks and holiday resorts are diesel-powered, but they keep their engines running all day, even when located near children’s playgrounds. The implications are worrying: key public health issues are not prioritised and there is only a limited willingness to impose legislation – for example, why are school buses, ice-cream vans and taxis not required to be electric-powered? The health consequences are unacceptable in terms of reduced life expectancy, but they are also class-specific, as many of the older schools were built in working-class areas, aggravating the widening health differential between the rich and the poor. Professor Robert Lee Birkenhead, Merseyside • Parents or grandparents appear to believe they are protecting children by taking them to school by car. But last year you reported that “A range of experiments, some as far back as 2001, have shown that drivers inside vehicles are exposed to far higher levels of air pollution than those walking or cycling along the same urban routes” (Children in cars ‘at far greater risk from fumes’ than walking, 13 June 2017). Your report quoted Prof Stephen Holgate as saying air pollution “is nine to 12 times higher inside the car than outside”. Why not organise a “walking bus”, if you live close to the school, or, if it’s too far, drive them part of the way towards it, park the car and walk with them to the school? Dr Wiebina Heesterman Birmingham • Each month brings new evidence of the health effects of exposure to particulates (High pollution levels ‘causing huge reduction in intelligence’, 28 August). Now even the womb is not safe (Toxic air may reach placentas, study finds, 17 September). Thirty years ago this month the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations brought a breath of fresh air to the UK workplace. But this COSHH has since become a blunt instrument; while environmental air quality standards become ever more stringent, occupational limits gather dust. Dusts in workplaces can differ from ambient environments, but it can’t be right that a worker can now legitimately breathe in levels within the workplace 100 times higher than is permissible on the pavement outside. The cognitive deficit from a lifetime’s occupational exposure to the UK limit for so-called “nuisance” dust could be equivalent to leaving school at age 13. All dusts that can reach the lung are now known to increase cancer risk, yet we cannot formally call them carcinogenic. By law the smokers’ shack is outside the factory, but breathing the dust inside the workplace may equate to a few passive fags’ worth every shift. The research is piling up, but while consumer powers advance, the rights of workers to fresh air appear to have bitten the dust. Dr Brian Gardner Glasgow • On your front page with a headline about toxic air reaching placentas there was also a trail for the G2 feature by David Sedaris on “The joy of city walks”. Shouldn’t there have been a health warning accompanying this? Bernard Lancaster Mansfield, Nottinghamshire • Jon Vidal is absolutely right in that substantially curbing car use in cities and towns will reduce air pollution (We have an air pollution crisis. It’s time to leave the car at home, 20 September). But although measures such as pedestrianisation will help, road pricing would have the greatest impact. Using modern tracking technology, pricing could be greater at times of greatest congestion and in areas of greatest pollution. Road tax could be reduced to a notional amount, with drivers paying more if they drive more. The resulting revenue could be used to support buses, trains, cycling etc. Mike Parker Chair, Don’t Choke Britain 1991-2001 • Leaving the car at home may well help reduce local air pollution, but could exacerbate another damaging impact of our car-dependent society – the paving over of front gardens to provide parking. Electric vehicles may even accelerate the growth in this trend if car ownership increases with decreasing fuel costs, and the front drive becomes a convenient charging point. Green spaces make our cities liveable and already at least a quarter of UK front gardens in England are completely paved over. Time to green our cities and promote walking, cycling and better public transport. Dr Ruth Gelletlie Leeds • When I wrote to both Sir Michael Wilshaw and Justine Greening MP in 2016 about air pollution wrecking health and reducing IQ, both Ofsted and the Department for Education replied that air pollution was outside their remit and a matter for Defra. No government department will get involved in an issue that’s within the remit of another, and unless and until teachers, school staff and parents push for a change in that archaic system and get some action on the air pollution crisis, teachers and others who manage to reach retirement age can look forward to worse health and earlier deaths. Are teaching unions awake to this issue? Michael Ryan Shrewsbury • 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 | ['environment/air-pollution', 'technology/motoring', 'environment/environment', 'environment/pollution', 'education/schools', 'education/education', 'society/mental-health', 'society/health', 'lifeandstyle/pregnancy', 'society/children', 'science/biology', 'world/road-transport', 'money/motoring', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-09-20T16:58:52Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/article/2024/jun/28/landfill-sites-across-england-could-be-leaking-harmful-toxic-ooze-warn-experts-forever-chemicals-pfas | Landfills across England could be leaking harmful toxic ooze, warn experts | Thousands of polluted landfills across England could be leaking toxic chemicals into the environment and harming people who live nearby, experts have warned. A few decades ago, the method for getting rid of industrial and domestic waste was to stick it in a hole in the ground, cover it up and hope for the best. It was known as “dilute and disperse” and it assumed toxic substances would seep into the surrounding soils, air and water and become harmless. There are more than 21,000 of these “historic” landfills across England, with contents that are largely unknown. A report in the British Medical Journal found that 80% of the British population lives within 2km of a functioning or closed landfill site. The location of historic landfills and current waste sites can be viewed on a new pollution map published by Watershed Investigations, along with thousands of other potentially polluting sites. The landfills are not distributed evenly; analysis of the government’s scrappy historic landfill database by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations reveals that the most deprived parts of the country contain five times more old landfills as a proportion of their area than more affluent places, and three times more operational waste sites. The forensic environmental scientist Dr David Megson, a contaminated-land expert, said he was “not surprised that many of these sites tend to be in less affluent areas. They are often left as a public open space, as a developer wouldn’t be able to obtain planning permission to build houses on them due to the high levels of chemical pollution. “Many back on to council estates and it’s not uncommon for children and teenagers to use these sites. These guys are not sticking to the paths and only using the sites occasionally, they are out there regularly exploring and digging in the dirt, I’ve even seen evidence of people lighting ground-gas monitoring boreholes on fire due to the high levels of methane present.” Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas and exposure to high levels of it can lead to mood changes, slurred speech, vision problems, memory loss, nausea, vomiting, facial flushing and headaches. In severe cases, it could affect breathing and heart rate, and cause balance problems, numbness, unconsciousness and even death. It is also known that landfills can leach a range of nasty substances into the environment, including banned toxic chemicals. Environment Agency data obtained by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations reveals that long-lasting toxic carcinogens known as “forever chemicals”, such as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have recently been found in the ooze, known as leachate, from dozens of old and existing landfills, along with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) flame retardants. In some cases the leachate is captured and treated, but this is not always the case. “PFAS is pretty much ubiquitous and found in all [the sampled] sites, BDEs also come up quite a bit,” said Megson. “These are of interest as they have been emerging pollutants over the last two decades, compared to more traditional pollutants – such as heavy metals, PCBs and dioxins – that we have known about for much longer. “Treatment procedures, if present at all at these sites, are not designed to deal with PFAS and BDEs. We’ve only been monitoring these pollutants recently, so there could be many large historic landfill sites that were deemed safe under previous investigations, but these investigations did not test for PFAS or BDEs – so they could actually be deemed contaminated land if we were to test them now.” The environmental scientist Dr Daniel Drage examined the data and noted that the “fact that we are seeing PFAS in landfills that haven’t received waste in 20 to 30 years, and are seeing the highest levels now, shows what a challenge we are facing in tackling the issue. Dealing with PFAS-contaminated waste over the next five to 10 years is going to be a multi-billion pound industry, and landfill simply isn’t an appropriate method for its disposal. There is plenty of evidence to show that PFAS will not remain in landfill, and much of it would end up re-entering the environment.” Particularly of concern are the thousands of landfill sites situated in flood zones and on the coast; flood water mobilises chemicals, and waves batter and erode landfills built on shorelines. Councils are supposed to be responsible for looking after old landfills if an owner cannot be identified. Responsibility shifts to the Environment Agency only when a site is considered to present a risk. But since the government withdrew the contaminated land fund in 2017, cash-strapped local authorities rarely have the resources to seek out or actively manage sites. A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We provide expert technical and regulatory support to local authorities to help them carry out their responsibilities for regulating contaminated land in England. Where contaminated land needs to be remediated, we work with partners to reduce unacceptable risks to human health and the environment.” Historic landfills and operating waste sites can be viewed on Watershed’s new pollution map | ['environment/landfill', 'environment/pfas', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'environment/pollution', 'society/health', 'uk-news/england', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment-agency', 'society/cancer', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rachel-salvidge', 'profile/leana-hosea', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-06-28T04:00:13Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2023/aug/17/electrical-union-wants-australias-net-zero-targets-boosted-by-substantial-investment-and-state-ownership | Electrical union wants Australia’s net zero targets boosted by ‘substantial’ investment and state ownership | Australia’s shift to net zero emissions should be accelerated by “substantial public investment” in renewable electricity including expanded state ownership, influential leftwing unions will argue at Labor’s national conference. The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) will use the party conference to call on the Albanese government to seize the “most significant economic opportunity since the Industrial Revolution” to drive down power prices for households and create secure, well-paid jobs for thousands of Australians. The amendment to Labor’s platform will be moved on Thursday morning by the ETU national secretary, Michael Wright, and seconded by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s (AMWU) Steve Murphy. It cites the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the European Union’s Green New Deal as evidence of “significant investments” that should spur Australia to greater investment in “cheap, clean, and abundant renewable energy resources”. Original drafting of the amendment suggested investment should be in the order of $152bn for manufacturing, renewables and electrification with a five fold increase in the National Reconstruction fund from $15bn to $76bn, however details of the size of increase were stripped from later versions. The unions point to Labor’s legislated target of 43% emissions reduction by 2030, based on renewables making up 82% of the electricity sector, as proof the government is already committed to ambitious action. But the conference motion comes as the Coalition argues that untested and costly alternatives including small-modular nuclear reactors could be a more feasible path to baseload power. The ETU amendment is set to be debated on Thursday during the economic chapter of Labor’s platform, which will also feature the construction union’s motion for a super profits tax to fund increased spending on housing, and the United Workers Union’s call to review stage-three tax cuts. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup A push from the Labor Environment Action Network to end native forest logging will be debated in the environmental chapter on Thursday afternoon. Senior Albanese government ministers are working behind the scenes to avoid motions hostile to Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarine acquisition, including from the Maritime Union of Australia and an AMWU Victoria motion to rethink the plan. It will be debated on Friday morning. A separate, potentially embarrassing motion would remove a positive reference to Aukus from the draft national platform, which states “our self-reliant defence policy will be enhanced by strong bilateral and multilateral defence relationships, including Aukus”. The Maritime Union of Australia national president, Christy Cain, told Guardian Australia the Aukus plan to spend $368bn on nuclear-powered submarines while saying more can’t be spent on housing is “the tail wagging the dog – it’s ridiculous”. Cain will also seek to remove a legislated Labor policy in the industrial relations debate on Friday afternoon. In November 2022, Labor passed legislation that means workers can only take protected industrial action after the compulsory Fair Work Commission conference. “It’s disgusting, it’s not Labor values,” Cain said. “Even the Liberals wouldn’t try that. A Labor government is making it harder for workers to win cost-of-living pay increases.” The ETU motion commits Labor to invest in the “rollout of renewable energy generation, transmission and electrification through a national reindustrialisation strategy” to respond to “unprecedented global supply chain shocks, Covid-19 and the pressing challenges of climate change”. It calls for the policy to be enacted through “tax credits or equivalent mechanisms to incentivise local manufacturing investment”, procurement policies that require minimum levels of local manufacturing and “expanded public ownership” of critical assets. “Labor acknowledges the need for significant regulatory reform to unlock the transmission capacity needed to support a grid built on renewables,” it says. Under the plan, infrastructure projects valued over $100m will be designated “strategic projects” requiring use of local content, while all government-funded projects will also require pay deals with unions as a pre-condition of tender. Ahead of the national conference, the industry minister, Ed Husic, said the government wanted to use the NRF to demonstrate Australia can manufacture renewables and low-emissions technologies “here onshore and deploy them quickly”. “The world has twigged that … it might be cheaper to manufacture something many thousands of kilometers away, but then you’ve got to ship it and the emissions benefit instantly evaporates [when] you think about the emissions impact of that transport,” Husic told Guardian Australia on Monday. Asked if the $15bn NRF will be big enough given the Inflation Reduction Act’s USD $369bn investment in energy security, the NRF’s chair, Martijn Wilder, said the investment comes in addition to other initiatives including the clean energy finance corporation, industry policy and “the venture capital ecosystem we have in Australia”. Husic said: “The challenge of the IRA is that you don’t lose your capacity, that is that firms don’t get lured offshore to do work in the US. “We want to signal this [decarbonisation] is really important to Australia. We’re lining up the support to make it happen.” | ['australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australian-trade-unions', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'australia-news/labor-party', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'world/aukus', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/paul-karp', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2023-08-16T15:00:51Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2021/may/02/cold-truths-about-vanishing-glaciers | Cold truths about vanishing glaciers | Brief letters | The series of articles last week about vanishing glaciers has been both fascinating and alarming. But Gaia Vince’s poetic piece (28 April), with its echoes of Nordic myths, was almost out of this world. Worth the subscription on its own. Jim Chrystie Warlingham, Surrey • At our worst, in the UK we had more than 800 cases of Covid per million. India has less than 300 cases per million, as far as official figures suggest. Its resources are not nearly as good as ours and its population is much larger, so of course the overall situation is far worse in terms of individuals affected and the ability of the hospitals to cope. But please use statistics in a way that helpfully informs readers. Frank Ribbons Aboyne, Aberdeenshire • It was delightful to read of Janet Mansfield’s arpeggio-singing blackbird (Letters, 29 April). We had one who imitated the squeaking of our gate to such perfection that we had to apply a little WD-40 (to the gate, not the bird). Ruth Guthrie Cockermouth, Cumbria • Is there any chance that, after the recess, the House of Commons could institute a half-hour session each week entitled “prime minister’s answers”? Geoff Williams Wolverhampton • Re Grace Jones’ greatest songs ranked (29 April), you missed out I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You). Something I’m always telling my wife. James Cassidy Norwich • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication. | ['environment/glaciers', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'environment/environment', 'environment/poles', 'environment/birds', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'politics/politics', 'music/music', 'world/india', 'music/grace-jones', 'politics/houseofcommons', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/poles | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-05-02T15:29:07Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2016/jan/19/dredging-proposed-kent-marine-conservation-zone-risk | Groups warn dredging will put proposed Kent marine conservation zone at risk | A stretch of sandbars and shoals off the Kent coast home to seals, famous for shipwrecks and proposed as a marine conservation zone is at risk from dredging, conservationists warn. Dover Harbour Board is considering dredging for sand and gravel from Goodwin Sands, which lies around six miles out from Deal, to expand cargo facilities and build a marina at Dover port. But groups including the Kent Wildlife Trust, Marine Conservation Society and British Divers Marine Life Rescue have all expressed their concern at the extraction, which could start as soon as August. Although the area has been dredged before for Dover port and Ramsgate up the coast, the amount of sand and gravel would be more than a third of the total amount extracted previously, between 1976 and 1998. Goodwin Sands has also been under consideration for the last five years as a marine conservation zone (MCZ), which nearly doubled in number in England over the weekend. An important site for grey and common seals to “haul out” on the sand to mate and rest, it provides foraging grounds for birds and the seabed is home to blue mussels and ross worm reefs. The worm is associated with a greater variety of marine life. If the shifting sands of the area are confirmed as an MCZ next year, as conservationists hope, any dredging would need to undertake additional assessments to those needed without the protection. Stephen Marsh, operations manager at the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, which rescues seal pups up and down the Kent coast, said he was concerned at the prospect of dredging at Goodwin Sands. “Common seals give birth to their pups out on the sandbanks; there are animals being born in July and possibly August. August is peak moulting time. The adults need to come out of the water then and spend as much time on the sand as possible. If they dredge at that time, that’s of concern.” Bryony Chapman, marine policy officer at the Kent Wildlife Trust, said although the area had been dredged before, the amount being proposed now was a large volume. “It’s still recovering from that previous dredging and we wouldn’t want it taken right back again. It’s an important site for seals. There are hundreds of seals that haul out there – it’s a significant number of animals.” She added that the trust had met with the port and hoped they would seriously consider alternatives. Dr Jean-Luc Solandt of the Marine Conservation Society said he was concerned at the impact dredging could have on species, and potential harm to the substrate they live on. But the port argues the area has been dredged before and would be capable of recovering. “Goodwin Sands is a dynamic, highly mobile system and therefore the marine communities impacted by dredging at this location would be expected to recover well following disturbance,” says a report on the proposed scope of an environmental impact assessment of the dredging, commissioned by the port. Conservationists said they were not opposed to the expansion of the port but the sand and gravel should be obtained from a less sensitive site. For its part, the port argues taking the material from Goodwin Sands is a good local option and obtaining materials from further afield would result in higher CO2 emissions and NOx pollution, as well as road congestion. A spokesman for the port said: “The Port of Dover is currently considering options, including Goodwin Sands, for sourcing aggregate for the approved Dover Western Docks Revival development, which includes a cargo and distribution centre, transformed waterfront, job opportunities for local people and greater space within the Eastern Docks for ferry traffic. “We are actively engaging with a wide range of conservation organisations and authorities prior to any decision being made. Goodwin Sands has been identified as a good source of aggregate by the Crown Estate. We are in the process of undertaking a thorough environmental impact assessment and have been consulting with consultees to ensure their concerns are fully taken into account.” The proposed dredging would take place over an 11.6 sq km area on the south part of the sands, in two phases, the first starting in August this year and ending in November 2017, and the second from March 2022 to August 2022. Goodwin Sands is a notoriously dangerous stretch of coastal waters, with thousands of shipwrecks thought to lie there. In the great storm of 1703, 90 vessels were believed to have sunk, including a notable warship, the Stirling Castle. | ['environment/marine-life', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-vaughan', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2016-01-19T23:53:31Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
culture/2022/oct/18/santos-to-end-darwin-festival-sponsorship-as-anti-fossil-fuel-backers-emerge | Santos to end Darwin festival sponsorship as anti-fossil fuel backers emerge | Santos has backed out of its sponsorship of Darwin festival, preempting a move by a cohort of philanthropists, artists and First Nations representatives, who were offering a $200,000 funding deal on the condition the festival cut ties with its fossil fuel partner. The deal was scheduled to be discussed at a meeting late on Tuesday, but earlier in the day, Jane Norman, Santos chief of staff and vice president of strategy, contacted the chair of the festival board, Ian Kew, to inform him the company would not be seeking to renew its sponsorship deal, which expires at the end of the year. The festival has declined to disclose how much the Santos sponsorship was worth. The Guardian has sought comment from the festival board, and it remains unclear if the $200,000 offer is still on the table. The meeting between the delegation and festival board still went ahead later on Tuesday. It included a representative from the five philanthropic organisations offering to put up the money: the McKinnon Family Foundation, the Graeme Wood Foundation, the Lenko Family Foundation, the Oranges & Sardines Foundation, and the Ethinvest Foundation. Anna Weekes, spokesperson for Fossil Free Arts NT, who also attended the meeting and only learnt of the Santos decision at that point, said afterwards: “The Darwin festival board is yet to commit to meeting the conditions on which the money is being offered and the foundations await response to their letter.” On 12 October the philanthropic coalition sent a letter to the festival board making the formal offer of $200,000 spread over two years, designed to allow the festival time to develop a “new, ethical, sponsorship framework which excludes fossil fuel companies”. This means the festival must also sever ties with Japanese oil company Impex to comply with the terms of the offer. It also included a proviso that the festival board gift the naming rights of its opening night concert in Darwin amphitheatre, currently rights held by Santos, to the Larrakia nation, the traditional owners of the greater Darwin region. Santos would not comment on its decision to cease its sponsorship deal, but provided the Guardian with a copy of the letter emailed to the festival board’s chairman earlier on Tuesday. “As we understand it, the board now have alternative sponsorship options for the Darwin festival, which had not been the case in previous years and as such Santos advises that it will not be seeking to renew or extend the sponsorship contract beyond the current terms,” the letter said. Fossil Free Arts NT described Santos’s decision to pull out as a “huge win” for traditional owners and local communities impacted by Santos projects. “[This is] a clear acknowledgement that its attempts to greenwash its gas projects no longer wash with artists, audiences or the wider community,” said Weekes in statement. “It’s now time for Darwin festival to show leadership and make a clear commitment to end all ties with fossil fuel money and develop an ethical sponsorship policy to avoid these controversies in the future and set an example that prioritises first nations culture, local communities and a safe climate in the territory. “It’s also time for a shake up of the current board which has allowed these risks to our festival to persist for so long, with more artists and cultural workers appointed to engage and listen to our communities and our sector.” Santos has been a major sponsor of the Northern Territory’s annual August arts festival for more than 20 years. Vocal opposition against the partnership was reignited in June, several months before this year’s festival. Since then, almost 300 artists and creative producers have signed an open letter calling for the termination of the Santos sponsorship, describing it as “artwashing” and calling for more ethical alternatives. Santos’s withdrawal comes amid renewed scrutiny over fossil fuel partnership with major events. Earlier this month, Perth festival announced it would cease its decades-long sponsorship deal with Chevron, after being subjected to similar grass roots pressure. On Tuesday, Netball Australia publicly stated it would address and resolve with “absolute priority” concerns raised by Noongar team member of the Diamonds, Donnell Wallam, after the organisation signed a multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with Gina Rinehart’s mining company Hancock Prospecting last month. | ['culture/series/australian-arts-in-focus', 'culture/festivals', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'culture/culture', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/darwin', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kelly-burke', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-culture'] | environment/fossil-fuels | EMISSIONS | 2022-10-18T15:49:50Z | true | EMISSIONS |
news/shortcuts/2018/apr/01/clean-breathing-price-on-fresh-air | The clean breathing craze proves that you can put a price on fresh air | First it was clean eating; now it’s clean breathing. Sales of air purifiers are soaring, with the global market expected to be worth £6.2bn by 2024. The trend is in response to the rise in asthma and allergies linked to poor air quality inside buildings. Research says it can be up to five times more polluted than air outside, with chemicals from cleaning products, aerosols and perfume rivalling diesel fumes as causes of contamination. Tech companies are racing to come up with ways to clean the air around us. The San Francisco startup behind Molekule, for example, promises its nanotechnology will “actually destroy” pollutants “at the molecular level”. Neither the $799 (£568) price tag nor an endorsement from Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle site Goop are putting buyers off. BetterAir’s Biodify, meanwhile, is the world’s first probiotic air purifier, using healthy bacteria known as Bacillus subtilis to create a “protective shield of microflora”. CEO Taly Dery says the company has seen a 50% growth in sales since the last quarter. But can tech really help? “There is no silver bullet because every home is different,” says Douglas Booker, CEO of NAQTS, a social enterprise seeking to improve awareness of indoor air quality through its monitoring technology. “But we spend 92% of our time indoors, so it’s important we’re aware of ways to reduce indoor air pollution, such as opening windows, using extractor fans when cooking and never smoking indoors,” he says. There is also evidence that plants can reduce levels of toxic compounds – some have been used to filter air inside the International Space Station. Freddie Blackett is founder of the online plant shop Patch. “Air purifiers are our biggest sellers of 2018, up 130% in the last six months,” he says. He recommends aloe vera, which can improve sleep, and Epipremnum aureum (AKA Ceylon creeper or Devil’s Ivy), which removes formaldehyde and benzene from the air. Not only do plants purify; they can also help boost productivity. So you’ll be able to worry more efficiently about all the things that are killing you. | ['news/shortcuts', 'tone/features', 'lifeandstyle/homes', 'environment/air-pollution', 'environment/environment', 'technology/silicon-valley', 'technology/technology', 'environment/plants', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'lifeandstyle/interiors', 'lifeandstyle/houseplants', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-04-01T11:00:16Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
sustainable-business/tracking-timber-new-technology-supply-chain | Tracking timber: could new technology help clean up the supply chain? | The prized tropical hardwood merbau was once found in abundance from east Africa to Tahiti. It is beloved of homebuilders and furniture stores around the Asia-Pacific region, but, thanks to decades of merciless logging, today only New Guinea holds enough to be harvested in commercial quantities. Verifying that merbau, which fetches about $2,500 a cubic metre on the open market, is genuinely sourced from sustainably forested areas, either in Papua New Guinea or West Papua in Indonesia, gives the conscientious buyer an almighty headache. But it is also proving a boon for wily technology companies. Tracking timber In 2007, Simmonds Lumber, a wholesaler based in Sydney, became the first company in the world to trial a new technology involving DNA sampling and testing. Developed by DoubleHelix, based in Singapore, and certification body Certisource, the technology involves checking wood fibres against the genetic code of trees known to exist in sustainably managed areas. As a business that imports more than 50 containers a month of merbau into the country, mainly from Indonesia, it was essential to ensure that the wood was coming from where its suppliers claimed, explains John Simon, chief executive at Simmonds Lumber. "The trickiest thing about importing from Indonesia is ensuring that the paperwork is correct and not, as we say in Australia, bodged up." And, at least according to Simon, the Double Helix DNA tracking system provides a higher standard of proof than that offered by either the Forest Stewardship Council or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, both of which he says focus on auditing company processes, not authenticating individual shipments. However, DNA testing is not the only tracking technology being employed by suppliers and customers keen to ensure that they are not felled by fraud perpetrated by sawmills, factories or traders. Companies such as Track Record and SGS have popped up in recent years to offer software, digital barcoding, radio frequency identification tags and even satellite tracking to corroborate timber batches. "Technology can play a real part in proving traceability," insists Karim Peer, chief executive of Helveta, a firm based in Oxford, which offers a "digital passport" for buyers and sellers. Helveta's verification system, used in countries such as Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, claims to track a product back to the forest where it began life as a sapling using barcode tags, which are then fixed to the product. The introduction of tough new legislation aimed at combatting the trade in illegally sourced timber – such as the 2008 amendments to the US Lacey Act, 2012 Illegal Logging Prohibition Act in Australia, and 2010 EU Timber Regulation – has helped increase the appeal of authentication technologies, Peer says. "The impetus for organisations in Europe and the US is that under the legislation, there are penalties that will be imposed if they don't comply," explains Peer. These penalties include criminal convictions, fines and even prison sentences – a sobering thought for a wholesaler or retailer who might have otherwise drawn comfort from their wilful ignorance of the supply chain. Tackling the fraudsters While new technologies may offer promise, neither the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) nor PEFC currently mandate that their members adopt them. According to Jonathan Geach, executive director of Double Helix, this leaves their chain-of-custody systems open to abuse, which he says act more like an "honour system" based on trust. The access to markets and suppliers that FSC or PEFC certification offers creates a "perverse incentive" for fraudsters to cheat the system, adds Geach. "FSC is very good at making sure that forests are well run, but, once a product gets out of a forest, you have myriad middle men and traders," Geach says. "Factories that sell certified products also sell uncertified products alongside. Now it doesn't take much imagination to see that they may be mixing and through that laundering." However, to accuse the FSC or PEFC of being blind to the opportunities presented by technology would be unfair. Phil Guillery, systems integrity director for FSC International, explains that his organisation is already embarking on a project with Historic Futures, another British IT firm, to develop an online claims platform to verify the certification status of FSC suppliers. "As the FSC has grown to cover almost every product from maple syrup to wood furniture – from the B&Qs and Ikeas of this world to small operations – [we have found that] the paper-based system we created needs to be modernised," Guillery says. DNA technology is under consideration, Guillery acknowledges, but he expresses reservations about its limitations. "At this point, the cost effectiveness and the science aren't quite there," he says. "You can't do testing on paper or lots of composite wood products because the DNA is generally removed. For some tropical species, there are many closely related relatives, which also makes it difficult." For all this focus on technology, there is a danger that companies may not see the wood for the trees, so to speak, at least when it comes to other important issues related to sustainable forest management. "I don't see how a DNA test will guarantee that workers in Malaysia or China or anywhere have their freedom of association or bargain rights honoured. I don't see how barcoding will guarantee that forest workers come home at night with the body parts that they left with in the morning," says Bill Street, chairman of PEFC's board of directors. "The goal, at least for PEFC, is that we put an end to deforestation and that requires focusing on a much larger picture than just technology." This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox. | ['sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/forests', 'guardian-professional/sustainability', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'sustainable-business/series/supply-chain', 'profile/will-henley'] | environment/deforestation | BIODIVERSITY | 2013-08-14T11:45:00Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
news/2011/may/28/gk-chesterton-weather | The stained glass world of a perfect sunset | After many frustrations, a belligerent Catholic and a trenchant atheist are seeking to settle their quarrel at sword point. An opportunity quite literally dawns on them. "The sunrise, which was broadening over the sea and shore, was one of those rare and splendid ones in which there seems to be no mist or doubt, and nothing but a universal clarification more and more complete. All the colours were transparent. It seemed like a triumphant prophecy of some perfect world where everything being innocent will be intelligible; a world where even our bodies, so to speak, may be as of burning glass," writes GK Chesterton in his 1909 entertainment The Ball and the Cross. "Such a world is fiercely figured in the coloured windows of Christian architecture. The sea that lay before them was like a pavement of emerald, bright and almost brittle; the sky against which its strict horizon hung was almost absolutely white, except that close to the sky line, lay strings of flaky cloud of so gleaming and gorgeous a red that they seemed cut out of some strange, blood-red celestial metal, of which the mere gold of this earth is but a drab yellow imitation. 'The hand of Heaven is still pointing' muttered the man of superstition to himself. 'And now it is a blood-red hand.'" The would-be duellists reach the sand. The sun beats down "and every bird that rose with that sunrise caught a light like a star upon it like the dove of the Holy Spirit." | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'tone/features', 'books/gk-chesterton', 'uk/weather', 'type/article', 'profile/timradford', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2011-05-27T23:07:17Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/2018/aug/27/weatherwatch-climate-change-raises-flood-risks-for-river-communities | Weatherwatch: climate change raises flood risks for river communities | Most of our oldest towns and cities are on rivers, often in the upper part of the estuary where ships could easily come in on the rising tide. They were founded in an era where boats were the easiest and sometimes the only form of long distance transport. Towns also developed at either end of important bridges. The risks of being on the river and being exposed to flooding or storm surges were outweighed by the economic advantages of having property on the waterfront. Apart from a handful of major ports, a lot of ancient towns now have all their goods supplied by road and see their rivers as much as a threat as an asset. As rainfall intensifies with climate change the potential devastation from floods leaves residents with two choices, move away from the river or build ever-larger flood defences. Recent research shows that in poorer countries where floods have swept through towns people have relocated to higher ground, abandoning their homes rather than face a repeat catastrophe. Richer countries, including Britain, have opted to build earth banks or concrete walls to protect real estate in towns from the rivers, effectively sealing off the waterways that were the original reason for their existence and wealth. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'uk/weather', 'environment/flooding', 'science/meteorology', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/rivers', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/paulbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-08-27T20:30:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2007/aug/21/naturaldisasters.weather | Hurricane Dean lashes Mexico | Hurricane Dean today struck Mexico and Belize after strengthening to category five - the strongest type of tropical storm. The first hurricane-force winds hit the Yucatán peninsula at around 2.30am (8.30am BST), the hurricane centre in Miami said. The eye of the storm reached land just over an hour later to the north of Chetumal, near Mexico's border with Belize. But Mexico so far appears to have escaped largely unscathed. After killing 13 people in the Caribbean, it made landfall in a sparsely populated coastline and skirted most of the major tourist resorts where 50,000 tourists had been evacuated. It weakened within hours to a category two storm, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. But Dean, which initially brought 165mph winds accompanied by 200mph gusts as it came ashore, was expected to strengthen again later today when it reaches the warm waters of the Bay of Campeche, at the southern end of the Gulf of Mexico. A hurricane watch was in force along the gulf coast of Mexico from the north of Veracruz to Tampico. There had been widespread warnings about the hurricane's arrival and authorities may have been helped by the hurricane striking land during the middle of the night. Radio stations in Mexico and Belize warned people not to venture out during the height of the storm. Callers to Belize's Love FM reported roofs blowing off in the gales and buildings shaking. Tourists fled the beaches of the Mayan Riviera and the Mexican state oil company, Petroleos de Mexico, said it had evacuated more than 18,000 workers in the southern Gulf of Mexico, which includes the giant Cantarell oilfield. Dean picked up strength after brushing Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Thousands of British tourists fled Mexican resorts and the Foreign Office advised against travel to the Yucatán and coastal Belize. Reports estimated there could be more than 5,000 Britons still in the Cancún area. Many of the resort's large hotels have recently improved their storm defences following the chaos caused by Hurricane Wilma two years ago. The Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) said 3,000 British tourists had been evacuated from Cancún. Many of those who stayed were moved by their hotel's management to the lower floors from where they hoped to sit out the storm. Instead Dean was bearing down on the Yucatán's most vulnerable population, the Mayan people, many of whom have seen little of the riches from oil or tourism and still live in traditional wooden slat huts on low-lying land. Meteorologists said a storm surge of four to six metres was possible at the storm's centre, which could push seawater deep inland. Heavy rains threatened to inundate the swampy region. Category five storms are rare: only three have hit the US since record-keeping began. The US hurricane centre said it was the first category five storm to make landfall in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Civil defence trucks roamed the darkened streets of Tulum, Mexico, overnight urging people to remain indoors, as heavy rain from the storm's outer bands began lashing the coast. The Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, said he would cut short a trip to Canada where he was meeting the US president, George Bush, and the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, and would travel today to affected areas. In Belize, the government evacuated the resorts of Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye, both popular with foreign tourists, and urged people to leave low-lying areas. It also ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew from Belize City to the Mexican border. Authorities evacuated Belize City's three hospitals and were moving high-risk patients inland to the nation's capital, Belmopan, founded after Hurricane Hattie devastated Belize City in 1961. The mayor, Zenaida Moya, urged residents to leave Belize City, saying it did not have shelters strong enough to withstand a storm of Dean's size. Central Mexico was next on the storm's path. The outer bands of the weather system were also expected to bring rain, flooding and gusty winds to south Texas. The worst storm to hit Latin America in modern times was 1998's Hurricane Mitch, which killed nearly 11,000 people and left more than 8,000 missing, mostly in Honduras and Nicaragua. | ['world/world', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/mexico', 'world/belize', 'world/americas', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'profile/jamessturcke'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2007-08-21T16:55:27Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2017/oct/10/coffee-shops-not-doing-enough-to-combat-huge-increase-in-wasted-cups | Coffee shops not doing enough to combat huge increase in waste cups | Coffee shops are not doing enough to deal with the billions of disposable cups that are thrown away in the UK each year, an influential committee of MPs has been told. The environment audit committee heard that the phenomenal growth of on-the-go coffee meant that 2.5bn disposable cups are thrown away annually in the UK, a number expected to rise to about 3bn by 2025. Only 1% are recycled. The committee’s chair, Mary Creagh, said this “massive increase” was having a damaging environmental impact and insisted it was time the big coffee chains did more to address the waste they produce. “These coffee shops have a big responsibility under the the producer responsibility obligations to provide proper recycling facilities and they are in breach of them.” The runaway popularity of coffee shops shows no sign of slowing down. There are currently about 20,000 outlets in the UK and the committee heard that figure is likely to increase to 30,000 by 2025. This would result in millions more coffee cups being thrown away each day. Although the majority of people believe that any disposable cups put into a recycling bin will be broken down and the material reused, the committee heard that is not the case. The plastic lining in cups means they cannot be recycled in normal depots and have to be put in special bins and sent to one of three dedicated recycling mills. The Green party MP Caroline Lucas said the key was to encourage the use of reusable cups. “It seems to be that [reusable cups] are the best solution if we can get to that and I know some coffee shops offer an incentive if people bring a reusable cup but uptake stands at only 2%.” The committee raised the possibility of banning the current disposable cups to encourage more easily recyclable alternatives or charging more to use them. These suggestions were opposed by a representative from Costa Coffee and the packaging industry who insisted they were working towards creating a system that would allow consumers to recycle the existing cups. The committee also heard from Martin Myerscough, the founder of Frugalpac, which claims to make fully recyclable coffee cups. “We decided it was the cup that was the problem not the recycling system,” said Myerscough. “So we have designed our cup so it can go in any bin and be recycled in any mill.” He said the company was just completing its first high-speed machine that would make fully recyclable cups at the same speed and for the same price as the existing ones. “It’s a completely scaleable solution. The cups are the same price, they look the same and they taste the same,” he told the committee. | ['environment/waste', 'environment/recycling', 'food/coffee', 'environment/ethical-living', 'food/fast-food', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'environment/plastic', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-10-11T10:49:28Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
world/2021/nov/09/mexico-arrest-businessman-nso-israeli-company-spyware | Fresh scrutiny for Mexico after arrest of suspect in NSO spyware case | Mexico’s use of spyware made by NSO Group is facing new scrutiny following the arrest of a businessman on allegations that he used the surveillance tool to spy on a journalist. The arrest of the businessman – who has not formally been named by Mexican prosecutors – comes months after a consortium of media outlets, including the Guardian, published a series of reports detailing how the phone numbers of thousands of Mexicans, including 50 people linked to the country’s current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, appeared on a leaked list of numbers selected by government clients of the Israeli spyware company for possible surveillance. Journalists, as well as lawyers, activists and prosecutors also appeared on the list. In the wake of the stories by the Pegasus project, Obrador called his predecessors’ alleged use of spyware “shameful” and said his own government would bar use of the surveillance tool. Mexican press freedom group Article 19 hailed the arrest, and expressed hopes it would lead to the identification of those responsible for the abuse of spyware in Mexico and around the world. “We hope this will be the first step towards unraveling the framework of the illegal and abusive use of a [spying] tool which infringes the most elemental principles of privacy, intimacy and fundamental rights,” the group said in a statement. The arrest marks the first legal action in the country against an individual accused of being linked to the alleged cyber-spying campaign. Media reports said the man was linked to a company that served as an intermediary between NSO and Mexican authorities. Mexico is known to have been one of NSO’s first clients. About 30 contracts were reportedly signed by the governments of President Felipe Calderón and President Enrique Peña Nieto between 2006 and 2018, though officials say some of the contracts appear to have been disguised as equipment purchases. Mexican authorities have said that the country has spent about $300m in government contracts to buy spyware in the past. Santiago Nieto, who head’s Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit, has said purchases of spyware appear in at least some cases to have included excess payments that may have been used to pay kickbacks to government officials payments. A spokesperson for NSO said: “As stated in the past, NSO’s technologies are only sold to vetted and approved government entities, and cannot be operated by private companies or individuals. We regret to see that, over and over again, the company’s name is mentioned in the media in events that has nothing to do with NSO, directly or indirectly.” The Israeli company has faced a barrage of bad news is recent days, from a decision by the Biden administration to place the company on a US blacklist, and a US appeals court ruling which rejected NSO’s “sovereign immunity” defence in a case brought by WhatsApp. The company has said its spyware – which can hack into phones and remotely control them – is used by its government clients to target terrorists and other serious criminals. It has said it investigates serious allegations of abuse and that the leaked list at the heart of the Pegasus project is not a list of the company’s clients’ targets. | ['world/mexico', 'world/surveillance', 'world/world', 'world/americas', 'world/israel', 'technology/hacking', 'technology/technology', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/stephanie-kirchgaessner', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | technology/hacking | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2021-11-09T18:26:33Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2014/dec/24/supertrawlers-to-be-banned-permanently-from-australian-waters | Supertrawlers to be banned permanently from Australian waters | Supertrawlers will be permanently banned from Australian waters, the federal government announced on Wednesday. The move follows the temporary bans on supertrawlers imposed by the Labor government two years ago and re-endorsed by Tony Abbott in March. The first ban expired in November and the second was up for review in April. The parliamentary secretary for agriculture, Richard Colbeck, said the government would stop vessels longer than 130m from fishing in Australian waters. This definition of supertrawler does not take into account the processing capacity of a vessel, which proponents of the ban say is just as critical as the size of the vessel. “This government will introduce regulations under the Fisheries Management Act to give effect to this decision,” Colbeck said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon. “This decision will have policy effect immediately.” Colbeck said the government “has consulted widely and accepts the legitimate concerns of many in the community, including those involved in recreational and commercial fishing”. “The government is determined that Australian fisheries management remain among the best in the world,” the statement said. Labor banned supertrawlers, or large freezer-factory vessels, after outcry from the public. The Stop the Supertrawler petition has nearly 63,000 signatures. “Supertrawlers are large freezer-factory fishing trawlers that threaten our unique marine life and fisheries, and the recreational fishing, commercial fishing and tourism industries that rely on these,” the petition said. “Supertrawlers are part of a global problem that has led to the devastation of the world’s fisheries, marine life and local livelihoods, and we don’t want that kind of fishing in Australia.” Abbott addressed the House of Representatives in March, saying: “The supertrawler was banned from Australian waters … it was banned with the support of members on this side of the house. It was banned. It will stay banned.” | ['environment/fishing', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/marine-life', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/shalailah-medhora'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2014-12-24T06:34:47Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
money/2008/oct/25/internet-phones-broadband-consumer-affairs | Number's up for your old mobile? Don't stash it in a drawer - cash it in | How many old mobile phone handsets have you got lurking unused in the back of drawers at home? Probably at least two, according to new research from price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, which next week launches a campaign to encourage people to help the environment, and possibly make a bit of cash, by recycling their old mobiles. As people regularly upgrade for the latest model, more than 1.5m handsets - many in working order - are thrown away each year because more than two-thirds of users fail to recycle them. "The average person has two old mobiles, increasing to an average of three for those under 20. That's a huge number lying around that could be put to good use through recycling," says James Parker, commercial manager of mobiles and broadband at the website. Hazardous components - especially lead, cadmium and mercury in the batteries - can pose a threat to the environment if they are discarded in landfill sites. But working handsets can be reused, while those that are past it can be stripped down and their various components recycled. The bonus for consumers is that the companies that collect and process mobiles for reuse and recycling are willing to pay for some handsets, depending on the model, age and condition. It can be anything from a couple of quid to more than £200 for the newest, most popular models. Selling your phone to one of these outfits is straightforward. On websites like envirofone.com, Mazuma Mobile (mazumamobile.com), Mobile2Cash (mobile2cash.co.uk) and Love2Recycle (love2recycle.com), which is partnering moneysupermarket.com in the campaign, you can look up the price on offer for your phone. If you are happy to sell for that price, fill in your details online. You are usually sent a free padded mailing envelope. You can track the progress of your mobile on the website and, once processed, you will be sent a cheque, or the cash will be paid directly into your bank account. "Customers come on to our site to renew their mobile contracts or look for a better deal, which often involves getting a new handset. So, as we're effectively pushing new phones into the market, we feel it's our responsibility to make people aware there are options for recycling," says Parker. The partnership's website, moneysupermarket.love2recycle.com, will pay an average £25 to recycle an old phone. But this may be misleading. Many older models are worth very little, if anything at all, while a few top models are worth a lot more. Nokia phones on the website's pricelist, for example, include £105 for a functioning N95, £48.10 for an 8800, £4.10 for a 1110, a 1112 or a 1208, £2.10 for a 3410 and nothing at all for a 5510 or a 9000. Non-functioning phones have some value, but are worth less than those in full working order - prices paid by processing websites are generally 30% to 50% lower. An alternative to profiting yourself from recycling an old handset is to pass on any value to a good cause. Many charities, both large and small, have teamed up with specialist processing organisations such as Greener Solutions (greenersolutions.co.uk) and the Recycling Appeal (recyclingappeal.com) to collect old mobiles for refurbishment or recycling. The amount charities receive for each handset depends on the individual arrangement they come to with the processing company and on how much of the promotional work they do themselves. The RSPB, for example, which works with the Recycling Appeal, receives varying amounts depending on the condition and age of each handset, working out at an average of £5 per recyclable phone returned. Almost £84,000 has been raised since the arrangement started in 2005. Guide Dogs for the Blind, which works with Greener Solutions, receives a flat rate £3.50 per phone, regardless of its age or condition, and has brought in more than 258,000 phones, raising over £900,000 in the past seven years. Charities with a scheme in place will normally be able to send you a free envelope, and some charities offer a pick-up service if you collect a large enough quantity of phones. Many schools benefit from similar arrangements - check out Fones4Schools (fones4schools.co.uk), for example. You can also hand in handsets for recycling at high street mobile phone shops. | ['money/internetphonesbroadband', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/money', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/jillpapworth', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/money', 'theguardian/money/money'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2008-10-24T23:01:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2021/jul/08/coalition-granted-21m-to-liberal-party-donor-to-frack-beetaloo-basin | Coalition granted $21m to Liberal party donor to frack Beetaloo Basin | The Coalition handed three grants for fracking in the Beetaloo Basin to a political donor and Liberal-linked company, which had earlier lobbied federal ministers for information on the funding scheme. On Wednesday, resources minister Keith Pitt announced that Imperial Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Empire Energy, would receive $21m in grants through the $50m Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program. The three grants are the first to be awarded through the program and will fund the drilling of three wells in the basin’s east, which the Coalition wants to open up for gas exploration as part of its “gas-led recovery” plan. Environmental groups 350.org Australia and Lock the Gate immediately condemned the awarding of the grants to Empire, saying the firm is linked to the Liberal party and has made significant donations to both sides of Northern Territory politics before the territory’s last election. Empire is chaired by Paul Espie, who has been described in parliament as a doyen of the Liberal party. Espie is the current chair of the Liberal-aligned Menzies Research Centre. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Espie. 350.org Australia also released freedom of information documents showing correspondence and interaction between Empire and the office of energy minister Angus Taylor about its fracking plans in Beetaloo and the Coalition’s grant program. The documents show Empire invited Taylor to visit its first Beetaloo well in the Northern Territory in October 2020. Taylor’s pecuniary interest register shows Empire paid for a “return charter flight and hospitality” for the minister. Three months later, it asked Taylor’s office to give it more information about the grant program. “Just before Christmas we discussed the Beetaloo Grant Program,” an unidentified staff member of Empire wrote to Taylor’s office. “Have you been able to identify the eligibility criteria and application process? Or could you please put me in touch with someone in Minister Pitt’s office who may be able to assist?” Taylor’s office referred questions about the documents to Pitt’s office. Pitt said: “Grants are provided to companies that possess the highly specialised skills to meet the challenges of developing the basin as determined by an expert assessment panel.” The process for awarding the grants includes an assessment by the industry department of an applicant’s eligibility, followed by consideration and a recommendation from an expert panel. Pitt said the government was working with the Northern Territory government to fast-track projects and “realise the enormous potential of the Beetaloo”. In a statement, Empire Energy said it had acted consistently with its social, environmental and governance standards. “The grants are consistent with the approach Coalition and Labor governments have taken in multiple jurisdictions to support resource development and bring forward economic, energy and social benefits,” a spokeswoman said. 350.org Australia senior campaigner Shani Tager described the use of the grants as a “brazen misuse of taxpayer funds”. “Australia is coming dead last in the world on climate action and it’s because coal, oil and gas companies are embedded in our politics and that’s got to end,” Tager said. “While the Senate is taking the time to do an inquiry and investigate oil and gas in the Beetaloo Basin, Keith Pitt is giving our public money to Liberal party donors for fracking.” The Protect Country Alliance, part of the Lock the Gate Alliance, said the Morrison government was propping up a project that was still under assessment. “Not only is he blind to cheaper, less polluting and reliable renewable energy alternatives, but he [Pitt] has gifted a fracking company $21m in public money when the Territory government has not finished assessing Empire’s environmental management plan,” spokesperson Graeme Sawyer said. The alliance added that Empire Energy would also benefit from $173.6m in funding from another government program to upgrade roads that will support the expansion of the gas industry in the Northern Territory. In response to these claims, Pitt said: “Australians should be wary of the propaganda spread by these activists and the nonsense they peddle. “Australia has a strong record when it comes to reducing emissions. They’re down 20% on 2005 levels, well ahead of New Zealand, Canada and the US and on track to easily meet our 2030 Paris targets. “The Coalition government is successfully reducing emissions and at the same time supporting new jobs in the gas sector.” The Morrison and Gunner governments are paying for upgrades to the Buchanan Highway, Western Creek Road and Gorrie Dry Creek Road, which lead to tenements held by the company Pangaea. In April this year, Empire Energy announced it intended to acquire a majority stake in Pangaea. The Beetaloo Basin is one of five gas basins that the Coalition has flagged for “unlocking” and $28.3m was set aside to develop strategic basin plans to accelerate their development. The move is part of the prime minister Scott Morrison’s plan to help revive the coronavirus-stricken economy through increased domestic gas production. When Taylor visited Empire’s drill site in October, he described Beetaloo as “a world-class resource that has the potential to drive significant development in the Top End to create local jobs and help Australia remain a world leader in gas”. “The Beetaloo Basin has the potential to supply more gas to Australian homes and manufacturers, helping to increase competition and drive down gas prices across the market. This will mean more Australian gas is working for all Australians,” he said. Espie has in the past made large donations to the Liberal party and the Liberal-aligned Menzies Research Centre, including $100,000 to the federal Liberal party in 2010-11 and $50,000 in 2015-16. Those donations were made well before he joined Empire and the Guardian does not suggest they were in any way linked to the grants. Empire Energy also donated $25,000 each to the Country Liberal and Territory Labor parties in the lead-up to the territory election last year, which saw Labor reelected. | ['environment/mining', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'australia-news/coalition', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australian-political-donations', 'australia-news/liberal-party', 'environment/energy', 'business/gas', 'environment/gas', 'australia-news/northern-territory', 'travel/northern-territory-politics', 'australia-news/angus-taylor', 'australia-news/business-australia', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/christopher-knaus', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2021-07-08T03:15:05Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2019/dec/02/great-barrier-reef-world-heritage-values-damaged-climate-change-government-admits | Great Barrier Reef world heritage values damaged by climate change, government admits | Australia has conceded in an official report that the Great Barrier Reef’s unique values as a world heritage site have been adversely affected by climate change. In the report to Unesco’s world heritage committee, the Queensland and federal governments say the reef is “an icon under pressure with a deteriorating long-term outlook”. The committee will review the status of the Great Barrier Reef at its June 2020 meeting in China, with the potential to place the reef on its “in danger” list. As part of the process, the committee asked Australia to submit a comprehensive “state of conservation” report for the reef – the first since 2015. The report says mass coral bleaching events of 2016 and 2017, together with six tropical cyclones, flood plumes and outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish “have impacted the [outstanding universal value] of the property since the last State Party Report in 2015”. “The size of the property is becoming a less effective buffer to broadscale and cumulative threats, primarily due to climate change,” the report says. The report outlines the four criteria used to list the reef as a natural world heritage site in 1981. Components that underpin all four criteria have deteriorated, the report says. Under one criterion, covering how the ecosystem works, the report says: “Climate change is having a detrimental impact on some critical regulating processes such as sea temperature, reef building and recruitment (the addition of new young to the population) which means the ability of the system to ‘bounce back’ is weakening.” Limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C is “widely cited as a critical threshold for the Reef,” the report says. Australia is taking “strong action” on climate change, the report maintains, saying a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030 was a “significant contribution to global climate action”. The head of oceans at WWF-Australia, Richard Leck, said: “This report confirms those natural values have been significantly damaged, and the world heritage committee needs to decide if they have been damaged enough that the [reef] is placed on the ‘in danger’ list. “It is welcome the Australian government is recognising that to protect the Great Barrier Reef, we need to limit global climate change to 1.5C. What’s problematic is that Australia is not on track to achieve that and, in fact, there’s a strong indication that if other countries did the same as Australia then we are more in line with a policy that would lead to a 3C or more rise in temperature.” The director of strategy at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Imogen Zethoven, said the report’s acceptance that the reef’s outstanding universal value had been impacted was “a critical statement for the World Heritage Committee to consider next year”. She said the Australian government needed to play a leading role globally in encouraging leaders to act on climate change. “The report states that 1.5C is widely cited as a critical threshold for the reef, but it doesn’t commit Australia to do our fair share of global emissions reduction to limit temperature rise to 1.5C.” The environment minister, Sussan Ley, said in a statement that the Australian and Queensland governments had increased reef funding to “an unprecedented $2.7bn over the 10 years from 2014 to 2024”. She said the government’s Reef 2050 plan “in conjunction with international emission reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement, are critical to the future of the Great Barrier Reef”. Last month an international report said Australia’s policy response on climate change was among the worst of all G20 countries. The Queensland Greens senator Larissa Waters said the report to Unesco was “an exercise in spin”. “An honest reef report would read – ‘the reef is cooked unless we boldly and quickly ramp up rescue efforts’.” | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'australia-news/sussan-ley', 'world/unesco', 'world/world', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/coral', 'environment/marine-life', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-12-02T05:12:39Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2015/sep/21/the-guardian-view-on-hinkley-point-c-overcomplicated-overpriced-and-overdue | The Guardian view on Hinkley Point C: overcomplicated, overpriced and overdue | Editorial | The case for decarbonising power supplies in order to limit climate change is now beyond challenge. The best way of doing it is as contentious as ever. Every option – carbon capture and storage to reduce coal-fired power stations’ emissions, expanding wind and solar power, developing other renewables such as tidal power, cutting consumption and bringing new nuclear capacity on stream – each has its own daunting problems, although some look a lot cheaper to fix than others. In China this morning the chancellor, in his role as prime-minister-in-waiting, dangled yet another carrot in front of nervous investors, promising a further £2bn of credit guarantees for investment in EDF’s new European pressurised reactor at Hinkley Point C in Somerset. Two-thirds of the estimated £24bn cost of building the power station is now covered by government guarantees, even though EDF has agreed a “strike” price – what it will be paid for its electricity – that will make it the most expensive in the world while earning the company, when fully on stream, an estimated annual profit of £5bn. The need for a non-polluting, reliable source of energy has changed attitudes to nuclear power. It is now accepted, at least by some ex-critics, as the least bad option in a world where a fast-growing population and the multiplication of energy-hungry tech devices will hugely increase demand for the foreseeable future. That was why the last Labour government gave the go-ahead to third-generation nuclear power at Hinkley, and why neither the coalition nor this Conservative government imagine cancellation is an option. Yet it is looking more and more like a bum deal. Overpriced, overcomplicated and overdue, as the UK’s three most prominent green converts to nuclear energy, George Monbiot, Mark Lynas and Chris Goodall, argued last Friday when they wrote an open letter calling for the project to be abandoned and for nuclear generation to be concentrated on small modular reactors, cheaper, factory-made and – a bonus – highly suitable for export to developing countries. Hinkley C is expensive because it is very big and very complex. For more than a decade, EDF, the state-owned French energy giant, has been building two similar reactors, one in France and one in Finland, both of which are running late and neither of which has generated so much as a watt of electricity. EDF won the Hinkley contract partly because of the Treasury obsession with not spending public money, but it is struggling to raise the private finance. That is one reason why George Osborne is buttering up the Chinese with potentially costly blandishments. For a while, there was resignation about the project’s cost. It was a price that had to be paid to keep the lights on and the tablets charging. But in the past few years, it has looked less and less like the next generation in clean energy and more and more like a rerun of the Sizewell B debacle, when the government of the day found itself locked into an outdated technology. Meanwhile, renewables are rapidly proving more efficient than predicted – that’s the official explanation for withdrawing subsidies – and their costs are falling. They are still a long way from offering a real alternative to established nuclear power. But the danger is that the cost of making Hinkley C work will have a perverse effect, slowing the development of green alternatives. Germany has been here already. In 2011, Angela Merkel, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster reversed her planned extension of the life of nuclear capacity. Instead, it will be phased out entirely by 2022 (shortly before Hinkley C might finally come online). The move is not cheap, it has led to more reliance on coal, and individual renewable projects provoke strong local opposition. But it has also led to a doubling of energy efficiency. One windy day last July, 80% of Germany electricity came from renewables. As the ad says, Vorsprung durch Technik: forward through technology. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'business/edf', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'business/business', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'money/energy', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/household-bills', 'money/money', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/ethical-living', 'business/energy-industry', 'technology/energy', 'technology/technology', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'type/article', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2015-09-21T18:47:25Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2018/apr/11/world-weatherwatch-storms-pacific-us-winter-chill-new-zealand | World Weatherwatch: spring storms and early winter chill | Fiji has been in the firing line of heightened tropical activity over the last couple of weeks, with tropical cyclone Josie providing the first punch of severe weather early last week. While it didn’t make direct landfall, a huge amount of rain fell across the islands, with estimated totals in excess of 250mm. This brought severe flooding, causing at least two deaths, and nearly 1,200 people were forced to take refuge in emergency evacuation centres. Meanwhile, in the southern states of the US, the springtime severe storm season has awoken from its slumber. An outbreak of strong to severe thunderstorms, as well as a few tornadoes, affected Texas and Louisiana on Friday night, bringing baseball-sized hailstones, and causing power outages. Back in the southern Hemisphere, New Zealand has seen a notable cold spell in recent days. Christchurch saw highs of 27C give way to highs of just 8C over just a few days, compared to the 17C that is the average high temperature for this time of year. In addition, up to 50cm of rain fell over the mountain passes of the South Island. •A panel of Weatherwatch contributors is taking part in Freak Weather in History at the British Library on Wednesday 2 May, at 7pm | ['news/series/world-weatherwatch', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/meteorology', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/fiji', 'world/newzealand', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-04-11T20:30:12Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2020/oct/08/mathias-cormann-nominated-for-oecd-top-job-despite-its-criticism-of-coalitions-climate-change-policy | Mathias Cormann nominated for OECD top job despite its criticism of Coalition’s climate change policy | Mathias Cormann says the Coalition’s heavily criticised record on climate policy won’t be a barrier to Australia courting international support for him to be the next secretary general of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The finance minister, who announced in July that he would quit by the end of the year, leaves the Senate at the end of October, and will be nominated by the Morrison government for the OECD’s secretary general’s post. The prime minister confirmed the nomination on Thursday. Cormann will be replaced as finance minister and government leader in the Senate by Simon Birmingham, who will also keep his trade portfolio. Cormann, who was born in Belgium, put himself on the campaign trail on Thursday. Speaking in French, he declared that the Morrison government was committed to the Paris agreement, and to meeting emissions reduction targets. Some in the Liberal and National parties have openly queried the science of climate change and the Coalition repealed a carbon price legislated by the Gillard government (which it characterised as a tax when it wasn’t). Pitched battles about climate policy have prompted internal eruptions leading to Liberal leadership changes since 2009, but Cormann suggested the conversation inside the Coalition had been about the most effective mechanism to reduce emissions. “The discussion in Australia has not been, as far as we’re concerned, about whether or not we are committed to effective action on climate change – we are,” Corman said. “The debate in Australia has always been about what the best method was to most effectively and most appropriately, from an economic point of view, achieve the best possible emissions reductions in an economically sensible fashion.” Cormann said he looked forward to the opportunity, when promoting his candidacy, to counter commentary about the government’s record on climate action that he contended was “with respect, not always as well informed as it should be”. The OECD’s membership is dominated by European countries, and Australia’s record on climate change has been queried and at times criticised by countries with more ambitious emissions reduction commitments. The government has requested Labor’s support to make Cormann’s nomination for the position bipartisan. While Cormann is respected within the parliament, and has a cordial personal relationship with the shadow foreign minister, Penny Wong, built up during their shared time in the Senate, this will be a sensitive issue for Labor. The Coalition declined to nominate Kevin Rudd when he made a concerted pitch to become the next secretary general of the United Nations. Rudd was furious about the snub, and said Malcolm Turnbull, prime minister at the time, had reneged on previous suggestions of support. When Turnbull declined to support Rudd, he said that was because he was not suited for the position. When Morrison was reminded about that history on Thursday, the prime minister said candidates needed to be considered “on their merits and I know Mathias has gained the respect of members all around this place”. Cormann will leave the Senate at the end of the month and go to Europe to lobby for the position. He acknowledged the pandemic would make that lobbying effort more complicated. With the elevation of Birmingham to the Senate leadership, the prime minister has appointed Michaelia Cash as deputy leader in the chamber. Morrison confirmed he would reshuffle his ministry at the end of the year – after parliament has risen for the summer. | ['australia-news/mathias-cormann', 'business/oecd', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/scott-morrison', 'business/global-economy', 'world/world', 'australia-news/liberal-party', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/paris-climate-agreement', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/katharine-murphy', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-politics'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2020-10-08T03:35:35Z | true | EMISSIONS |
politics/2019/jan/25/extinction-rebellion-activists-occupy-scottish-parliament | Extinction Rebellion activists occupy Scottish parliament | Around 40 climate activists have staged a peaceful occupation of the Scottish parliament’s debating chamber, urging MSPs to introduce much tougher climate targets. Campaigners with the recently formed direct action group Extinction Rebellion posed as tourists on a visit to Holyrood before staging an hour-long sit-in in the chamber. There were no arrests. Police escorted the protesters from the building through a side entrance and they were greeted by cheers from other campaigners gathered outside the parliament. Extinction Rebellion was launched last October with the backing of 100 academics and the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Friday’s occupation was the group’s first direct action in Scotland, after sit-down protests in Parliament Square, Westminster, and at climate talks in Poland. Robert Alcock, a builder and eco-designer who took part in the sit-in, said the group wanted Holyrood to take up far more ambitious CO2 reduction policies geared towards cutting net emissions to zero by 2025, in line with analysis from the International Panel on Climate Change. Extinction Rebellion wants Scotland to convene a citizens’ assembly to decide how to achieve that goal through consensus. It would be made up of 73 members of the public drawn from Holyrood’s 73 single-member constituencies, and have the power to revise the parliament’s climate bills. The Scottish government insists the country’s climate policies, enacted by Holyrood, are among the most ambitious and far-reaching in the world, and the most radical from any UK legislature. Scotland’s first target to reduce CO2 emissions by 42% by 2020 has already been met, and the parties are now debating a fresh target to hit 90% by 2050 in a new climate bill. Asked why Extinction Rebellion was targeting Holyrood rather than oil companies in Aberdeen or the oil refinery at Grangemouth west of Edinburgh, Alcock said: “This is a very symbolic place because it is representing the people of Scotland, and today is Burns Day, the day of Scotland’s national poet. “While it is relatively progressive compared to other countries it comes nowhere near what is necessary to really address the gravity of the climate emergency.” A Scottish parliament spokeswoman said: “Around 40 individuals on a free public tour refused to leave the chamber for approximately 60 minutes before leaving peacefully at 1.30pm. “The public tour route takes in the debating chamber when parliament is not sitting. There was no impact on parliamentary business.” | ['politics/scotland', 'politics/politics', 'uk/scotland', 'uk/uk', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'uk/edinburgh', 'environment/activism', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'profile/severincarrell', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-01-25T16:37:01Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2021/dec/14/ode-to-a-great-british-tree | Ode to a great British tree | Brief letters | Your editorial (12 December) extols the virtues of the ash tree, sadly under threat from an unintentionally imported fungus. The ash is an important native species for another reason: it is one of our few, fast-growing hardwoods. As a timber, it is famously stable and able to take twisting and bending forces well. It turns well on the lathe and can be polished to a soft sheen. For so many reasons, we are going to miss this lovely tree. Bob Caldwell Badby, Northamptonshire • As a man of 82 looking back at my all-boys’ school education in the 1950s, I am in no doubt that cookery lessons, even Maggie Owen’s (Letters, 12 December), would have served most of us better in life than the Latin lessons we received. George Redman New Eltham, London • Dennis Hawkins felt he had never had a pre-existing illness (Letters, 10 December). I’m always annoyed when asked about having a “heart condition”. Of course I’ve had a heart condition. For most of my life it’s been in very good condition, though less so since passing 70. Peter Perkins Diss, Norfolk • Regarding encouraging guests to leave at the end of a long evening (Your niece is suddenly vegan! How to survive the 12 disasters of Christmas, 14 December), my husband finds that appearing in the doorway in his pyjamas usually does the trick. Alex Percy Winchester • Re responding to a vegan niece at Xmas, as well as finding something for her to eat, how about thanking her for taking action against climate change? Pam Laurance London • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication. | ['environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'education/education', 'society/health', 'food/vegan', 'food/food', 'lifeandstyle/christmas', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-12-14T16:32:30Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2018/jun/23/green-energy-subsidies-community-projects-fossil-fuels | Green energy feels the heat as subsidies go to fossil fuels | The number of people generating their own power has almost flatlined, with only one new group formed in the UK last year, according to the body representing grassroots energy organisations. Cuts to subsidies for homeowners to install solar panels and a “hostile planning approach” that has in effect banned new wind turbines are behind the “wholesale decline”, Community Energy England (CEE) said in its 2018 State of the Sector report. Grassroots schemes can slash electricity bills in half at a time when the “big six” energy companies have raised their prices so that the average household is paying £1,150 to £1,200 a year. But setting up a project is risky, with the cost of installing solar panels or constructing turbines paid up-front, and nearly 30% of community energy groups saw some of their schemes fail last year, the report said. Subsidies can hedge the risks, but in 2015 the government cut them for green energy, including the “feed-in tariff” households get for supplying excess energy back to the national grid, capping the total at £100m by 2019. Fossil fuel subsidies are more than 30 times higher – companies running oil or coal-fired power stations received more than £3bn last year through the capacity market, funded partly by household fuel bills. “There is a clear link between recent subsidy changes and an increasing number of failed or stalled community projects,” said CEE’s chief executive, Emma Bridge. “If government is serious about creating a new renewable energy industry to meet the nation’s power needs it has got to embrace the community energy sector and restore the modest support that it needs to thrive.” Community energy groups were growing by 30 a year until 2015, but only one was formed last year, bringing the total to 228, serving 48,000 members. One of the successes is Energise Barnsley, which has installed solar panels and batteries in 321 council homes, municipal buildings and schools, focusing on people at risk of fuel poverty. Elaine Marsh, a retired NHS secretary, used to pay £350 a year for her electricity, but now her annual bill is only £185. “The battery stores what I don’t use during the day so I can use it at night,” she said. “So I do all my laundry at night when it’s free. I use as much of my utilities at night as I can.” Other big projects include Drayton Manor solar farm in Warwickshire, Newton Downs solar farm in Devon and Mean Moor wind farm in Cumbria, but campaigners say Britain is falling behind other European countries. Emily Rochon, an energy lawyer with ClientEarth, said: “Pouring public money into fossil fuels while slashing support for community energy makes no economic sense. Homegrown renewable energy has the potential to mitigate rising and volatile electricity prices by decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. “The government’s pennywise but pound-foolish approach will only cost the economy in the long run. Getting our power from fossil fuels makes it overly expensive to keep the lights on and failure to support clean energy will drive technological innovation and job creation in this sector abroad. “Other countries have recognised that community-owned renewable energy delivers greater economic, social and environmental benefits and will reap the rewards as a result. The UK, on the other hand, will miss the opportunity.” The Bavarian village of Grossbardorf has been entirely converted to solar energy and biogas from crops grown by local farmers. Grossbardorf FC’s new stand is covered in solar panels, paid for by fans who receive a season ticket or a free sausage at home games. The homes of the village’s 950 inhabitants are connected to a district heating network, where water is heated at a local power station, then pumped directly into the radiators of the 120 houses. In Stockholm a new development of 10,000 homes will be heated by computer servers in a data centre operated by DigiPlex, according to Fredrik Jansson, its chief strategy officer. “When my five-year-old daughter does stuff on her iPad, a process starts in the data centre, heat comes up from the servers,” Jansson said. “It’s captured and put out into the central heating system, so when she’s sitting on her bed, looking out on to a snowy Stockholm landscape, the data is heating the radiator.” BeauVent in the Belgian port of Ostend will also be capturing heat from a waste incinerator, while in Spain, the Catalan government is planning to let householders with solar panels sell electricity to each other directly via peer-to-peer trading. And Respond, a project funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme involving five countries, will look at ways to automate smart household appliances so they come on at times when demand for energy is low. Although the cost of solar panels has fallen significantly in the past few years, large-scale renewable energy projects have also stalled in the UK. Last week, the trade body Solar Power Europe revealed that the number of new solar power installations in Britain had fallen by half for the second year in a row. | ['environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/green-economy', 'environment/environment', 'technology/energy', 'technology/technology', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/james-tapper', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-main'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2018-06-23T11:34:52Z | true | ENERGY |
uk/2010/mar/24/budget-2010-key-points | Budget 2010: the key points | Economy • The impact of the economic crisis has meant the UK economy has shrunk by about 6% over the recession • Growth forecast for 2011 revised down to between 3% and 3.5%. Predicted growth of 1-1.25% in 2010 in line with forecasts • Borrowing will be £11bn lower this year, at £167bn. It should be £163bn next year, £131bn in 2011-12 and £110bn in 2013-14. It will reach £74bn in 2014-15, £8bn lower than forecast in December • The reduction in the deficit will go from 11.8% of GDP to 5.2%, more than halved over four years Taxes • Tax on bank bonuses raised £2bn in 2009-10, twice as much as forecast • More systematic tax on banks is needed. It should be internationally co-ordinated • Doubling of stamp duty allowance, from £125,000 to £250,000, funded by 5% stamp duty for properties worth more than £1m • Inheritance tax threshold frozen for next four years • Tax information agreements with Dominica, Grenada and Belize • Business rates cut for one year from October, so 345,000 businesses will pay no rates at all • No further announcements on VAT, national insurance and income tax Jobs • For older workers, an extension of tax credits • Length of time over-65s have to work to receive work credits is reduced • For next two years, no one under 24 will need to be unemployed for longer than six months before being offered work or training • Total of 15,000 civil servants relocated, including 1,000 Ministry of Justice posts moved out of London Drinks, cigarettes and fuel • Duty on cider will increase by 10% above inflation from Sunday. Duty on beer, wine and spirits will increase as planned from midnight Sunday • Tobacco duty will rise immediately by 1% above inflation this year, then 2% • Increase in fuel duty to be staged. Fuel duty to rise by a penny in April followed by a further 1p rise in October and the remainder in January Businesses • RBS and Lloyds will provide £94bn in new business loans, nearly half to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), over next year • A new credit adjudicator will fast-track complaints from smaller firms who say they have been unfairly denied credit • Faster licensing process for new banks to boost competition • Increase of 15% in the number of central government contracts going to SMEs • A new national investment corporation, UK Finance For Growth, will streamline and improve government help to SMEs • New growth capital fund to provide capital for fast growing firms • Investment allowance for small firms doubled to £100,000 Jobs • A £2.5bn one-off growth package paid for by switching spending in some areas, with the extra proceeds from the tax on bank bonuses, announced last year • Number of civil servants in London to be reduced by a third, with 15,000 posts relocated outside the capital within five years • Public-pay settlements will be held at a maximum of 1% for the two years from 2011 Education • A £35m university enterprise capital fund to support university innovation and spin-off companies • A £270m fund to create 20,000 university places in subjects such as science, maths, engineering Banking and savings • Everyone to have a basic bank account, bringing an extra million people into the banking system over next five years • From next month the annual Isa limit to rise from £7,200 to £10,200, and Isa limits to increase annually Defence • Over £4bn next year for operations in Afghanistan Infrastructure and environment • £100m set aside for repairs to local roads, £285m for improvements to motorways • A £2bn green investment bank, using £1bn of public cash matched with private funds • £60m to develop ports hosting manufacturers of offshore wind turbines Tax credits and allowances • Parents of one- and two-year-old children to get an increase of £4 a week in child tax credit from 2012 • The pensioners' higher winter fuel payment of £250 and £400 for the over-80s, guaranteed for another year Savings • From October next year, the most expensive properties will be excluded from the housing benefit calculation in each area, which will, added to anti-fraud measures, save £250m a year • Departments will publish details about how to achieve £11bn of new savings. | ['uk/budget', 'politics/economy', 'politics/houseofcommons', 'politics/alistairdarling', 'business/business', 'money/money', 'society/society', 'politics/politics', 'education/education', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'business/housingmarket', 'money/isas', 'uk/military', 'society/housing', 'politics/civil-service', 'money/motoring', 'business/banking', 'business/executive-pay-bonuses', 'business/small-business', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'world/road-transport', 'education/university-funding', 'education/school-funding', 'money/tax', 'politics/taxandspending', 'business/taxavoidance', 'money/taxcredits', 'money/petrol-prices', 'uk/labour-budget-2010', 'society/communities', 'type/article', 'profile/marktran'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2010-03-24T14:45:00Z | true | ENERGY |
sport/2018/apr/04/how-australian-medias-commonwealth-games-dream-became-a-nightmare | The Commonwealth Games you won't see: 'impossible' rules keep media away | Australia’s press pack has been consigned to the sidelines at the Commonwealth Games after organisers imposed what publishers say are impossible restrictions. Seven paid an estimated $40m for the rights for free-to-air, subscription, online, radio, social media, mobile and HbbTV, leaving very little room for other media players in what will be the biggest sporting event in Australia this decade. A long-running battle over restrictive rights to video highlights of the Games has led to a boycott of official media accreditation by News Corp and Fairfax Media – but the ban does not extend to ignoring the event all together. News has purchased individual tickets for its reporters rather than seeking accreditation and playing by organisers’ strict rules, designed to protect Seven’s multimillion-dollar rights investment. There are more than 1,100 journalists and photographers carrying official Commonwealth Games accreditation, which gives them access to press conferences and use of official footage – but News Corp and Fairfax staff won’t be among them. Instead, Australia’s two biggest media companies will be watching events on television or from the stands. Despite this, the News Corp tabloid the Gold Coast Bulletin will carry the logo of Official Supporter, newspaper and news site for the games. Inside the tent, Seven staff will be part of a 2,000-strong contingent of rights holders and host broadcast teams. A spokeswomen for the home town paper, the Gold Coast Bulletin, and the Queensland flagship the Courier Mail says the company did not seek accreditation because of the restrictive news access rules (Nars) around the use of footage, which is exclusive in Australia to rights holders Seven. Publishers have to wait 30 minutes before broadcasting anything from a news conference and have to limit digital news bulletins to a maximum of 60 seconds a day across no more than three bulletins a day, according to the rules laid down by the Commonwealth Games Federation. By not seeking accreditation, publishers won’t have photographers or journalists in the media only areas, or have access to athletes’ press conferences. But they will be able to report immediately, rather than wait 30 minutes. “We will have a full complement of staff covering the event – we bought tickets and will have reporters in the stands, around the track,” the Gold Coast Bulletin spokeswoman told Guardian Australia. “We are confident we will provide our most comprehensive and innovative coverage of the Games for our readers.” Traditional rival Fairfax Media has lined up next to News in this case, refusing to play by the Commonwealth Games’ rules. “Fairfax Media’s position is that its Australian news mastheads don’t accept the accreditation restrictions,” a spokesman said. “We believe that we will best serve our readers with Games coverage by reporting under our fair dealing rights.” Fairfax and News will abide by fair dealing rules, which say you can use images and video for news reporting but sparingly. News Corp has not said if it will film from the stands. Gold Coast Games officials say the contentious news access rules have been commonplace for many years to enable fair news reporting by non rights-holders rather than relying upon copyright fair dealing laws. “They are a standard part of media accreditation during events like the Commonwealth Games,” a spokeswoman said. “The GC2018 news access rules take precedent from the previous Commonwealth Games and updated, as appropriate, to reflect the changing media landscape. News access rules for events like the Commonwealth Games continue to be updated, as appropriate, to reflect the changing media landscape. The GC2018 news access rules set out the arrangements permissible on digital platforms, while protecting the commercial rights of rights holding broadcasters.” Seven is the Australian broadcast rights holder and joint host broadcaster together with studio facilities company NEP Group and the UK sports programming provider Sunset+Vine. The ABC is the exclusive non-commercial radio broadcaster of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and will have a team of 12 specialist sports broadcasters and commentators headed by ABC Grandstand’s Karen Tighe, providing coverage for the radio networks. After Nine broadcast footage of Saturday night’s opening ceremony dress rehearsal, authorities ruled it was a clear breach of news access rules and Nine was banned from covering the actual opening ceremony. The network says it has been told its accreditation will be restored at 8am on Thursday. Demands to relax the rules issued last year by the News Media Coalition, which represents Fairfax, News Corp and other leading global news agencies including the Guardian and Reuters, AFP and Associated Press, fell on deaf ears. The Games have not been without their early hiccups. A Goldoc spokeswoman has apologised for a formatting error in the official program, which had England listed as an African nation. “Goldoc is aware of a formatting error in the England team overview section of the official GC2018 program,” she said. “The formatting error occurred when The Gambia was reinstated back in to the Commonwealth and subsequently the Games only a few weeks ago. “Goldoc was determined to include The Gambia in the official program and, with the late addition and update to the program, the page required reformatting at the last minute at the printers, causing the error. We’re delighted The Gambia has joined the Games and apologise for the reformatting error in the program.” At the 11th hour, News and Fairfax were given restricted access to the main press centre where all significant news conferences with the premier or police will be held. But the access is for news gathering purposes only and does not permit journalists access into any venue, a News spokeswoman said. “Fairfax’s access to the media centre is by invitation of Goldoc and our journalists are not subject to the News Access Rules for Accreditation, which we do not agree to,” a Fairfax spokesman said. | ['sport/commonwealth-games-2018', 'media/australia-media', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'media/news-corporation', 'media/fairfax-media', 'media/channel-7', 'type/article', 'tone/analysis', 'profile/amanda-meade', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | sport/commonwealth-games-2018 | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2018-04-04T04:44:46Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
commentisfree/2009/may/04/internet-carbon-footprint-climate | Don't take my internet away | Leo Hickman | Which "essential" of modern living – excluding real essentials such as clean water, sanitation, hospitals, schools, ample food, warm clothing, etc – would you be least willing to do without? The car? The dishwasher? The mobile phone? The cheap flight? Face masks? Britain's Got Talent? There's one thing I can think of that, as Charlton Heston once so eloquently said of his shotgun, you would have to pry from my cold, dead hands – the internet. It's not an exaggeration to say that I can't now imagine life without it. It's been a constant presence throughout my working life and I do sometimes genuinely wonder what being, say, a journalist must have been like without having a research tool as powerful and immediate as the internet by your side. Just imagine it: picking up a telephone and actually ringing someone for information. Or going to the bother of getting your coat and walking down to the local library. I think many of us would be left abject and bereft if the internet was somehow taken from us. (In addition to, say, 40 hours of community service, perhaps some criminals should also be stripped of the basic human right to cruise YouTube, post blogs or send tweets? I know what would make me ponder over the impact of my crimes more.) So, we should have a genuine sense of dread and fear today that some internet bigwigs are being quoted as saying that a "perfect storm" is now threatening the very future of the internet. The problem, it seems, is that the internet is so successful that, like some kind of Malthusian vision of hell, it could soon implode in on itself, having outstripped all available energy supplies. "In an energy-constrained world, we cannot continue to grow the footprint of the internet … we need to rein in the energy consumption," said Subodh Bapat, vice-president at Sun Microsystems. "We need more data centres, we need more servers. Each server burns more watts than the previous generation and each watt costs more. If you compound all of these trends, you have the perfect storm." The carbon footprint of the internet is growing exponentially. The report says that the internet is now "leapfrogging other sectors like the airline industry that are more widely known for their negative environmental impact". One study by Rich Brown, an energy analyst at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California, commissioned by the US environmental protection agency, suggested that US data centres used 61bn kilowatt hours of energy in 2006 – 1.5% of the entire electricity usage of the US. Earlier this year, Google caused quite a stir when it revealed that the carbon footprint of the average Google search was 0.2 grams of carbon dioxide. The amount sounds trivial until you learn that more than 200m Google searches are made every day globally. Google is now even considering floating its energy-hungry data centres out at sea so that it can use wave and tidal power to provide the electricity needed to run the servers and sea water to help keep them cool. But can such innovations keep up with growing demand? (YouTube is, apparently, one of the most energy-sapping components of the internet so God only knows what the carbon footprint of Susan Boyle's popular little turn is now that its reached the "100 million views" landmark?) Might we now have to ration our use of the internet to ensure its very survival? If so, what would be considering a fair share of the internet? Thirty minutes of browsing a day per person? Fifty megs of download a day? Just as we are being asked to "do our bit" for the environment by flying less, using public transport more, eating less meat and the like, might we now be asked to download fewer bulging multimedia files? Or pay more for the privilege once we pass our rationed threshold? Might Cif editors start deleting overly verbose comments to cut Comment is free's electricity bill and, thus, lower its burgeoning environmental impact? So, if you want the internet – and humanity itself no less – to survive, you can do your bit by not posting a comment below. If, however, you want to see the flames of environmental fury tear across the surface of our planet, then post away. But on your head be it. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'technology/internet', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/environment', 'business/technology', 'technology/technology', 'technology/google', 'environment/carbonfootprints', 'world/world', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/leohickman'] | environment/carbonfootprints | EMISSIONS | 2009-05-04T14:30:00Z | true | EMISSIONS |
us-news/2020/dec/19/mike-pompeo-we-can-say-pretty-clearly-russia-behind-hack-us-agencies | Trump downplays government hack after Pompeo blames it on Russia | Not long after Mike Pompeo became the first member of the Trump administration to blame Russia for wide-ranging hacks of US government agencies and private companies which have sent Washington scrambling to fill the breach, the president sought to play the hack down. In response, one senior congressional Democrat accused Trump of “another scandalous betrayal of our national security”. “The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality,” Trump tweeted on Saturday morning. “I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because [US media] is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!)” The hack targeted widely used software made by SolarWinds, an Austin, Texas-based company. On Friday night, speaking to the rightwing talk radio host Mark Levin, Pompeo placed blame squarely on Russia. “This was a very significant effort,” he said. “I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.” Regardless, Trump chose to tag his secretary of state and director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe in another tweet that contained another baseless claim of electoral fraud in the presidential contest he lost to Joe Biden, but which he has not conceded. “There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election,” Trump wrote, “which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA.” At the same time, the New York Times reported that at the White House on Friday, Trump suggested installing the attorney and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell as a special counsel investigating voter fraud. Citing two anonymous sources, the Times said aides including Rudy Giuliani, who has led attempts to overturn the election result, pushed back on the idea. Regarding the SolarWinds hack and Trump’s attempt to play down links to Russia, Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who chairs the House intelligence committee and led impeachment proceedings against Trump, said: “Another day, another scandalous betrayal of our national security by this president. “Another dishonest tweet that sounds like it could have been written in the Kremlin. Another obsequious display towards Putin. And yet another reason that Trump can’t leave office fast enough.” Pompeo did not immediately respond to being undercut by his boss. But in speaking to Levin, he said: “I’m sure some of it will remain classified. But suffice it to say there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of US government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well.” The Kremlin denies involvement. On Saturday, a security research blog by Microsoft said a second hacking group, different from the suspected Russian team, also targeted SolarWinds products. “The investigation of the whole SolarWinds compromise led to the discovery of an additional malware that also affects the SolarWinds Orion product but has been determined to be likely unrelated to this compromise and used by a different threat actor,” the blog said. A SolarWinds spokesman told Reuters: “It remains early days of the investigation.” Earlier this week, as security teams attempted to limit damage from the hacks, critics pressed for Trump to speak out. Speaking to SiriusXM radio, the Utah Republican senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney said: “What I find most astonishing is that a cyber hack of this nature is really the modern equivalent of, almost, Russian bombers reportedly flying undetected over the entire country. “In this setting, not to have the White House aggressively speaking out and protesting and taking punitive action is really, really quite extraordinary.” Asked about Romney’s remarks, Pompeo said: “I saw this in my time running the world’s premier espionage service at the CIA. There are many things that you’d very much love to say, ‘Boy, I’m going to call that out,’ but a wiser course of action to protect the American people is to calmly go about your business and defend freedom.” US-Russia ties have been strained by issues ranging from conflicts in Syria and Ukraine to allegations of interference in US politics, specifically the 2016 election and in favour of Trump, which Moscow also denies. At a news conference on Thursday, Vladimir Putin said he hoped Biden would help resolve some issues in relations between Moscow and Washington. The state department said on Saturday the US was halting work at consulates in Vladivostock and Yekaterinburg, citing safety and security issues at facilities where operations had been curtailed because of Covid-19. The decision did not affect Russian consulates in the US, the department said, but the closures will leave the embassy in Moscow as the last US diplomatic mission in Russia. It is unclear if the closures will happen before 20 January, when Biden takes office. Speaking to Levin, Pompeo said: “We have lots of folks that want to undermine our way of life, our republic, our basic democratic principles. Russia is certainly on that list … You see the news of the day with respect to their efforts in the cyber space. We’ve seen this for an awfully long time, using asymmetric capabilities to try and put themselves in a place where they can impose costs on the United States. “So yes, Vladimir Putin remains a real risk to those of us who love freedom.” | ['us-news/mike-pompeo', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/russia', 'technology/hacking', 'technology/technology', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/martin-pengelly', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | technology/hacking | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2020-12-19T18:35:51Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
technology/2015/nov/25/beeline-cycling-navigation-device-review | Beeline cycling navigation device review: stress-free fun for explorers | This review was conducted with an early-stage prototype of the Beeline, powered by an arduino board. The final hardware and app due to ship in August 2016 will look different. The Beeline is a cycle navigation device that dumps your usual turn-by-turn directions for an arrow that always points you in the right direction. Launched as a Kickstarter campaign, Beeline isn’t a turn-by-turn GPS device as you would have in a car, instead it simply shows the direction of your final destination. It gives you more freedom to get there using your nous. Its creators call it “fuzzy navigation”. The concept is simple. The Beeline uses your smartphone to do most of the heavy lifting: you plug your final destination into the app, and the direction and distance is then shown on the Beeline device strapped to your handlebars. The final app will also support waypoints, allowing more flexible routing via your favourite coffee shop. The app I took for a spin could only point me in the direction of a single destination. Fun and less stressful than turn-by-turn The device is a small black puck, communicating with the phone using Bluetooth. It straps around the handlebars, and has a small circular e-paper display to show the direction and distance to your destination. Using it is much more fun than a traditional turn-by-turn GPS device; they can be somewhat stressful on a bike, and can route via particularly cycle-unsympathetic roads. They’re about efficiency, not exploring. By simply pointing at your final destination, the Beeline imparts a sense of freedom. It feels lively enough so that you won’t be heading in the wrong direction for long. There wasn’t that sense of dread you sometimes feel when navigating using a GPS bike computer. A side benefit of only showing the direction is that it forces you to re-engage with your surroundings, and gives you a stronger sense of place. Having missed many turnings with a turn-by-turn cycling computer, I can attest to it being a pain. They often take a while to recognise you’re off course and then ask you to recalculate the route. Once you’ve decided to do that, you’ve often missed the best reroute leading to a cycle of stopping, waiting for it to catch up, then getting going again. It’s awkward. Small black puck One nice aspect of the hardware is its size (once it ships – at the moment it’s a MacGyver-like creation involving an Arduino and a USB battery). It’s small enough to kept in pocket, bag or a saddlebag. It’d be a device you’d probably want to use over your smartphone for navigation because keeping your phone’s screen on kills its battery. Attaching it and detaching it is easy as there’s no bracket left behind. The prototype was held on via a stiff rubber band that connected the Beeline to its lid. The two clipped into each other to hold it on the handlebars. It felt OK, but could do with refinement as it was a bit loose. The lid can be flipped on to screen for transport in a bag or pocket. Price The Beeline is currently available in Kickstarter for £45, and is expected to ship in August 2016. A final retail version is expected to cost around £60. Verdict It’s clear there’s a gap for non-GPS driven routing where exploration and awareness is more important than the most efficient route. Even in its prototype state, the Beeline was fun to use, and I found it less stressful to use than a traditional turn-by-turn system. The concept is sound for those that ride in cities and know roughly where they’re going, or want more flexibility en route. We’ll see what the hardware looks like once the device has shipped in August. Pros: small, light, easy to attach, more riding freedom, no re-routing delays, good battery life because of the e-paper screen (in theory) Cons: requires using your head rather than blindly following directions, may not take the most efficient route, backing anything on crowdfunding is a risk | ['technology/gps', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/kickstarter', 'technology/technology', 'technology/crowdfunding', 'lifeandstyle/cycling', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'type/article', 'tone/reviews', 'profile/alastair-jardine'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2015-11-25T09:52:08Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
australia-news/2023/aug/03/teal-mps-slam-sea-dumping-bill-marine-ocean-act-australia | Teal MPs criticise CO2 sea dumping bill as ‘greenwashing’ fossil fuel industry | Teal independent MPs say a government bill that would allow carbon dioxide to be pumped into international waters is a “colossal attempt at greenwashing” that would facilitate new gas projects and prolong the life of the fossil fuel industry. In a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday night, the member for Kooyong Monique Ryan, accused the government of introducing the legislation with “unseemly haste” to enable projects such as Santos’ Barossa offshore gas project, which proposes establishing a carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in the depleted Bayu-Undan gas reservoir in waters off Timor-Leste. Under the legislation, the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, would be able to grant permits to enable CO2 captured during industrial processes to be exported and stored under the seabed in another country’s waters. The legislation would also allow permits to be issued for “marine geoengineering” research that could be used to combat the climate crisis. The government says the bill is intended to bring Australia’s laws into line with changes to an international treaty on the prevention of marine pollution, known as the London Protocol. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup But independents pushing for stronger action on climate change said they were concerned it was an attempt to give social licence to fossil fuel projects that could not proceed if the world was to have any chance at limiting global heating to 1.5C. As a recent Guardian Australia investigation revealed, the Albanese government knew it would facilitate a gas industry expansion when it committed to provide public funding to the Middle Arm hub near Darwin, despite claiming otherwise. The sea dumping bill will help with that expansion. Ryan expressed “distress and disgust” at the bill. “The bill will be a key enabler of gas expansion, granting social licence for new and highly polluting greenwashed fossil fuel projects,” she said. The independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, said the bill was “a colossal attempt at greenwashing”. “This bill enables the Barossa gas project to go ahead, when, because of the safeguard mechanism, it may not have. It is the very exception to the safeguard mechanism that Japan was seeking – by the back door,” she said. Amendments to the safeguard mechanism passed earlier this year require developers of new gas fields to offset all carbon dioxide emissions within Australia, adding to the cost of a project. Last month, the government said it was resisting a push by Japan for the Barossa project to be given special treatment. Scamps moved amendments to the bill on Thursday morning, including one that proposed preventing the legislation from being used for the export or import of captured carbon from fossil fuel projects. She also proposed permits not be granted unless they are consistent with Australia’s obligations under the Paris agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity and the receiving country is also a party to the London Protocol. The amendments were voted down by the government and the opposition. The bill passed the lower house on Thursday afternoon and will now go to the Senate for debate. Plibersek said the bill “increases the protection of our precious oceans” and the amendments were necessary to ensure there was a comprehensive regulatory framework was in place. “The London Protocol prevents marine pollution,” she said. “The import of carbon dioxide for CCS is currently legal and at risk of happening in an unregulated manner.” A report by the House of Representatives committee earlier this year said Australia should ratify the London protocol amendments. The member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, told parliament she was concerned the bill in its current form, “does not help us fight climate change – in fact, it is quite the opposite”. Zali Steggall, the MP for Warringah, said she had “significant concern this bill will be used to enable the prolonged use of fossil fuels”. The legislation is being debated in the same week the independent senator David Pocock announced he would bring a private member’s bill calling for a duty of care in Australian law that would require governments to consider the impact of climate harm on young people in their decision-making. The bill will be introduced to the Senate Thursday morning. More than 4,000 people have already signed a petition calling on the parliament to pass the legislation. It comes amid growing opposition to the expansion of gas projects, including in the Northern Territory. The chief minister of the Northern Territory, Natasha Fyles, used a speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday to accuse “teals [independents] and trolls” of trying to shut down the Middle Arm development over concerns it props up gas exports from the Beetaloo basin. However there has been strong concern about these projects from within the Northern Territory, including from Larrakia people, the traditional owners of Darwin, and traditional owners in the Beetaloo basin. | ['australia-news/series/the-top-end-carbon-bomb', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/gas', 'australia-news/tanya-plibersek', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'profile/sarah-basford-canales', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/fossil-fuels | EMISSIONS | 2023-08-03T01:27:48Z | true | EMISSIONS |
lifeandstyle/2017/feb/15/dexam-stuffed-burger-press-review-gadgets-rhik-samadder | Kitchen gadgets review: Dexam stuffed burger press – a mangled patty dribbling cheese | What? The Dexam stuffed burger press (£7, Ocado) is a plastic clamshell with concave plate. Hollows one of two mince-filled hemispheres ready for stuffing, which are then pressed together and fried. Why? Pressed for time on your coronary bypass? Let’s speed that up for you. Well? I’ve been trying to give up meat, partly for ethical reasons and partly because I am, as one friend memorably put it, a walking hashtag. However, because I bloody love flesh, I have a few loopholes: I can have meat if I’m eating out, or if someone gives it to me, or if I want some. (You could argue this is more exception than rule, but what is a net except a collection of holes? #madeyouthink.) The other circumstance in which it’s OK is for this column, so I’m excited about this moulded press, which lets you create bespoke filled burgers. It’s a rudimentary affair: two plastic bowls hinged together, filled with eggy seasoned mince. An indenting plate squashes on to one of these, creating a shallow meat basin which palatal conquistadors can fill with garlic mushroom, diced chorizo, wasabi mayonnaise, whatever. Because I am basic, I stuff my hole with cheese. To be honest, there is something infantilised about all filled food, no matter how refined. We crave choccie lava cake, bubble tea, syrup-middled cough sweets, a penny in a pudding, anything with a liquid centre – it’s probably why Ebola was so popular. But burgers? Is a good piece of meat not enough? Must it have a surprise inside? Should the surprise have another surprise inside that? Maybe we can just skip from one peak experience to another with no comedown for ever? No. I’m delighted to report my mangled patty of two halves split apart in the frying, and the centre dribbled out the sides, burning on to the pan. Hot off the press: a two-beefburger sandwich with no filling. A quarter-pounder without cheese. The company behind this gadget, Dexam, sounds like a serial killer, and its tagline is “at the heart of your kitchen”. If this unnecessary gadget is at the heart of your kitchen, I shudder to think what’s at the back of your cupboard. Some decapitated legs being used as a shoehorn? Pass me the aubergine, I’m done. Any downside? Bespoke stuffed burgermeat? There can be too much freedom of the press, you know. Counter, drawer, back of the cupboard? Tower of London, under custody of the yeomen. 1/5 | ['lifeandstyle/series/inspect-a-gadget', 'food/burgers', 'food/beef', 'food/meat', 'food/food', 'lifeandstyle/homes', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/technology', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/rhik-samadder', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2017-02-15T10:00:09Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/article/2024/may/09/biodiversity-loss-is-biggest-driver-of-infectious-disease-outbreaks-says-study | Biodiversity loss is biggest driver of infectious disease outbreaks, says study | Biodiversity loss is the biggest environmental driver of infectious disease outbreaks, making them more dangerous and widespread, a study has found. New infectious diseases are on the rise and they often originate in wildlife. In meta-analysis published in the journal Nature, researchers found that of all the “global change drivers” that are destroying ecosystems, loss of species was the greatest in increasing the risk of outbreaks. Biodiversity loss was followed by climate change and introduction of non-native species. “The take-home messages are that biodiversity loss, climate change and introduced species increase disease, whereas urbanisation decreases it,” said lead researcher Prof Jason Rohr from the University of Notre Dame in the US. Experts analysed nearly 1,000 studies of global environmental drivers of infectious disease, covering all continents except for Antarctica. They looked at both the severity and prevalence of disease in plant, animal and human hosts. The team focused on five global change drivers – biodiversity loss, climate change, chemical pollution, non-native species, and habitat loss. They found four out of five increased disease spread: all except habitat loss increased disease. Their results were the same across human and non-human diseases. Habitat change reduced the risk because of the trend of humans moving towards a specific type of habitat – cities. Urban areas tend to have less disease, partly due to better public sanitation but also because there is less wildlife. Rohr said: “In urban areas with lots of concrete, there is a much smaller number of species that can thrive in that environment. From a human disease perspective, there is often greater sanitation and health infrastructure than in rural environments.” Interest in zoonotic disease has increased since the Covid pandemic, which some researchers believe came from a bat. Many other diseases currently alarming global health authorities – including swine flu and avian flu – also originated in wildlife. Three-quarters of emerging diseases in humans are zoonotic, meaning they also infect wildlife and domestic animals. Previous studies pointed to links between these diseases and environmental change (for example, global warming could mean malaria is becoming more widespread) but it was previously unclear which environmental drivers had the biggest impact. The researchers noted that many of the drivers are interconnected: “For example, climate change and chemical pollution can cause habitat loss and change, which in turn can cause biodiversity loss.” Researchers say that reducing emissions, reducing biodiversity loss and preventing invasive species could all help to reduce the burden of disease. “We hope that our analyses will facilitate disease control, mitigation and surveillance efforts globally,” researchers wrote in the paper. 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/environment', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'science/infectiousdiseases', 'science/medical-research', 'science/science', 'world/world', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/conservation', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/phoebe-weston', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-05-09T08:00:44Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
politics/2007/may/24/communities.nuclear | Prime sites for nuclear power stations identified | The government is considering building nuclear power stations on the sites of old coal and gas-fired stations in Oxfordshire and the south-east, according to documents released yesterday as part of a consultation forced on it by the courts. A confidential report, commissioned by the DTI last year from leading energy analysts Jackson Consulting, has recommended a new generation of plants at existing or redundant civil and military nuclear power stations. But it says that many of these will be unavailable for years or will be unsuitable because they have limited connections to the national grid. Instead, the consultants say that "existing coal and/or gas-fired conventional power stations" should be considered for new nuclear sites. A further option would be to develop stations at "completely new greenfield sites". Of the 19 existing civil nuclear power station sites, only nine are considered feasible for new reactors, and only four of these are available immediately. However, the DTI has been advised that the sites of conventional power stations in the Midlands, the south coast near Brighton, and near Bristol could become available. The advice to ministers was outlined in a 50-page report, the only one known to have been commissioned by government specifically on the issue of the siting of new nuclear plants. It was submitted to the DTI last year and attempts by Greenpeace to make it public under freedom of information rules were repeatedly blocked. The study was finally disclosed yesterday, when the government published its latest energy white paper. This offered clear support for new nuclear plants but a fresh round of consultation has been demanded by the high court. Alistair Darling, the industry secretary, said that this would only take 20 weeks and argued it would be a "profound mistake" to rule out nuclear energy at a time of dwindling North Sea oil and gas supplies and pressure to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. "Quite simply, in the public interest, we need to make a decision this year on whether we should continue to get some of our electricity from nuclear because new stations take a long time to build. If nuclear is excluded there is every chance that its place would be taken by gas or coal generation which, of course, emit carbon," he said. According to the Jackson report, ease of connection to the national grid is the main factor in determining a site's suitability. This suggests that the best available location at present is at Harwell, a former military site close to Didcot power station in Oxfordshire. In the second rung of grid suitability come old coal-fired stations, but these are not mentioned by name. Only two nuclear sites that are immediately available - at Sizewell and Hinkley - are considered to be suitable to take new generation twin reactors. Eight of the 19 current nuclear sites considered by Jackson have limited grid connection and three - at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa in north Wales, Berkeley near Gloucester and Heysham in Lancashire are more or less ruled out with "major barriers that would be difficult to overcome". The report adds that new stations are unlikely to be feasible in Wales or Scotland because of devolution. While most existing reactors are on the coast, the report says it would be possible to build new ones inland. But these, it says, would need vast cooling towers, "as used by conventional coal and gas- fired generating stations such as Didcot in Oxfordshire". It says: "Cooling towers are very large structures which substantially damage the local amenity value from visual intrusion, causing significant difficulties with local public acceptance, as well as adding to the cost of construction and reducing the station's power output 3-5%." The report highlights nuclear waste organisation Nirex's anxiety that the sites most prone to flooding from rising sea levels are in the low-lying areas of the south of England - exactly where electricity demand is forecast to be greatest. It states that new nuclear power stations would have to be engineered and designed to take this into account. Greenpeace director John Sauven said: "Scientists say the speed at which climate change is happening means that some of the sites suggested for new nuclear power stations are threatened by rising sea levels and storm surges. You have to question where the government thinks it's going to build these things. "The list of preferred sites for new build in this report is a matter of national interest, not just something for civil servants to see. It's scandalous the government was going to keep this under wraps." The DTI said last night that the report's conclusions were those of the consultants and it was too early to consider the siting of any potential new stations. A spokesman said private companies would ultimately propose where they should be built. | ['politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'society/communities', 'business/business', 'society/society', 'world/world', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'uk/immigration', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2007-05-24T08:35:39Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2024/oct/15/bmw-chief-eu-combustion-engine-ban-car-industry | BMW chief says EU combustion engine ban will shrink car industry | The EU’s plans to ban the manufacture of traditional combustion engines from 2035 will shrink the industry, BMW’s chief executive has warned as the German car industry battles with increased competition from China in the electric vehicle sector. In a comment that will alarm Brussels, Oliver Zipse told the Paris motor show the 2035 cutoff point for CO2-emitting cars was “no longer realistic”. The ban “could also threaten the European automotive industry in its heart,” Zipse said. The measures will “with today’s assumptions, lead to a massive shrinking of the industry as a whole”. European car manufacturers are out in force in Paris to defend their home turf, with Chinese brands representing just one-fifth of those on show compared with 2022 when they accounted for half the brands displayed. BMW, one of the driving forces of the German car industry, is showcasing 15 electric vehicles in Paris, the most important industry event in the calendar. “A correction of the 100% BEV (battery electric vehicle) target for 2035 as part of a comprehensive CO2-reduction package would also afford European OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) less reliance on China for batteries,” Zipse added referring to Beijing’s dominant position. Carmakers including BMW, VW and Renault, as well as the Italian government, have called for the CO2 targets to be loosened or delayed. On Monday Carlos Tavares, the chief executive of the Fiat, Citroën and Vauxhall owner Stellantis, said proposed tariffs on Chinese cars would speed up plant closures in Europe, as they would push Beijing to move manufacturing to the continent in direct competition with European brands. Tavares said a decision would be made on the future of its UK plants “in the next few weeks”, amid a row over government electric vehicle quotas. Stellantis said in June that it could be forced to close its Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton if government rules were not relaxed. Tavares predicted Chinese brands would not be going to Germany, France or Italy, the home of Europe’s oldest brands, but China would seek cheaper options in countries such as Hungary, where BYD is already planning an assembly plant after efforts by the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, to woo investment from Beijing. This, he said, would mean “accelerating the need to shut down plants” elsewhere in Europe. The German car industry, once the envy of the world, is suffering partly because of weaker demand but also a slow reaction to competition from China. Efforts by BMW to push back against green targets will set alarm bells ringing in Brussels, which thought it had seen off the German car industry in 2023 when they were at loggerheads over the planned 2035 phase-out of CO2-emitting cars. Under the rules, secondhand petrol and diesel cars can be sold after this date. But after the row last year, Germany squeezed a further compromise out of Brussels, which will now also allow new combustion engine cars to be sold beyond the deadline if they use efuels. | ['business/automotive-industry', 'environment/electric-cars', 'business/bmw', 'technology/motoring', 'world/eu', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'environment/environment', 'world/germany', 'technology/technology', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'business/business', 'world/china', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisaocarroll', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2024-10-15T13:14:34Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2017/jan/06/all-the-twists-trims-and-turns-of-a-good-hedge-lay | All the twists, trims and turns of a good hedge lay | Thunk! The billhook bites deep and splits the hazel slantwise. With a heave and a twist on the trunk, the young tree shakes its embryonic catkins against the sky and swishes down to lie lengthwise with the others. Then begins the business of trimming the prone sapling and weaving it in so it becomes both hedge and living fence. Hedge laying is an ancient craft. Small tree trunks are sliced with a shallow, diagonal cut and then bent sideways. A thin bridge of wood remains to connect the laid tree to the live root. The horizontal trees, called pleaches or plashes, are interlaced and held in place with posts and crooks – pieces of forked stick driven into the ground. New side shoots grow outwards and upwards, regenerating the hedge from a thick, stock-proof, base. There are three of us volunteers working alongside Rob Bowditch, a professional woodsman, and Nick Gray from Dorset Wildlife Trust. The hedge we are laying hasn’t been tackled for more than 40 years, just smashed intermittently with a tractor-mounted flail. It’s a straggly mix of hazel, blackthorn, ash, spindle and sycamore, all grown into stunted trees tangled with ivy. We have to chop out the dead wood, fell the thickest trunks and then work with the thinner, wrist-sized pieces. Every limb is a puzzle requiring several decisions – whether to remove or keep, and, if keep, how to split and where to interlace. It’s slow, hard, work requiring considerable skill. As a beginner, I can’t match Nick and Rob’s precise violence. Rob wields a roaring chainsaw, sawdust snowflakes fountaining backwards from the blade. Nick chunks wedges of hazel with his billhook, using its weight to add extra directional force. I am less sure of my aim and it takes several, lighter, swipes to achieve what he does in one deft blow. The wood frays under my attempts and has to be sawn smooth; rich and buttery as pale cheese in its green rind. The outcome looks both neat and brutal: a pile of pinned skeletons. But next spring it will grow back bushy and dense, providing ideal shelter and food for dormice, insects and birds. Follow Country diary on Twitter: @gdncountrydiary | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/forests', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/sara-hudston', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2017-01-06T05:30:09Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2018/apr/19/great-barrier-reef-30-of-coral-died-in-catastrophic-2016-heatwave | Great Barrier Reef: 30% of coral died in 'catastrophic' 2016 heatwave | Scientists have chronicled the “mass mortality” of corals on the Great Barrier Reef, in a new report that says 30% of the reef’s corals died in a catastrophic nine-month marine heatwave. The study, published in Nature and led by Prof Terry Hughes, the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, examined the link between the level of heat exposure, subsequent coral bleaching and ultimately coral death. The extent and severity of the coral die-off recorded in the Great Barrier Reef surprised even the researchers. Hughes told Guardian Australia the 2016 marine heatwave had been far more harmful than historical bleaching events, where an estimated 5% to 10% of corals died. “When corals bleach from a heatwave, they can either survive and regain their colour slowly as the temperature drops, or they can die,” Hughes said. “Averaged across the whole Great Barrier Reef, we lost 30% of the corals in the nine-month period between March and November 2016.” The scientists set out to map the impact of the 2016 marine heatwave on coral along the 2,300km length of the Great Barrier Reef. They established a close link between the coral die-off and areas where heat exposure was most extreme. The northern third of the reef was the most severely affected. • Sign up to receive the top stories every morning The study found that 29% of the 3,863 reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef lost two-thirds or more of their corals. Hughes said researchers were also surprised at how quickly some corals died in the extreme marine temperatures. “The conventional thinking is that after bleaching corals died slowly of ... starvation. That’s not what we found. We were surprised that about half of the mortality we measured occurred very quickly.” The study found that “initially, at the peak of temperature extremes in March 2016, many millions of corals died quickly in the northern third of the Great Barrier Reef over a period of only two to three weeks”. “These widespread losses were not due to the attrition of corals that slowly starved because they failed to regain their symbionts. Rather, temperature-sensitive species of corals began to die almost immediately in locations that were exposed to heat stress.” The research team observed “markedly divergent responses to heat stress”. Some corals, such as staghorn and tabular corals, suffered a “catastrophic die-off”. Others proved more resilient. Report co-author Prof Andrew Baird said the coral die-off had caused “radical changes in the mix of coral species on hundreds of individual reefs”. “Mature and diverse reef communities are being transformed into more degraded systems, with just a few tough species remaining,” he said. The researchers estimate half of the corals in shallow-water habitats in the northern Great Barrier Reef have been lost. “But, that still leaves a billion or so corals alive, and on average, they are tougher than the ones that died. We need to focus urgently on protecting the glass that’s still half full, by helping these survivors to recover,” Hughes said. “The Great Barrier Reef is certainly threatened by climate change, but it is not doomed if we deal very quickly with greenhouse gas emissions. Our study shows that coral reefs are already shifting radically in response to unprecedented heatwaves.” The scientists said their research underscores the need for further risk assessment into the collapse of reef ecosystems, especially if global action on climate change fails to limit warming to a 1.5C to 2C increase on pre-industrial levels. They also warn that a failure to curb climate change, resulting in an increase above 2C, will radically alter tropical reef ecosystems and undermine benefits they provide to hundreds of millions of people. Hughes said that left the reef in “uncharted territory”, its future dependent on how quickly emissions peak and come down. If the targets in the Paris agreement are met, the reef will survive as “a mixture of heat-tolerant [corals], and the ones that can bounce back”. “Biodiversity will likely be less, coral cover will likely be less,” Hughes said. If warming continues apace: “Then it’s game over.” | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/coral', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ben-smee', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-04-18T18:00:32Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2017/jun/09/nine-of-worlds-biggest-fishing-firms-sign-up-to-protect-oceans | Nine of world's biggest fishing firms sign up to protect oceans | Nine of the world’s biggest fishing companies have signed up to protect the world’s oceans, pledging to help stamp out illegal activities, including the use of slave labour, and prevent overfishing. The initiative will be announced on Friday, as part of the UN Ocean Conference this week in New York, the first conference of its kind at which member states are discussing how to meet the sustainable development goal on ocean health. Goal 14 of the roster requires countries to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources”. However, little has yet been done to set out concrete commitments on meeting this target. The UN is hoping countries, companies and organisations will set out voluntary plans this week to work on issues such as pollution, overfishing, the destruction of coastal habitats, and acidification. The Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS) initiative, supported by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, marks the first time that companies from Asia, Europe and the US have come together aiming to end unsustainable practices. Although the fishing industry is highly fragmented at the local level, with millions of small boats and subsistence fishermen, about 11 to 16% of the global catch goes to just 13 companies, who are thought to control about 40% of the most valuable and biggest species. Henrik Osterblöm, deputy science director at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, which brought the initiative together, said: “Sustainable marine ecosystems will be essential to feed a growing population, but the oceans are at risk. Seafood makes up 20% of the global intake of animal protein.” The nine fishing companies signed up to SeaBOS have a combined annual revenue of about $30bn (£23bn), making up more than one-third of that of the top 100 seafood companies. They pledged to eliminate from their supply chains any fish that could have come from piracy or other illegal sources. As much as half the world’s fish catch is thought to involve “black” or illegal fishing, where vessels trespass into other national waters, use illegal gear, catch more than their quota or target endangered species or fish for which they have no quota. These fish are often “laundered” to find their way into legal fish markets. Slavery has also been a serious problem in fisheries, as spotlighted by the Guardian’s investigation into slavery in the Thai prawn fishing industry, which found worker exploitation and the deprivation of people’s rights was widespread in parts of Asia’s fishing grounds. The new declaration binds SeaBOS members to develop and enforce a code of conduct for their operations and those of their suppliers. The companies said: “We will also work towards full traceability and transparency throughout our supply chains. We also pledge to work actively together with governments to improve existing regulations for fisheries, for aquaculture, and for the ocean.” Fish farms have also been a cause of concern to ocean experts, with the heavy use of medicines and disinfectants causing marine pollution, and the use of millions of tonnes of fishmeal from ground-up wild fish to provide food for the farmed fish – as much as five tonnes of wild fish for every tonne of farmed. These factors undermine the claims of the fish farming industry to provide a sustainable source of fish, protecting wild populations. The SeaBOS signatories pledged: “We [will] make efficient use of aquaculture and use fish feed resources from sustainably harvested stocks. We will actively use and apply existing certification standards and prevent harmful discharges and habitat destruction. We call on the whole industry to do the same.” SeaBOS comprises: the two biggest seafood companies by revenue, Maruha Nichiro and Nippon Suisan Kaisha; two of the biggest tuna specialists, Thai Union Group and Dongwon Industries; the two biggest companies selling feed to fish farms, Nutreco (parent company of Skretting) and Cargill Aqua Nutrition; and the two biggest farmed salmon companies, Marine Harvest and the Cermaq subsidiary of Mitsubishi; and the Japanese tuna purse seine company Kyokuyo. Most of these are not household names to consumers, but their products are found all over the world. The group aims to sign up more companies, and to lobby governments to enforce better regulations, and to review its progress in a year. | ['environment/fishing', 'environment/food', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2017-06-09T08:00:51Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/nov/17/nicolas-maduro-cop27-climate-offender-venezuela | ‘Asking an arsonist to put out a fire’: climate offender Maduro makes Cop27 comeback | It is unclear whether Cop27 will have any real impact on efforts to halt climate change but one leader is likely to return from the international summit feeling that the trip to Egypt was well worth it: the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. After years of being frozen out of international relations the Latin American dictator used Cop27 to clearly – if controversially – demonstrate that he is back on the international stage. During the conference, the South American strongman was seen with a string of influential international figures, including the US special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Portugal’s prime minister, António Costa. The US state department spokesman, Ned Price, played down the significance of Maduro’s “very much unplanned interaction” with Kerry. The former secretary of state “was caught by surprise” at Cop27, Price said. But the presence of Maduro – who has one of Latin America’s worst environmental and human rights records – made leaders at the summit visibly uncomfortable and puzzled analysts. “My immediate reaction was ‘What on earth is one of the world’s worst climate offenders doing at a summit meant to address the climate crisis?’” said Geoff Ramsey, director for Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America, a DC-based thinktank. Maduro had been an international pariah since his 2018 re-election amid widespread allegations of fraud, which prompted a global effort to remove him from power. More than 50 nations recognised the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president, but Maduro stubbornly clung to power, using security forces to clamp down on dissent. His return to the international frame has been enabled in part by the war in Ukraine. US officials have twice visited Caracas as Washington explores how to replace Russian oil imports, and the two countries exchanged prisoners in October. Washington is even discussing lifting some sanctions on Venezuela if Maduro holds free elections. After accepting that efforts to force Maduro out had failed and that support for Guaidó has fizzled, the global north is bringing the Venezuelan leader back in from the cold in the name of pragmatism, said Ramsey. “Western leaders are re-engaging with the person who’s actually in charge,” he said. And Maduro has seized Cop27 as the opportunity to gleefully inform his foreign counterparts that he is back on the international scene in a series of awkward on-camera encounters. “When are you visiting us?” a grinning Maduro joked to Macron whose government officially recognises Guaidó as Venezuela’s president. Maduro also managed to squeeze in some some sightseeing, tweeting holiday snaps in front of Egypt’s most popular sights. He even hosted an event with the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, and Suriname’s president, Chan Santokhi, to call for a new alliance to protect the Amazon rainforest. Petro, who recently restored diplomatic relations with Caracas, is part of a wave of recently elected leftist Latin American leaders who have favoured engagement with the former regional outcast. But the Venezuelan’s impromptu diplomatic discussions may have undermined a summit upon which the future of the Amazon rainforest – and the planet – could hinge, experts said. “Cop should have been about future plans to make a tangible difference to protect the Amazon and combat climate change, not granting a political platform for people using the summit for a secondary political agenda,” said Bram Ebus, a consultant for International Crisis Group. As well as overseeing a litany of egregious state-led human rights abuses, including the imprisoning and torture of journalists and politicians, Maduro’s government has quietly driven the destruction of the country’s rainforests. Venezuela has the fastest accelerating rate of forest loss in Latin America according to Clima21, an NGO investigating environmental degradation in the Caribbean country. Much of that destruction is in the Orinoco Mining Arc, a 110,000 sq km expanse of dense rainforest in the east of the country which stretches into the Amazon. Maduro opened up the area to mining in 2016 and it has since become a lawless, disease-plagued region under the control of armed groups clearing the forest and poisoning its rivers. Venezuela’s military turns a blind eye to the activities of drug-trafficking militias such as the Colombian ELN rebels in return for a share of their profits. “Inviting Maduro to a climate conference is like asking an arsonist to put out a fire,” Ramsey said. “He has presided over the massive destruction of rainforest habitats, overseeing a free for all in illicit mining which has poisoned large swaths of the Orinoco River Basin.” Maduro’s corridor diplomacy may be little more than crafty opportunism and some TV optics, but it will strengthen the dictator’s support at home, said Ebus. “These images will run constantly on Venezuelan state television. Just the fact he is appearing in front of a camera shaking hands with foreign presidents and politicians is something that will be used in Venezuela to convince his own political base that he still matters on the world stage.” | ['environment/cop27', 'world/venezuela', 'environment/environment', 'world/americas', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/nicolas-maduro', 'type/article', 'tone/analysis', 'profile/luke-stephen-taylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | environment/cop27 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2022-11-17T10:30:46Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
global-development/2022/nov/01/uk-criticised-for-failing-to-pay-300m-in-promised-climate-funds-ahead-of-cop27 | UK criticised for failing to pay $300m in promised climate funds ahead of Cop27 | The British government has come under fire for sending a “strong negative signal” ahead of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, by failing to make $300m (£260m) of promised climate finance payments. The UK has already caused upset among developing countries hit hardest by the climate crisis, after a statement from Downing Street that Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, would not attend Cop27 due to his focus on domestic issues. Britain is the current holder of the Cop presidency and will hand over to Egypt in November. The UK missed its September deadline to provide $288m to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) dedicated to helping developing countries adapt and mitigate climate effects, Politico reported. A separate $20.6m pledge the UK made to the adaptation fund has also yet to be paid. Both funds support projects in the developing world, where people are suffering the most from a climate crisis they did least to cause. At a meeting of the GCF board last month in South Korea, developing countries expressed concern over the effect of the UK’s failure to fulfil its promises, according to observers. Board notes of the October meeting showed that three projects approved by the fund would now be put on hold due to a “lower volume of contributions from contributors than was anticipated”. Clare Shakya, director of the climate change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development, said the failure to deliver was “very, very poor timing”. “This is in the context when Cop26 was all about rebuilding trust. The UK has pushed every other country to up what they are doing to increase climate and adaptation funding. “And now, even before Cop27, the engineers of the trust-building exercise are reneging on their own promises. It’s such a strong negative signal to developing countries that they should not trust rich nations,” she said. Shakya predicted “absolute chaos” at Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, where the summit will be held from 6-18 November. “Everyone will be looking for strong statements and increased accountability for rich countries to deliver their promises.” Erika Lennon, who represented the civil society organisations for developed countries at the GCF meeting in October, said: “It’s worrisome any time a country doesn’t meet its commitments. Developing countries urgently need this funding, as we have seen by the climate impacts all over the world.” It was of “grave concern” that three projects had to be put on hold due to the cash shortfall, said Lennon, who is a senior attorney at the Centre for International Environment Law. “The funding proposals have already gone though a lengthy process of development. They have been identified as urgent and beneficial to a country or several countries in terms of priority for mitigation or adaptation to climate change. A number of countries have expressed concern over this.” The annual UN climate summits are designed to help governments agree steps to limit global temperature rises. The Egypt conference will focus on three key areas: reducing emissions, helping countries prepare for and deal with climate breakdown and securing technical support for developing countries. Last week, the UK’s humanitarian chief questioned where the promised $100bn (£87bn) a year to fight the impact of global heating in poorer countries had gone, and called for greater transparency around climate finance. “The truth of the matter is that we are scrambling to try to understand where the climate money is that was promised a decade ago,” said Martin Griffiths, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. “Where is it? Who’s holding it and who is not delivering it to places like Somalia?” said Griffiths. The UK has cut its overseas aid budget from 0.7% of GDP to 0.5%, with reports last weekend pointing to how a large proportion of the aid budget for poor countries is being spent inside the UK, much of it on housing refugees from Ukraine. The Foreign Office declined to comment on its climate finance commitments but is expected to update the GCF board on its payment schedule soon. | ['global-development/global-development', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'global-development/climate-finance', 'environment/environment', 'environment/cop27', 'politics/rishi-sunak', 'uk/uk', 'politics/politics', 'campaign/email/global-dispatch', 'environment/climate-aid', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/karenmcveigh', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/cop27 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2022-11-01T11:31:27Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
business/2009/feb/15/green-energy-cutbacks | Terry Macalister: Clean energy at a crossroads | Green companies are in retreat, with a wave of staff layoffs and production cuts that could have dire consequences for government efforts to fight climate change by quickly bringing low-carbon power projects on stream. Siemens, Clipper Windpower and even BP are among the big names that say they are reacting to a slowdown in the clean energy sector, which had hitherto seen massive growth. The credit crunch is starving wind and solar developments of urgently needed cash and the situation is being exacerbated by prices crashing to record lows in the carbon trading market. New Energy Finance, a consultant in the field, says that the next six months are likely to be very difficult for a sector that saw 60% growth in 2007 over 2006, but then almost no further expansion in 2008. Siemens Wind Power plans to make 400 redundancies at three sites in Denmark and accepts that the 30% growth seen in the sector over recent years could be cut to 20% or even 10% this year. Clipper Windpower said that 90 staff would be laid off - 11% of its total workforce - and production levels cut by up to a fifth as it reacts to a downturn in demand for its equipment as developers struggle to raise cash. Vestas, the world's biggest turbine manufacturer, reported a strong set of financial results for 2008, but warned last week that unless demand for its equipment increased over the next three months there would be cutbacks in investment levels for the coming year. Chief executive Ditlev Engel said: "If the world does not improve, we will have to look to cut jobs at Vestas." The solar power side of the renewables sector is faring no better. According to some estimates, private equity and public market investment in the fourth quarter of 2008 was just 25% of that seen in the third quarter of 2008, and the lowest for three years. Meanwhile, investment in large solar projects slipped down to $3.8bn in the last three months of 2008 against $5bn for the previous three months. New Energy Finance concludes, however, that while times are "undoubtedly hard" for the solar sector and there will be more job losses in the coming period, "there is still a significant amount of investment activity going on". Last year, around $155bn ($108bn) of new money was raised from the public markets, venture capitalists and the banks to fund clean energy companies. But this figure was barely up from the $148bn raised in 2007. Angus McCrone, senior analyst at New Energy Finance, says: "It is going to be a difficult first half for the wind and solar sectors, but if the credit markets ease up in the summer we should see a stronger second half." The situation has not been helped by the carbon market, which in recent days has seen the price of allowances under the second phase of the European Union's emissions trading scheme hit new lows of less than €9 (£8) a tonne. This has been caused partly by industrial companies selling off credits that they think they will no longer need in an economic downturn, and partly because carbon prices are often linked by traders to oil prices. The value of crude has fallen from last summer's highs of $147 a barrel to little over $40. This makes it less attractive to proceed with offsetting projects under the Kyoto Treaty's Clean Development Mechanism and is hitting companies which operate in the sector. EcoSecurities, which specialises in carbon offsetting, is to close its US consultancy office in Oregon at the end of this month and reduce its staff numbers in America by a third as it responds to a decline in demand. Carbon broker CantorCO2e has made redundancies in response to slowing demand for credits. The company's chairman, Laurence Rose, says total staff numbers have been trimmed over the last quarter although he adds: "We are not massively cutting our business." Meanwhile, in the biofuels sector, BP has been looking at cutbacks in its joint venture with D1 Oils that aims to produce clean fuel from jatropha plants, which can grow in the poorest soil. "A new business plan for D1-BP Fuel Crops will tighten the businesses' geographic focus, reduce the overhead base and contain short-term cash requirements," says the company. The wider BP group has announced 5,000 redundancies, almost all in the oil and gas sector, but officials admit that a small number are going at the Alternative Energy arm run by Vivienne Cox. Meanwhile, arch-rival Shell has already pulled out of what should become the world's largest offshore wind farm - the London Array in the Thames estuary - and German partner E.ON has admitted the economics of it look fragile in a world of low oil and carbon prices. E.ON feels "still pretty buoyant" about green energy overall, but admits that high costs and relatively low subsidies in Britain leave markets such as Spain and the US looking more attractive. | ['business/utilities', 'business/business', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'tone/analysis', 'environment/solarpower', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/businessandmedia', 'theobserver/businessandmedia/news'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2009-02-15T00:01:00Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2017/mar/24/areva-creusot-nuclear-forge-france-hinkley-point | Inspectors find safety irregularities at Creusot nuclear forge in France | An international team of inspectors has found evidence of doctored paperwork and other failings at a forge in France that makes parts for nuclear power stations around the world. The UK nuclear regulator said the safety culture at the site, which has produced forgings for British plants including Sizewell B and the planned new reactors at Hinkley Point, fell short of expectations. Last December regulators from the UK, US, China, Finland and Canada visited the Creusot forge run by the French state-owned nuclear builder Areva, to address their concerns after the country’s regulator ASN discovered quality-control problems and falsification of records in 2014. A report of the inspection by the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), obtained via a freedom of information request, concluded the improvement measures ordered by ASN were not yet effective. The visit uncovered an example of an employee at the forge “amending a manufacturing record in an uncontrolled manner” as recently as September 2016, two years after similar problems were uncovered. The doctoring went undetected by Areva’s on-site quality control, Areva’s independent third-party body and inspectors from EDF. The international inspectors also discovered the use of correctional fluid – like Tipp-Ex – at the forge’s operational control room. Correctional fluid is banned at the site, where a manager told the inspection team she regularly searched workstations for it. Experts said the report was worrying and would damage Areva. Paul Dorfman of the Energy Institute at University College London, who obtained the document, said: “Given nuclear regulation is all about safety, this kind of language is extraordinarily damaging coming, as it does, from the UK nuclear regulator.” Areva is already suffering serious financial problems. The company recently reported a €665m (£575m) net loss for 2016, though that is smaller than the €2bn net loss it posted in 2015. The ONR said there was a greater quality control presence “on the shop floor” of the Creusot, and much of the top management had been replaced since ASN told it to improve. But it said the international team of inspectors “were not confident that the improvement programmes and associated remedial actions … were sufficiently resourced, prioritised and integrated in order to bring about sustained improvements in manufacturing performance and nuclear safety culture”. The report said the UK regulator should reflect on whether EDF’s oversight of Areva was up to scratch, given it is a key supplier to the Hinkley Point C power station that EDF is building in Somerset. The ONR told the Guardian that since the visit to Creusot it had put in place plans to ensure any forgings destined for UK reactors, including Hinkley, met UK standards. A spokeswoman said: “Since this multinational inspection, ONR has developed its intervention plans to ensure that the licensee has in place and implements adequate management and assurance arrangements to clearly demonstrate that all components are manufactured to the required standards. “These plans will include a series of targeted inspections and other assessments of both the licensee and the supply chain, specification of appropriate regulatory hold-points, and a targeted regulatory review at an appropriate time in the next year to assess the progress and performance of both the licensees oversight and assurance activities and the expected improvements within the supply chain.” A spokesman for EDF said: “Steel forgings for Hinkley Point C will be manufactured to the most stringent nuclear standards which are reviewed and assessed by the independent UK regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation. EDF Energy also has its own inspection and quality assurance programme to provide the required confidence that the components manufactured by Areva for Hinkley Point C meet those exacting standards.” | ['environment/nuclearpower', 'world/france', 'uk-news/hinkley-point-c', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'world/europe-news', 'uk/uk', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-vaughan', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2017-03-24T21:57:22Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2021/apr/13/australia-black-summer-severe-weather-bushfire-flooding-polluted-rainfall | Australia’s ‘black summer’ of severe weather wasn’t just bad luck | First it was severe drought, then record-breaking wildfires, and finally flooding. Through the summer of 2019 and winter of 2020 Australia’s east coast was hit by one extreme weather event after another. Research shows this triple-whammy was not just bad luck. 2019 was Australia’s warmest and driest year on record. Average rainfall was 40% less than normal, with New South Wales and Queensland being particularly parched. Not surprisingly, the dry conditions led to months of severe wildfires, burning through an area the size of the UK, killing at least 33 people and destroying more than 3,000 homes. But “black summer”, as it was known, was not the end. In early 2020 moderate levels of rainfall, which would not normally have caused a problem, resulted in flooding and polluted drinking water. Using satellite data to map the degree of burning, Matthias Kemter, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, and his colleagues show the worst flooding occurred in the most badly burned regions. Charred landscapes were more prone to surface runoff, soil erosion and hill-slope failures. Reporting their findings in the journal Earth’s Future, they describe this as an example of a “hazard cascade”, demonstrating why decision-makers need to consider the connections between extreme events rather than tackle them in isolation. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'environment/environment', 'world/extreme-weather', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/flooding', 'australia-news/bushfires', 'world/wildfires', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/queensland', 'environment/summer', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/kate-ravilious', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-04-13T05:00:25Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2020/nov/01/federal-labor-takes-heart-from-queensland-election-result-but-gas-still-a-thorn-in-its-side | Federal Labor takes heart from Queensland election result but gas still a thorn in its side | Federal Labor has let out a sigh of relief after the Queensland state election win, admitting it can take “a lot of heart” from the victory – but its position on gas continues to cause ructions. The party has looked at the Palaszczuk government’s third electoral win – which included strong primary vote results in central and north Queensland regions that abandoned Labor at the last federal election – as the beginning of its recovery in the state. But it is yet to come to a concrete position on Australia’s gas future, with unions and pro-resources MPs urging the party to get behind the government’s much mooted “gas-led recovery”, despite the challenges it poses to emissions reductions. Labor is yet to land on a short-term emissions target. Anthony Albanese said the party would wait to see the outcome of the Glasgow climate talks, which will be held in November next year – potentially just months out from the next Australian election. It has left the opposition exposed on the gas issue with Brisbane MP Terri Butler telling the ABC it had a role to play, but so did Australia becoming a renewable energy “superpower”. “We would like to see gas form an important part of the transition to Australia becoming a renewable energy superpower,” she said. “That’s what’s important here – getting to a position where we make sure we are standing up for jobs, standing up for renewables, and making sure we put downward pressure on power prices for consumers and business. “The government has done the opposite and that is a significant problem.” Union officials met Labor MPs last week to pass on the message that gas would be a necessary part of Australia’s energy and market transition. It is part of an ongoing discussion within the party about how to move forward on energy after the last federal election loss, where central and northern Queensland voters turned away from Labor in droves. Labor supports Australia aiming for a net zero target by 2050, but has been silent on a 2030 target. Albanese has previously committed Labor to setting a new medium-term emissions reduction target consistent with scientific advice before the next federal election. The government, under prime minister Scott Morrison, plans on using Kyoto carry-over credits to meet its 2030 obligations, a move which has been described as an “accounting trick” by Labor’s energy spokesman, Mark Butler. So far it has resisted signing up to the 2050 net zero emissions target despite lobbying from allies such as the UK. Japan and South Korea recently committed to the 2050 target, leaving Australia in an increasingly outlier position. Morrison has said he will not be pushed into allowing other nations to dictate Australia’s policy. | ['australia-news/labor-party', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/queensland', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'business/gas', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'business/australia-economy', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/amy-remeikis', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-politics'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2020-11-01T03:19:01Z | true | EMISSIONS |
world/2022/jun/24/chinese-premier-calls-for-more-coal-production-as-electricity-demand-soars | Chinese premier calls for more coal production as electricity demand soars | China’s premier has called for increased production of coal to stave off mass blackouts, as early summer heatwaves have prompted record electricity usage. On Friday, authorities again issued high temperature warnings for about a dozen provinces across the central and northern provinces, after consecutive days in the high 30s. As people sought to escape the heat this week, state media reported, citing the State Grid Corp of China, that electricity demand was up 8.8% in north-west China compared with last year, and by 3.2% in northern China. Records for maximum electricity loads were broken in Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu. The premier, Li Keqiang, “urged tapping into advanced coal capacity, securing power supply and resolutely preventing power outages amid the peak summer season”, according to state media. The reports said Li also called for greater “efforts to ramp up efficient and clean coal power production”. Authorities are hoping to avoid repeats of an energy crisis last year in which there were widespread power cuts, but there are concerns that increased coal production will hamper China’s ability to meet its promises on emissions reductions. In 2020 the government announced a goal of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Last month China posted its third consecutive quarter of emission reductions, a feat that analysts said was achieved because of Covid restrictions, curbs on the property development market, and efforts to boost clean energy. China is a major investor in wind and solar, but its electricity system still relies overwhelmingly on coal-fired power, using more than 50% of the total national supply, according to a research paper published in Nature this month. “Although China already features the world’s largest installed power generation capacity for renewable energy, a profound transformation of the power system will still be required over the next 30 years to achieve carbon emission goals,” the paper said. Observers say China’s government has, in practice, renewed its focus on coal-fired electricity to ensure stability, despite the massive investment in wind and solar energy. A confluence of factors contributed to the 2021 crisis, including strict energy rationing designed to meet efficiency targets coming up against energy-intensive infrastructure projects designed to kickstart the pandemic-afflicted economy. The trend towards coal production and energy self-reliance is also being exacerbated by the market volatility resulting from the Ukraine war. The Netherlands, Germany and Austria have made similar moves in response to the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion. “It is fair to say that after the high note set by the carbon neutrality announcement in 2020, China’s climate momentum is waning,” said Li Shuo, a senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace. “It will certainly serve as a delaying factor for China to achieve deep decarbonisation over the long term … Stronger political will is needed to weather China through the current down season of climate action.” Jiang Yi, a Tsinghua University academic and member of the Chinese Communist party’s most recent national climate change expert committee, said the increase in coal production was not inconsistent with the government’s carbon pledges. “Before a perfect new power system has been built and the flexibility and storage capacity of the power system have been completely solved, it is also necessary to rely on coal-fired thermal power to ensure supply,” Yi said. “On the one hand we are grasping supply assurance, and on the other hand we are also vigorously developing zero-carbon energy systems to achieve the replacement of coal. The two are not contradictory.” Sophie Geoghegan, a climate campaigner for the Environmental Investigations Agency, said increasingly common and severe heatwaves around the world were increasing the demand for cooling such air conditioning. “The way that AC is used, as soon as it gets warm, everyone turns theirs on … putting huge strain on the grid, which means that either there are power cuts or peak power is switched on, and peak power is run by coal plants,” she said. “It’s a catch-22: it gets warm, so you turn on your AC, which increases global temps even further. So China has increased coal production to address a rising demand for cooling, but it’s a short-term fix which has long-term implications.” Additional reporting by Xianqian Zhu, Chi Hui Lin and agencies | ['world/china', 'environment/coal', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/energy', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helen-davidson', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-06-24T09:56:05Z | true | ENERGY |
media/2022/dec/21/guardian-hit-by-serious-it-incident-believed-to-be-ransomware-attack | Guardian hit by serious IT incident believed to be ransomware attack | The Guardian has been hit by a serious IT incident, which is believed to be a ransomware attack. The incident began late on Tuesday night and has affected parts of the company’s technology infrastructure, with staff told to work from home. There has also been some disruption to behind-the-scenes services. Online publishing is largely unaffected, with stories continuing to be written and published to the Guardian website and app. The company said it was confident it could still produce Thursday’s print newspaper. News organisations around the world have been regular targets for cyber-attacks both by criminals and nation states, although at this stage the company said it believed the incident was likely to be a ransomware attack. These involve hackers gaining access to a computer system then making demands to restore services. The Guardian Media Group chief executive, Anna Bateson, and the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, told staff: “As everyone knows, there has been a serious incident which has affected our IT network and systems in the last 24 hours. We believe this to be a ransomware attack but are continuing to consider all possibilities. “We are continuing to publish globally to our website and apps and although some of our internal systems are affected, we are confident we will be able to publish in print tomorrow. Our technology teams have been working to deal with all aspects of this incident, with the vast majority of our staff able to work from home as we did during the pandemic. “We will continue to keep our staff and anyone else affected informed. We will update everyone again at the end of the day. With a few key exceptions we would like everyone to work from home for the remainder of the week unless we notify you otherwise. “Thank you to everyone working hard throughout this incident to keep us publishing, looking after our readers, supporters and advertisers, and to keep our core systems available for colleagues.” | ['media/theguardian', 'media/media', 'media/national-newspapers', 'media/newspapers', 'technology/hacking', 'technology/technology', 'media/pressandpublishing', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jim-waterson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | technology/hacking | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-12-21T13:24:02Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2016/nov/15/destruction-of-kelp-forests-by-tropical-fish-shows-impact-of-ocean-temperature-rises | Destruction of kelp forests by tropical fish shows impact of ocean temperature rises | Herbivorous tropical fish have destroyed kelp forests in northern New South Wales, showing that even small increases in ocean temperature can lead to kelp deforestation, an Australian study has found. The University of NSW study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, found that the disappearance of kelp from waters near Coffs Harbour coincided with a threefold increase in the number of tropical fish in the region. The deforestation coincided with an 0.6 degree temperature rise. While that was not enough to directly impact the kelp, lead author Dr Adriana Vergés said it had the “truly catastrophic” effect of attracting hungry fish. The study examined video footage of 12 sites between 2002 and 2011. In 2002, six of the sites contained kelp. By 2010, all the kelp was gone. The proportion of kelp showing signs of bite marks increased from less than 10% in 2002 to more than 70% in 2008, before there was no kelp to measure. At the same time the proportion of tropical fish in the ecosystem increased from less than 10% to more than 30%. Most prolific were surgeonfish, which increased from 9% of the local fish population in 2002 to 33% at the end of the study period in 2011. Once the kelp had been removed, the ecosystem changed “quite dramatically” to become more tropical, in a trend Vergés said could potentially be seen globally. “We call it a homogenisation of community,” she said. “It’s a bit like globalisation – everything starts to become the same everywhere.” Researchers used video originally filmed to catalogue fish populations to track the decline of the kelp forests and also conducted experiments in kelp-free areas to see what fish would appear to snack on a spring of transplanted kelp. In one of the videos, a school of rabbitfish crowded around a scrap of kelp briefly lifts to let a shark glide past, before descending again. In another a lamington urchin, a creature that looks like a bald tennis ball that has been cut in half and covered in white spikes, can be seen motoring towards the kelp from some distance away before crawling on to the frond. Urchins are traditional kelp grazers but this species is tropical. Vergés said the decision to examine the impact of fish stemmed from a similar study into mass kelp death off the Western Australian coast, where a 100km stretch of kelp forests died in a marine heatwave in 2011. That study found the kelp was prevented from regenerating by rabbitfish and parrotfish, which ate any regrowth. The director of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Prof Peter Steinberg, who contributed to the UNSW study, said the findings increased the range of temperatures that could be considered to have a catastrophic impact because the tropical fish were triggered by a much smaller increase in temperature. “It may be in Western Australia the heatwave simply beat the fish to it,” he said. | ['environment/marine-life', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'profile/calla-wahlquist', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2016-11-14T20:50:09Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2018/oct/05/walkers-answers-critics-with-launch-of-uk-crisp-packet-recycling-plan | Walkers answers critics with launch of UK crisp packet recycling plan | Walkers has agreed to offer a free national recycling scheme to stop millions of empty crisp packets ending up in landfill in the UK every year after consumers heaped pressure on it to change its plastic packaging. A social media campaign asking crisp manufacturers to make their packaging recyclable led to Royal Mail issuing a plea to members of the public last week to put empty crisp packets in an envelope before posting them back to the company. The Leicester-based company has been accused of adding to the plastic waste littering the streets and seas by producing more than 7,000 non-recyclable crisp packets every minute. But on Friday Walkers, owned by PepsiCo UK, announced the launch of a nationwide recycling scheme, claiming it was a first for Britain. From December, crisp eaters will be able to deposit empty packets, regardless of the brand, at hundreds of collection points or post them in a box or envelope free of charge to the recycling firm TerraCycle. UK consumers munch through 6bn packets of crisps a year. But although the inside of conventional packets are shiny and look like foil, they are a metallised plastic film. The government-funded body Recycle Now, part of its waste advisory body Wrap, says no packets are currently recyclable and that they should be put in the rubbish rather than the recycling bin. But Walkers insisted crisp packets were “technically recyclable, but the issue until now has been that they weren’t being separated or collected for recycling”. It said the collected packets would be cleaned, shredded, turned into small plastic pellets and then converted into “useful” plastic items such as benches, plant pots and fence posts. “We share people’s concerns about the amount of plastic in our environment and are working on a number of both short- and long-term solutions to reduce the impact of our packaging,” said Ian Ellington, general manager of PepsiCo UK. “Our new Walkers recycling initiative starts to tackle this issue right now by repurposing used crisp packets to create everyday items.” More than 332,000 people have signed a petition on the 38 Degrees website asking “Walkers and other manufacturers to change the materials for their packets to one which is recyclable or even more preferably a non-plastic environmentally friendly material”. David Babbs, the executive director of 38 Degrees, said: “We are delighted to hear that Walkers will now be recycling used crisp packets. It is proof that public pressure can shift big companies to do more to prevent waste. “But let’s not forget that there is still more for Walkers to do if they want to keep the public on side. The public will be watching to make sure the new recycling scheme isn’t just a PR stunt. And, most importantly, they have to make their crisp packets fully recyclable far sooner than 2025.” | ['business/packaging', 'business/fooddrinks', 'business/pepsico', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'uk/uk', 'business/business', 'environment/plastic', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/money', 'business/retail', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rebeccasmithers', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-10-05T15:59:07Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2022/oct/16/csiro-abruptly-scraps-globally-recognised-climate-forecast-program | CSIRO abruptly scraps globally recognised climate forecast program | Australia’s premier science organisation abruptly scrapped a fully-funded, globally recognised program to predict the climate in coming years without consulting an advisory panel that had praised its “good progress” only weeks earlier. Launched in 2016 with $37m in funding over 10 years by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Decadal Climate Forecasting Project was meant to help industries from agriculture to dam operators and emergency services to better cope with climate variability and extremes. “While current weather and seasonal forecasts can help predict conditions between several days and a few months ahead, we are currently missing a key piece of the puzzle: what will our climate look like anywhere between one year and a decade into the future?” CSIRO said. “That research gap is now being filled by our work in decadal forecasting, providing invaluable insights to industry and beyond.” However, without fanfare and after having spent what one insider said was about $15m, CSIRO managers halted funding after June 2021. “It was doing excellent scientific research,” said David Karoly, a former CSIRO climate scientist who was on the unit’s advisory board. “It’s bloody stupid; they had made a commitment to a government minister” – the then environment minister, Greg Hunt. Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup A month before the project’s demise, the board found it was making “good progress”, and had “an excellent team of senior and early-career researchers”. It was producing “exciting research” cited in 28 peer-reviewed papers in the previous year alone. The World Meteorological Organization also recognised its work, making CSIRO just one of five global data-producing centres for its near-term climate prediction “grand challenge”. The system supplying that data, known as the Climate Analysis Forecast Ensemble (CAFE) based on 100 climate models, has now ceased, insiders told Guardian Australia. “The primary reason [for ending the program] was the external income was negligible,” Karoly said, adding CSIRO typically requires units find more than 50% of funding from outside. CSIRO was a pioneer in researching links between rising greenhouse gases and global heating. That work, though, has endured pressure over the years and efforts to slash job numbers in 2016. Fresh concerns about job security have arisen in recent weeks after the merger – again without a CSIRO media release – of its Oceans & Atmosphere and Land & Water divisions into a single environment business unit. “Regardless of the merits of this decision, the fact is that staff and their representatives have not been consulted prior to the announcement of major workforce change,” the CSIRO Staff Association secretary, Susan Tonks, said. “That’s not good enough.” A union and staff meeting is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. One concern is the recent identification of a $4m-plus hole in expected revenue. Ocean and atmospheric monitoring might face cuts, one insider said. A spokeswoman said the decadal forecasting project “has had many scientific successes over five years”, leading CSIRO’s “capability to deliver into new priority areas for climate research”. She did not say why the CAFE was closed. Project staff had been transferred to other sections, including the Australian Climate Service (ACS), with one staff member made redundant “in order to align capability to deliver across priority areas”, the spokeswoman said, adding the supply of data to WMO was voluntary. The claim of a new funding gap was “incorrect”, she said. Scientists said decadal forecasting was “high risk, high reward”, combining the most difficult overlap between weather and climate prediction. “We produced the first two official forecasts of the near-term climate over the next one-to-five years,” one researcher said. “They are already being used in Europe.” Michael Mann, the renowned climate scientist now with the University of Pennsylvania, said near-term climate research could benefit “all sorts of stakeholders”, from farmers to energy producers and water managers. Research by Mann and others showed modelling remained challenging because it involves forecasting how complex ocean-atmospheric processes work in tandem. (For instance, how ocean gyres and the North Atlantic overturning circulation interact and affect wind patterns remains uncertain, he said.) “It’s definitely a key area of applied climate science that deserves ongoing support, and CSIRO has made important contributions to the scientific advancement in this area,” Mann said. Guardian Australia approached the science minister, Ed Husic, for comment. CSIRO and the government will likely face questions on the cuts at Senate estimates, which begin in late October. “With residents in three states being evacuated in recent days due to floods, the serious impacts of climate change on humans and our environment are acutely apparent,” the independent senator David Pocock said. “Now is the time for more – not less – research into measuring coming changes to the climate.” Zali Steggall, also an independent federal MP, said climate change was “one of the biggest of disruptors of our time so ongoing climate science funding should be increasing to reflect that”. “It’s very concerning the data collection was wrapped up with limited consultation as we need good science to help inform ongoing decisions at the national and global level,” Steggall said. “I am in favour of a model where business and researchers can work together, but some research is just too important to rely on commercial support.” | ['australia-news/csiro', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/peter-hannam', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2022-10-15T19:00:16Z | true | EMISSIONS |
weather/2009/may/07/weather-watch-hot-ice | Weatherwatch | Pure water normally does not freeze above zero degrees centigrade but with the aid of an electric field, "hot ice" can form. This may be the key to solving the meteorological mystery of the memory of dust. In 2003, researchers in the Netherlands used an electric field to make water molecules line up in an orderly arrangement. This made it easier for the water to take on a crystalline structure and solidify into ice. In effect, the electric field allowed water to freeze at a higher temperature - even at room temperature. This was thought to be a rare phenomenon, but a Korean team have since showed that the effect can occur with relatively weak electric fields found in nature, around a million volts per metre. For water vapour to condense and form a cloud of ice crystals, it needs particles to grow around what are often small specks of dust. And what baffles meteorologists is that after the first time it forms ice, the dust can form crystals at a higher temperature on subsequent occasions, as though it has a memory and has learned how to make ice. It may be that the dust particles carry a charge of static electricity. The electric field from this would be enough to preserve ice crystals in crevices in the dust particle. The next time the dust encounters the right conditions, ice can grow easily on these existing crystals. The hot ice theory is unproven, but would explain the otherwise baffling memory of dust. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2009-05-06T23:01:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2024/feb/12/primary-school-closed-asbestos-in-mulch-liverpool-west-public-school-sydney | Sydney primary school and part of hospital closed after asbestos found in mulch | A primary school in south-west Sydney has been shut and part of a hospital closed-off to the public after asbestos was found in garden mulch which was supplied by the same company that produced mulch found to be contaminated at multiple locations across the city. The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority on Sunday confirmed it had found bonded asbestos in mulch at Liverpool West public school, which was followed by the discovery of the contaminant in mulch at Campbelltown hospital on Monday. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup The environmental watchdog said it identified the school as a priority site for testing after learning the mulch used there was supplied by Greenlife Resource Recovery – the same company that supplied mulch to Rozelle parklands. The discovery of bonded asbestos in the park on top of the Rozelle interchange in January prompted a broad investigation by the EPA and the NSW government, which has detected the contaminant at other sites across Sydney, as well as the south coast. The education minister, Prue Car, moved to reassure parents. She said only one piece of bonded asbestos had been found at Liverpool West and the government had acted swiftly. The school enacted its asbestos protocol and temporarily shut down, meaning students will be taught remotely on Monday and Tuesday while the mulch is removed and replaced. Car said “at this stage” the government didn’t believe the mulch in question had been used at any other schools but she couldn’t guarantee it. The education department secretary, Murat Dizdar, said recycled mulch – which can contain building and demolition waste as well as new organic material – wasn’t “normally” allowed to be used at schools. “We’re looking into with the builder and supplier … what went wrong here. And we’ll reinforce our standards out there to all the major builders that we engage,” he said. Dizdar would not name the building company contracted to deliver the multimillion dollar Liverpool West redevelopment because he didn’t think thatwas “for the public domain at this stage”. The NSW government previously named major builder ADCO Constructions as the company it hired to redevelop the school. A spokesperson for ADCO Constructions said the company was assisting School Infrastructure NSW and the EPA to “co-ordinate urgent remediation works” of the affected landscaping area at the school, and that the firm’s landscaping subcontractor “is separately assisting the EPA with details related to the supply of the mulch”. “The recycled mulch material was supplied through our landscaping contractor and we received chemical composition test results for the recycled mulch before its use at the project,” the spokesperson said. “We are unaware of the supply of mulch by Greenlife Resource Recovery to any landscaping contractors on any other projects.” The EPA chief executive, Tony Chappel, said the mulch found to contain asbestos at Campbelltown hospital also came from Greenlife and that health authorities had cordoned off that part of the hospital to the public. He said the EPA was investigating a “very complex supply chain” to pinpoint the source of the contamination. “It’s important to understand that it is unlawful and a serious criminal offence to … sell material contaminated in this way,” Chappel said. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said all but one sample of mulch taken from Liverpool West public school were free of asbestos but it was “exercising an abundance of caution to ensure the health of staff and students”. A spokesperson for Greenlife said it was concerned bonded asbestos had been found at a school but it was confident that “when its products are delivered to contractors to lay they are free of asbestos”. “It is unreasonable to hold [Greenlife] responsible for how its products are used once delivered to contractors on a construction site,” they said. The mulch supplier has hired a lawyer from commercial law firm Fishburn Watson O’Brien, Ross Fox, who said last week it was “too soon to jump to conclusions” about the source of the contamination. “Greenlife is at risk of being made a scapegoat for failures in complex construction projects on contaminated land,” Fox said in a statement. The company has insisted its mulch was thoroughly tested and that “all tests verified unequivocally that the mulch was clean of asbestos”. As part of its investigation the EPA has conducted more than 100 tests at sites across Sydney, with 13 returning a positive result for bonded asbestos, which NSW Health advises is a low risk to public health. Bonded asbestos is considered lower-risk than friable asbestos because the hazardous particles are bonded in a harder substance, such as concrete, and are therefore less likely to become airborne and be ingested. | ['australia-news/series/the-dirt-files', 'australia-news/sydney', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-education', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'environment/asbestos', 'environment/soil-contamination', 'profile/catie-mcleod', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-02-12T07:10:57Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
business/2023/mar/01/uk-energy-firms-must-pass-on-price-savings-to-customers-grant-shapps | UK energy firms must pass on price savings to customers, ministers warn | Ministers have warned energy firms that they must pass on the benefits of lower wholesale prices to consumers, amid concern that bills could rise this spring. In a speech on Wednesday, Grant Shapps will tell energy suppliers that reduced wholesale prices must be seen in consumer prices, “no ifs, buts or maybes”. In an apparent sign of government concern about the impact of reduced direct support for domestic energy bills, the energy secretary will spell out his message in a speech at the Chatham House thinktank in London. “I have one overriding mission in this new job: for the UK to have amongst the cheapest wholesale electricity prices in Europe,” said Shapps, whose formal brief changed from being business and energy secretary to energy security and net – zero secretary amid a mini-reshuffle and restructuring earlier in February. “This is critical to consumers, to our country and to our planet,” he added. “Making the most of our position as a world-leaders in renewables and nuclear technology, homegrown sources that will shield households from the worst excesses of the volatile global fossil-fuel markets. And suppliers must be ready to pass those savings on to consumers.” Ministers face pressure to postpone the reduction in support for consumer energy bills due in April, given the impact on cost of living pressures. On Monday, the energy regulator, Ofgem, said its energy cap – the amount suppliers can charge for average dual fuel, direct debit customers – would fall by 23% for the three months from 1 April to £3,280, from £4,279 for the January to March quarter. However, the reduction in government help means that the actual price paid by an average household will rise from £2,100 a year in April to £3,000. Wholesale gas prices have fallen sharply in recent months but the drop is yet to feed through into household bills because suppliers buy their energy months in advance. Shapps’ speech, extracts of which were released in advance by his department, will also focus on wider energy security issues, with a pledge that “never again should [Vladimir] Putin or anyone like him even think they can hold the UK to ransom”. The government has promised to invest heavily in domestic-based energy sources, including nuclear power, renewables and some continued fossil fuel extraction. The latter has prompted protest groups to vow to obstruct this, with Shapps due to also promise action to tackle them. “Families have seen the impact on the pounds in their pockets of Putin’s illegal march on Ukraine a year ago – and it has opened the world’s eyes to just how vulnerable we are to tyrants like him,” he will say. “Working towards this overarching goal of cheaper wholesale electricity will mean we will be powering Britain from Britain, increasing our energy security and independence – the kind of independence that comes from having the four biggest windfarms off our shores. “And all this will be better for our planet – energy security and tackling climate change are ultimately two sides of the same coin. And it will be this – not the eco-extremists like Extinction Rebellion causing disruption and dismay – that will have people voting with their feet as they see the benefits of achieving net zero.” | ['business/energy-industry', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'uk/uk', 'politics/grant-shapps', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/peterwalker', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2023-03-01T05:00:23Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2021/oct/28/bank-of-england-warns-of-crackdown-on-financing-linked-to-climate-risk | Bank of England warns of crackdown on financing linked to climate risk | The Bank of England has told banks and insurers it is prepared to use its powers to crack down on them if they fail to manage climate risks. The warning came as the central bank begins to review a potential introduction of capital requirements linked to unsustainable assets. The Bank said on Thursday it would take a more active approach to the climate crisis in the new year when City firms would have to demonstrate a good understanding and management of the related financial risks. Those lagging behind would face action by its regulatory arm, it said. In a climate adaptation report released on Thursday the Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said such action could include ordering a “skilled persons” review of offending firms that could lead to a “deep-dive audit” or additional monitoring. The regulator said it also had the powers to impose additional capital requirements linked to assets carrying climate risks. Capital requirements determine the kind of financial cushions banks must have to protect them from risky loans and products on their balance sheets. They can act as a deterrent, since capital rules make risky assets more expensive to hold. “Where progress is insufficient and assurance or remediation is needed the PRA will request clear plans and, where appropriate, consider exercise of its powers,” the Bank of England said. Climate campaigners at Positive Money welcomed the announcement, saying capital requirements could help reduce the amount of funding provided to polluting firms. “After months of pushing back on the idea of ensuring capital rules reflect climate risk, believing that banks can be left to themselves to address this systemic issue, it is positive that the Bank of England appears to be recognising the need for stronger regulation,” said David Barmes , Positive Money’s senior economist. “Such reforms are long overdue and policymakers should move to implement them without delay.” However, the Bank signalled that it was unlikely to deploy capital rules until it had conducted a further review, in 2022, on use of the rules, which would also allow it to complete its first climate stress tests involving the UK’s largest banks. The Bank explained that the complex nature of climate forecasts and transition paths, which stretch over decades, made it harder to assess the value of climate risks. “Accordingly, research and analysis on sizing climate-related financial risks for capital purposes is nascent and not always conclusive,” it said. The regulator also said that capital requirements were likely to target the consequences rather than the causes of climate change. That could mean the setting of capital requirements would be based on the effects of government climate policies, rather than on those assets being linked to higher carbon emissions. Banks, for example, may have to hold capital against loans to petrol vehicle manufacturers owing to the fact that the UK plans to ban the sale of such vehicles by 2030. It is less likely that the regulator would require banks to hold capital against loans made to fossil fuel producers, unless it were part of the government’s transition plan. The PRA has already begun an initial review into the use of capital requirements to protect against climate risks, but will be calling for further research and will hold a conference on the issue in 2022 before issuing guidance. | ['business/bankofenglandgovernor', 'business/banking', 'business/insurance', 'business/regulators', 'business/economics', 'business/financial-sector', 'business/business', 'business/banking-reform', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'global-development/climate-finance', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kalyeena-makortoff', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2021-10-28T14:20:00Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2023/mar/08/half-of-britain-and-irelands-native-plants-have-declined-over-20-years-study | Half of Britain and Ireland’s native plants have declined over 20 years – study | Half of Britain and Ireland’s native plants have declined over the past 20 years, with non-native species now more numerous in the wild, a major study has found. Thousands of botanists from the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) have spent the past 20 years collecting data on changes in the British and Irish flora. The research, published in Plant Atlas 2020, has implications for native insects and other species which rely on the plants they evolved alongside. Agricultural practices and the climate crisis are the main drivers of decline in native plant species, scientists said, as they called for urgent action to tackle the loss. Changes in farming since the 1950s such as nitrogen enrichment, habitat degradation and changes in grazing pressure have led to the decline of species such as heather andharebell, the research found. Additionally, damp meadows have been drained, leading to substantial declines in plants such as devil’s-bit scabious – a plant fed on by rare butterflies. Ancient arable wildflowers such as corn marigold fared worse than other species; with a 62% decline. This is because traditional grasslands have been reseeded or over-fertilised. Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “The decline of our beautiful native plants is heartbreaking and has consequences for us all. The loss of natural habitats due to modern farming methods over the last 70 years has been an unmitigated disaster for wildflowers and all the species that depend on them including insects, bats and birds. “But it’s not too late to stop this catastrophe. The government’s new farm environment schemes must do what was originally promised and reverse the decline of nature in our agricultural landscape. Also, protection for local wildlife sites needs to be increased, and the promise made by the government at the recent UN biodiversity summit to halve nutrient pollution by 2030 must be honoured.” Climate breakdown has affected many species. For example, mountain plants such as alpine lady-fern, alpine speedwell and snow pearlwort depend on areas where the snow lies late in the spring and summer. Of the 3,445 different plant species recorded during fieldwork, 1,692 are native to Britain while 1,753 non-natives were found that have been deliberately or accidentally introduced into the wild by humans. Many of the non-native species originate from gardens and then spread to establish self-sustaining populations. The planting of non-native spruce is degrading peatland habitats, researchers found, and sitka spruce, which regenerates into peatland and moorland, has shown the most significant increase in range of any species recorded. Dr Kevin Walker, BSBI head of science and Plant Atlas 2020 co-author, said: “There’s a lot we can do to reverse these declines, but the most important are to increase the protection plants receive, extend the habitat available to them, and to place their needs at the very heart of nature conservation. We also need to ensure that our land, water and soil are managed more sustainably so that plants, and the species which rely upon them for food and shelter, can thrive.” | ['environment/plants', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'environment/biodiversity', 'world/ireland', 'environment/insects', 'environment/farming', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helena-horton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-03-08T06:00:19Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
sport/2024/dec/30/wales-captain-dewi-lake-a-major-doubt-for-six-nations-after-biceps-surgery | Wales captain Dewi Lake a major doubt for Six Nations after biceps surgery | Dewi Lake is in danger of missing the Six Nations after having biceps surgery. The Wales captain suffered the injury in training with Ospreys before Christmas and on Monday the region’s head coach, Mark Jones, was able to give a more accurate prognosis. He revealed the 25‑year‑old hooker could be out for as long as 12 weeks, which would rule him out of the entire Six Nations. Wales’ final game, against England, is scheduled for Cardiff on 15 March – but there is a chance Lake, who is also in contention for British & Irish Lions selection, will be fit before that game. “I think about 12 weeks was the high end of it,” Jones said of the player’s expected recovery time. “Knowing Dewi, and looking at the quality of the rehabilitation that’s out there now, all we know is the operation went well and there’s nothing to suggest he can’t beat that target. “Dewi’s got an awesome mindset, he’s a great professional. I texted him over Christmas and he’s right on to getting that down as low as he can.” Warren Gatland’s side – who are on their worst run of 12 consecutive defeats – begin their Six Nations campaign against France in Paris on 31 January, with hooker threatening to become a problematic position. Ryan Elias is out with a neck injury although the Scarlets head coach, Dwayne Peel, told the BBC he hopes the player will return in mid-January, while Elliot Dee has recently returned for Dragons after an ankle problem. | ['sport/wales-rugby-union-team', 'sport/sixnations', 'sport/rugby-union', 'sport/sport', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'campaign/email/the-breakdown', 'profile/luke-mclaughlin', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/wales-rugby-union-team | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2024-12-30T20:14:39Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2013/dec/09/radioactive-spill-full-audit-sought | Radioactive spill: uranium processing halted and mine audit under way | Uranium processing has been shut down at a Northern Territory mine which was the source of a million-litre radioactive spill as a comprehensive audit of the entire site is undertaken. The spill, which contains acidic slurry as well as radioactive waste and mud, happened at the Ranger uranium mine in the Kakadu national park in the early hours of Saturday as staff were evacuated. The spill was successfully contained, did not leak into the national park and all water tests in the area returned normal results, according to the mining operator, the Rio Tinto-owned Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), but Indigenous people in the area, frustrated by what they see as years of dodgy practice, are concerned. The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation’s chief executive, Justin O’Brien, said the company, as well as the territory and federal governments, should seek international help in the clean-up and a comprehensive audit of the operation was needed, looking particularly at what he called “ageing plant facilities”. Industry minister Ian MacFarlane suspended processing operations at the mine and announced he had ordered a comprehensive audit of the site on Monday afternoon. “I have told ERA today that they cannot resume processing at Ranger until the company demonstrates the integrity of the processing plant to the satisfaction of the regulatory authorities,” Macfarlane said. “ERA must also demonstrate that Kakadu National Park and human safety remain protected. I understand the concerns of traditional owners and local residents and can assure them that governments will continue to ensure the mine operates to the highest standards.” A spokesman for the environment minister, Greg Hunt, said an immediate investigation into the spill had been ordered and while environmental audits were carried out annually, no audit of the entire operation was planned. “People living just a few kilometres downstream from the mine don’t feel safe,” O’Brien said. “How can we trust the assurances of a company which has repeatedly failed to safely manage this highly toxic material? What may happen next?” Northern Territory Labor senator Nova Peris has joined the call for an independent audit of the site and O’Brien said the spill came after two other safety incidents in the past month leaving the Mirarr traditional owners concerned for the park’s safety as well as that of their community and visitors. In 2010 water contamination levels in the area spiked to five times the safe level after millions of litres of radioactive water from the Ranger mine reportedly flowed into world heritage-listed wetlands in the park. ERA representatives at the time said the contaminated water had come from upstream and was not the fault of the company. “This is nothing but a hillbilly operation, run by a hillbilly miner with hillbilly regulators,” O’Brien said. “Based on the woefully inadequate government response to the previous incident, we have no confidence that this will be taken seriously enough.” In ERA’s latest statement since the spill was confirmed, the company said the slurry had been “fully captured”. “ERA is confident that Kakadu national park will not be impacted as a result of this incident,” the statement said. “Ranger mine has multiple levels of protection in place to contain and manage spills, including bunding, protective barriers and channelling. These containment systems have operated as designed during this incident.” ERA said the full impact of the spill was yet to be realised. The task force which will lead the investigation includes the Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy, Northern Territory WorkSafe, the Supervising Scientist and the Department of Industry. ERA has applied to open another uranium mine 22km from the Ranger site but has said it will not go ahead without the permission of the Mirarr people. | ['australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/mining', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/bridie-jabour'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2013-12-09T07:33:32Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2018/aug/28/hurricane-maria-new-death-toll-estimate-is-close-to-3000 | Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico raises official death toll from 64 to 2,975 | Puerto Rico has raised the official death toll from Hurricane Maria to 2,975 people – a dramatic increase on the previous official figure of 64 – almost a year after the devastating storm struck the island. The death toll was changed for the first time since December, following the publication of new research by George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. “We never anticipated a scenario of zero communication, zero energy, zero highway access,” Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, told reporters. “I think the lesson is to anticipate the worst.” This is the first official change to the death toll following efforts by journalists, activists and academics to get the government to officially acknowledge the scale of devastation. Rosselló told reporters the island could have been better prepared for the hurricane, which hit on 20 September 2017, causing an island-wide electricity outage and telecommunications failures that made it nearly impossible for people to contact loved ones and get help for weeks after the storm. “Yes, I made mistakes,” Rosselló said. “Yes, in hindsight, things could have been handled differently.” Nearly a year on from the hurricane, Puerto Ricans are still struggling and more than 300,000 people have fled the island for the mainland. Rosselló said the report provided a foundation for the government to improve its response to hurricanes and other disasters. He also announced the creation of a “9/20” commission to determine what such improvements should look like. Certain populations are identified in the report as being more vulnerable to natural disasters, including people who lived below the poverty level, the elderly and people who have chronic illnesses and need access to medications and medical equipment such as dialysis. “A lesson from this [report] is that efforts for assistance and recovery need to focus as much as possible on lower-income areas, on people who are older, who are more vulnerable,” said Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken institute. The finding is almost twice the government’s previous, unofficial estimate, included in a recent report to Congress, that said there were 1,427 more deaths in the three months after the storm than the average for the same period over the previous four years. George Washington University researchers found that the number of deaths from September 2017 to February 2018 was up 22% year on year. The university researchers said the official count from the hurricane, which hit with huge force on 20 September as a series of tropical storms and hurricanes raged through the region, was low, in part, because doctors were not trained in how to certify deaths after a disaster. Nydia Velazquez, a Democratic New York congresswoman, said the report shows the US government failed the people of Puerto Rico. “These numbers are only the latest to underscore that the federal response to the hurricanes was disastrously inadequate and, as a result, thousands of our fellow American citizens lost their lives,” she said in a statement. There is no national standard on how to count disaster-related deaths. The researchers said they counted deaths over the span of six months, a much longer period than usual because so many people were without power during that time. “That caused a number of issues,” Goldman said, adding that people were forced to exert themselves physically or were exposed to intense heat without fans or air conditioning. “It’s fairly striking that you have so many households without electricity for so long. That’s unusual in the US after a disaster.” Donald Trump was lambasted for the government’s slow response to the disaster. The president later visited the island and appeared to complain about the cost of relief, while also making a display out of throwing rolls of paper towel to a group gathered to hear his address. This is the first official change to the death toll following efforts by journalists, activists and academics to get the government to officially acknowledge the scale of devastation. Researchers said the actual number of excess deaths was estimated to be in the range of 2,658 to 3,290. Researchers said the next stage of assessing the death toll includes examining death certificates and interviewing family and friends of the deceased to determine if those deaths should be attributed to the storm. Associated Press contributed to this report | ['world/hurricane-maria', 'us-news/puerto-rico', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/americas', 'world/natural-disasters', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/amanda-holpuch', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/hurricane-maria | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-08-28T21:51:48Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/2018/may/11/weatherwatch-are-ice-halos-a-warning-of-disaster-possibly | Weatherwatch: are ice halos a warning of disaster? Possibly | On 17 May 1986 Dutch people saw a bright circle around the sun. Coming three weeks after the Chernobyl disaster, this unusual phenomenon caused great consternation. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute was flooded with calls asking if the halo was linked to radioactive particles in the air. At the time the idea was dismissed, but now it turns out that Dutch observers may have been right. Since Babylonian times halos have provoked fascination and superstition; King Edward IV of England even used them to help him win a battle during the War of the Roses. Today we know they are caused by high level ice crystals acting like chandelier crystals, scattering light. Sometimes halos can presage a storm, when sunlight is scattered by ice crystals in high level cirrus clouds on the storm’s front edge. Writing in the journal Weather, Mila Zinkova describes halos she saw during the Californian wildfires in 2017. She concludes that the smoke from the fires encouraged formation of high level ice crystals, enhancing the chances of halos being seen. Similarly, Zinkova suggests that the radionuclides ejected by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 might have served as nuclei for the ice crystals that caused halo sightings over the Netherlands. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/meteorology', 'world/wildfires', 'environment/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster', 'science/sun', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/kate-ravilious', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-05-11T20:30:11Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2005/sep/05/hurricanekatrina.usa2 | Frightened victims ponder life in a new city | Robyn Rafferty had wanted to pick up her pets and jewellery from her wrecked home before heading off to start a new life with her family in Nashville, Tennessee. But as thousands of her fellow citizens in New Orleans are discovering, suddenly becoming an evacuee can be a frightening and painful experience. Driving into the flooded area where her animals were trapped, she had tried to navigate a road that had swallowed up her car. She is fearful as gangs of young men cruise the area. "The police said they would only take me to the Superdome and I just started shaking," she said. Now she is abandoning her home and everything in it and looking for any way out of the city to start again in another town. "It will be hard on the children because they had just started at a new school," said Ms Rafferty, who worked for a law firm dealing with bankruptcy cases - of which there will now be no shortage. "But at least we are alive. All of our friends are in different cities. People are scattered all over the place." What is in the process of unfolding is an enormous evacuation operation. The nearest cities and towns to the damaged areas are already experiencing an influx of the more than 400,000 people who have fled New Orleans and surrounding areas. Some are only there temporarily as they wait to see what has happened to their abandoned homes, but others have already decided they will never return. "We might go to Chicago," said Zachary Edwards resignedly as he waited for transport out of the city from the convention centre in New Orleans. "We have relatives there that we can call. We're leaving our house now." His daughter Tyra, 13, was already preparing for a new life in a colder, faraway city. "I would happily live in Chicago," she said, clutching her few remaining belongings to her. Baton Rouge, the state capital, has already seen the first waves of what may become a permanent addition to the city, bringing with it new tensions. "Baton Rouge is a mainly white city," said a local reporter who has been watching the arrival of the newcomers, "and the people arriving are mainly black. They are very different communities." Just the term "evacuees" carries with it, like those fleeing the wastelands, a certain amount of baggage. When some news reports started referring to refugees, there was strong condemnation from civil rights groups. "I think it's an offensive term," Bruce Gordon, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the oldest civil rights organisation in the country, told the Guardian. He was in Baton Rouge as part of a large NAACP contingent that has arrived to assist with relief efforts. "These people are fellow Americans. Using the word refugees makes it sound like they are not of us." The use of the word is still the subject of debate, with some newspapers and television stations deciding to use it regardless of objections, claiming there is nothing offensive in the word. Mr Gordon said he knew of many people who were planning to start anew in places as far away as Detroit but he believed that they would be welcomed. "It is our duty to do so. These are our brothers and sisters. They are Americans and we need to care for them." In Baton Rouge, at present, the evacuees are being put up in civic centres and at Louisiana State University. Some civic leaders fear there may not be enough jobs for those who decide to settle. How many finally decide to make their homes in the safer climes of the state capital is unclear. "I don't think we want to put our arms around that at the moment," said a Baton Rouge official who is handling the arrangements for the evacuees in her city. "As long as they are rescuing people, there will be a need to find shelter for them." Some 10,000 are already housed in the surrounding parishes but the sudden influxes have put pressure on schools and hospitals. Some will find that their new home is the result of the compassion of dozens of different groups, some faith-based, some just concerned individuals. Yesterday a team arrived on buses from Lansing, Michigan, offering homes to 150 stranded souls in ways reminiscent of the evacuation of children in Britain during the second world war. At the refuges in Baton Rouge, families were having to make the difficult decision as to where to start their new lives, albeit in a country that has been built on people making that choice without knowing quite what awaited them. Some still do not know where their new home will be. "Hell, I don't give a damn," said Elisa Ragsdale, 47, who was still waiting to leave the city and was relieved just to be able to make that choice. "As long as we get out alive, I'm not tripping as to where we go." | ['world/world', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'profile/duncancampbell'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-09-05T01:17:48Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2018/nov/11/retailers-to-pay-up-to-1bn-more-for-recycling-under-waste-strategy | Retailers to pay up to £1bn for recycling under waste strategy | Supermarkets, retailers and major drinks brands are set to pay tens of millions of pounds more towards recycling their used packaging under the government’s new waste strategy expected to be published this month, the Guardian understands. Supermarkets and other major producers of packaging waste currently pay a small fraction of the cost of collecting and recycling the 11m tonnes of packaging waste produced in the UK. Ministers are considering several options to improve recycling, stop abuses to the export market in plastic packaging and make companies pay more towards collecting and recycling their own waste. Sources with knowledge of the new waste strategy, which is due to be published in a few weeks, said it contained plans to significantly increase contributions from retailers and producers from an average of about £70m a year to between £500m and £1bn a year. In 2017 local authorities spent £700m on collecting and sorting recycling, compared with £73m from major businesses including leading supermarket chains and retailers, according to the National Audit Office. There are also plans to increase the number of companies who have to contribute, from 7,002 at the moment, to include smaller producers. Any new system must take into account the EU circular economy package, which the British government has signed and which should roll over into UK law after Brexit. It requires food and drink companies and other retailers to cover the net costs of household recycling collections by local authorities, bringing the UK in line with other European countries such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Abuses and corruption go largely undetected in the current system while many large companies dodge paying entirely. The structure encourages the export of plastic waste to countries where it can end up leaking into the ocean or going to landfill rather than contributing to investment in UK reprocessing. Earlier this year the Guardian reported the plastics recycling industry was under investigation for suspected widespread abuse and fraud within the export system. Two-thirds of UK plastic packaging waste is exported rather than reprocessed in the UK, by an export market the National Audit Office has condemned as “a comfortable way for government to meet targets without facing up to the underlying recycling issues”. Since China banned the import of plastic waste, the UK has been chasing other markets in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, but these countries are also imposing restrictions due to the stockpiling of waste. Exports of UK plastic waste to Turkey are soaring as Britain struggles to find outlets for its packaging waste. British reprocessers have consistently called for an end to the incentive to export waste, and for investment instead to boost domestic recycling and reprocessing. Phil Conran, the chair of the advisory committee on packaging, which makes recommendations to government, said: “I think those retailers and manufacturers that are engaging in all of this do accept that costs will significantly increase. Many of them are used to much higher costs in other member states anyway, so they know it is inevitable. “The [current] system … has never been about long-term sustainability, just about meeting each year’s [recycling] targets at lowest cost.” Nestle UK, which sits on the advisory committee on packaging, said it had been an active participant in the discussions around reforms to the current producer responsibility system. “We support any changes that will bring about a well-functioning, consistent waste collection and recycling scheme, and particularly one that will help to stimulate a circular economy for packaging within the UK,” it said in a statement. Ministers are likely to put forward up to four options to extend producer responsibility payments in the new waste strategy by the end of the year. These vary from retailers and producers directly funding local authorities’ recycling collections to a levy that would trickle down to local councils. Lee Marshall, of the local authority recycling advisory committee (Larac), said some form of direct funding was preferred. “If there is a ‘trickle down’ system, there is always the danger of how much of it in reality will trickle down to local authorities.” He said he understood the changes would be huge for producers and retailers, but until now taxpayers had paid for 90% of collecting and sorting household waste for recycling, while the businesses who put the packaging on to the market contributed 10% of the cost. “We realise that, for producers in the UK, the idea of paying for the full net cost of collections is a big change. We do sympathise but we would argue that they have been getting away with it for too long,” said Marshall. A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was committed to reforming the current producer responsibility scheme. She said: “While recycling rates have increased significantly, we want to ensure producers take greater responsibility for the environmental impact of their products, starting with packaging.” | ['environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'business/supermarkets', 'business/retail', 'environment/plastic', 'politics/politics', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sandralaville', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-11-11T12:53:46Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
us-news/2022/jul/20/us-fastest-growing-cities-risk-becoming-unlivable-climate-crisis | Alarm as fastest growing US cities risk becoming unlivable from climate crisis | The ferocious heatwave that is gripping much of the US south and west has highlighted an uncomfortable, ominous trend – people are continuing to flock to the cities that risk becoming unlivable due to the climate crisis. Some of the fastest-growing cities in the US are among those being roasted by record temperatures that are baking more than 100 million Americans under some sort of extreme heat warning. More than a dozen wildfires are engulfing areas from Texas to California and Alaska, with electricity blackouts feared for places where the grid is coming under severe strain. San Antonio, Texas, which added more to its population than any other US city in the year to July 2021, has already had more than a dozen days over 100F this summer and hit 104F on Tuesday. Phoenix, Arizona, second on the population growth rankings compiled by the US census, also hit 104F on Tuesday and has suffered a record number of heat-related deaths this year. Meanwhile, Fort Worth, Texas, third on the population growth list, has a “red flag” warning in place amid temperatures that have reached 109F this week. Cities that stretch across the “sun belt” of the southern and south-western US have in recent years enjoyed population booms, with people lured by the promise of cheap yet expansive properties, warm winters and plentiful jobs, with several large corporations shifting their bases to states with low taxes and cheaper cost of living. But this growth is now clashing with the reality of the climate emergency, with parts of the sun belt enduring the worst drought in more than 1,000 years, record wildfires and punishing heat that is triggering a range of medical conditions, as well as excess deaths. “There’s been this tremendous amount of growth and it’s come with a cost,” said Jesse Keenan, an expert in climate adaption at Tulane University. Keenan pointed out that since the 1990s several states have gutted housing regulations to spur development that has now left several cities, such as in Scottsdale, Arizona, struggling to secure enough water to survive. “The deregulation is really catching up with communities and they are paying that price today,” Keenan said. “We are seeing places run out of water, no proper subdivision controls to ensure there are enough trees to help lower the heat, and lots of low-density suburbs full of cars that create air pollution that only gets worse in hot weather. We’ve reached a crunch point.” The sprawl of concrete for new housing, mostly within unspooling suburbs rather than contained in dense, walkable neighborhoods, has helped heighten temperatures in many of these growing cities. The spread of hard surfaces has also led to flash flooding, as Houston found to its cost during the devastating Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some cities have attempted to respond to the rising temperatures by planting trees, which help cool the surrounding area, and provide emergency centers where people can cool down, but these efforts are often piecemeal and underfunded, according to Sara Meerow, an expert in urban planning at Arizona State University. “The extreme heat that cities are experiencing now is caused by a combination of climate change and the urban heat island effect,” Meerow said. “Rapid urban expansion, which means more impervious surfaces like roads and buildings and waste heat from cars and buildings, typically exacerbates the urban heat island effect, which means these cities are even hotter.” As the US, like the rest of the world, continues to heat up, the climate crisis should become more of a factor when choosing a place to live, with retirees already starting to shun Arizona, traditionally a favored spot for older transplants, according to Keenan. “We are looking at increased premature mortality, even increased diabetes because of dehydration, cardiac impacts and so on,” he said. “Mortgage lenders are starting to look at the risks of lending for somewhere that doesn’t have a water supply, as that’s not a good investment. Capital markets are getting wise to this stuff. “We are seeing the limits to growth and housing affordability and the impacts of poor-quality decision making of where and how to build. We are paying the price for all that now.” | ['us-news/us-weather', 'us-news/arizona', 'us-news/texas', 'us-news/phoenix', 'us-news/san-antonio', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/climate-crisis-in-the-american-west', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/oliver-milman', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | us-news/climate-crisis-in-the-american-west | GLOBAL_CRISIS | 2022-07-20T09:00:15Z | true | GLOBAL_CRISIS |
sustainable-business/money-skills-young-people-jobs-business | Money skills can help young people get jobs, but it's business that must change | "You know that we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl." Thirty years have passed since Madonna sang her hit song about youth and money, but the relationship between the two continues to remain fraught. A recent study by ifs University College, which specialises in financial education, shows that over half of UK teenagers have experience of being in debt. The report, Young persons ' money index, reveals that teenagers are more likely to gamble than plan a budget. So who pays the price? Young people, most obviously. Without basic money management skills, the risk of them encountering future debt problems and finance worries increase dramatically. Better employees But the knock-on effects for businesses are significant too. Anecdotal evidence suggests that employees with low financial literacy are more likely to suffer depression and take time off due to stress-related conditions, says Alison Pask, vice principal of ifs University College and author of the above study. "The ability to manage yourself and your own affairs definitely makes you a better employee," she states. "Financial literacy is as important as reading and writing. It's an essential skill for full participation in society." Large employers are not blind to the fact. Barclays' Money Skills, RBS MoneySense for Schools and Lloyds' Money for Life illustrate how the financial sector in particular is responding. Most business-backed interventions concentrate on providing teaching materials and training to improve skills such as budgeting and saving. "So many young people have never seen a budget and don't understand about money coming in and going out," says Kirstie Mackey, head of LifeSkills, an initiative set up by Barclays to help one million young people into work. Barclays' Money Skills programme, which is delivered by teachers or by the bank's own employee volunteers, also includes lessons on managing a private bank account and understanding information on payslips. Older teens aged 16-19 receive classes on credit card use, insurance policy selection and tips for improving credit scores as well. Greater employability Financial literacy isn't just about helping young people once they find themselves in the workplace, however. It can improve their chances of getting a foot in the door too. One common misconception about money management skills is that they are relevant to those looking for a job in accountancy, banking or another finance-related profession. In reality, financial education provides generic "life skills" applicable in multiple business environments, insists Tracey Bleakley, chief executive of the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg). "A lot of the skills that we help people to gain are also skills that employers are looking for [such as] confidence in making decisions, weighing up risk and reward, and the planning process," she states. Financial competency is also critical in further education, a springboard into work for many young adults. With the rise in university tuition fees in England two years ago, university students in the country find themselves under increasing financial strain. As a consequence, the need for good money management skills is higher than ever. According to the National Union of Students, four in 10 (39%) (pdf) undergraduate students seriously consider leaving their course. Half of these singled out financial difficulties as the primary reason. "We see students when they are at crisis point, and they are the ones that don't have these [money management] skills", says Patricia Joyce, student financial support manager at Manchester Metropolitan University. An extensive report by the Washington DC-based American Institutes for Research found that drop-out rates among university students increased after the 2008 financial crisis. "Schools [ie universities] should be proactive about teaching students how to manage their money, so students do not drop out due to financial stress," the report concludes. No panacea Debt experts are wary about casting financial literacy as a panacea, however. Good money management can make young people more employable, but it's not enough by itself to win them a job. Nor will knowing their PAYE from their GAYE help resolve the basic dilemma of meeting high fixed costs on a low income. Feckless spending accounts for only a tiny minority of personal financial problems, says Edward Ware, spokesperson for StepChange Debt Charity. A far more likely cause is "income shocks", such as redundancy or a reduction in working hours. "If you're on a financial knife edge and don't have enough money … you can be as financially literate as you want but you're still going to get into difficulties," he argues. Young people who have struggled on zero-hour work contracts or low-paid apprenticeship schemes may well nod in agreement. Furthermore, recent hikes in energy bills and other fixed household costs are increasing the squeeze for young low-wage workers, Ware notes. "Only boys who save their pennies, make my rainy day." So sang the original Material Girl three decades ago. Young people today should heed the words. Similarly, employers should be paying their young workers a decent wage. If not, the odd rainy day could well turn into a permanent downpour. The children and finance series is funded by Unicef. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement feature. Find out more here. Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox | ['sustainable-business/series/child-rights-and-business', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'tone/features', 'business/business', 'society/unemployment', 'education/tuition-fees', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'society/living-wage', 'type/article', 'profile/oliver-balch'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-06-27T06:00:00Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2021/apr/25/its-inspiring-hope-and-change-so-why-havent-we-heard-of-iucns-green-list-aoe | It’s inspiring hope and change – but what is the IUCN’s green list? | When Kawésqar national park was formed in the Chilean part of Patagonia in 2019, just one ranger was responsible for an expanse the size of Belgium. Its fjords, forests and Andean peaks are a precious wilderness – one of the few remaining ecosystems undamaged by human activity, alongside parts of the Amazon, the Sahara and eastern Siberia. Chilean officials hope that Kawésqar will, one day, meet the high standards for protected areas laid out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and make it on to the organisation’s “green list”. The IUCN’s green list of protected and conserved areas is less well known than its red list of threatened species. But this week, 10 more sites – in Switzerland, France and Italy – achieved green list status, bringing the total to 59 sites in 16 countries. Contamines-Montjoie national nature reserve near Mont Blanc was among seven added in France, increasing the country’s sites to 22, the highest number in the world. About 500 sites in 50 countries are working to meet the 17 requirements on good governance, planning, management and preservation of nature to achieve this status. In Chile, the standard has supported a big conservation drive, including an upgrade of the national park system. The country has established a large network of protected areas in Patagonia, with more rangers in Kawésqar. On Earth Day, Chile announced it was putting forward two parks for green list approval. “The green list is an opportunity for aspiration and hope. Conservation is often about red lists, threats and potential extinctions. This is the opposite,” says Víctor Lagos San Martín, head of monitoring, development and governance of wild areas at Chile’s National Forest Corporation. “The list helps us work out how we can paint the planet green. It helped our plans for the national park system.” One of the standard’s strengths is that it does not always reward the usual suspects in conservation, according to James Hardcastle, who leads the IUCN’s green list initiative. It is designed to recognise success stories, big and small. Alongside established national parks, indigenous reserves and provincial parks have achieved the status, while better-known protected areas are still working to get on the list. Hardcastle says the standard is intended to improve the quality of conservation work around the world and, where necessary, encourage parks and governments to confront difficult truths about indigenous rights and unsustainable tourism models. “We have about 250,000 protected areas and global studies show that most are not effectively managed,” he says. “Successful conservation only comes when you get the balance of looking after local interests and local values with reference to national and international elements.” A commitment to protect about 30% of land and sea by 2030 is likely to be agreed at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which is scheduled for later this year in Kunming, China. Dozens of countries, including the UK, Costa Rica and France, have already made the commitment. Hardcastle hopes green list standards will stop countries imposing strict controls on areas in the name of nature conservation to meet these commitments. “The green list is not a beauty contest or about showing who is the biggest. We have sites like the Amarakaeri reserve in Peru, which is an indigenous territory. Conservation there is as effective as, if not better than, a strict protection model. When you have smaller sites on the green list, you get a little bit of a competitive edge to achieve it,” he says. The Amarakaeri communal reserve in the Amazon basin in eastern Peru is managed through a partnership with the government and Harakmbut, Yine and Machiguenga communities, protecting the forest from illegal gold miners, loggers and drug smuggling. The reserve maintains the area’s water quality and operates sustainable nut farming to support local communities. “I am convinced that you cannot have protected areas for nature if the people that live in and around them don’t benefit. For me, our co-governance model is a big step,” says Asvin Florez Gil, who leads the government side of the Amarakaeri reserve partnership. “Protected areas do not need to be a threat to indigenous communities. Quite the contrary.” Walter Quertehuari Dariquebe, who represents indigenous communities in the partnership, is clear about the benefits. “We have learned that development and conservation can go hand in hand. Because conservation has had economic benefits for communities, it’s not seen as a threat,” he says. “It’s shared governance structure. We make decisions and look for opportunities together. We are different from a national park that is slightly more reserved and structured. In the reserve, we can take advantage of resources in a sustainable way.” 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/conservation', 'environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/environment', 'world/chile', 'environment/mountains', 'environment/forests', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'environment/wildlife', 'world/americas', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/series/the-road-to-kunming', 'global-development/conservation-and-indigenous-people', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'world/indigenous-peoples', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/iucn-red-list', 'global-development/global-development', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-04-25T08:00:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2005/jun/29/water.weather | Britons face hosepipe bans | The Environment Agency has warned hosepipe bans could be in place across Britain if the dry weather continues. Two water companies in the south-east of England have already imposed water restrictions such as sprinkler and hosepipe bans as the area struggles to recover from the driest winter since 1976. Despite the recent thunderstorms, the Environment Agency said water companies across the UK may impose similar restrictions in order to maintain supplies throughout the summer and avoid serious shortages later this year. The warning came as the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, advised people not to flush the toilet if they had "just had a pee" in a bid to save water. The south-east has experienced eight consecutive months of below average rainfall and a dry spring followed by a hot dry start to summer. This resulted in low groundwater, river and reservoir levels. Ian Barker, head of water resources for the Environment Agency, said: "We are working closely with the water companies to manage the impact of the current drought on the public and the environment - as people use more water, more has to be taken from the water environment." "Where it is appropriate and necessary we support water companies imposing appropriate restrictions to help safeguard future water supplies and protect the environment." The agency is advising the public to limit non-essential use of water such as washing the car and turning off the tap while brushing teeth. Mr Barker added, "In a situation such as this one, both the public and the environment must share the difficulties. Using water wisely will help significantly." Mr Livingston said changing toilet habits was one measure to save water. He said dramatic action was needed to prevent an acute water shortage as he launched a public education campaign to promote water conservation. "The quickest and most dramatic impact is, don't use a sprinkler or hose in the garden, don't use a hose to wash your car and don't flush the lavatory if you have just had a pee," he said. Mr Livingstone said demand could outstrip the water supply by 6-10% by the end of the decade, so he would ask the government for powers to bring in "compulsory water metering" in the capital to reduce water consumption. "I want Londoners to make small changes to save water without affecting their quality of life. We need to take action now to better manage our water supply, so we can avoid shortages and mandatory restrictions in the future," he said. | ['environment/environment', 'environment/water', 'world/world', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'uk/uk', 'environment/drought', 'environment/environment-agency', 'type/article'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-06-29T14:53:26Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2008/sep/01/hurricanegustav.weather | Hurricane Gustav downgraded to category two | Hurricane Gustav weakened to a category two storm as it continued on its path towards the largely deserted coast of Louisiana, with predictions that New Orleans could avoid its full force when it reaches the city later today. The National Hurricane Centre said Gustav had weakened to a category two hurricane by 8am (2pm BST) — a storm with winds of 155-180kph (95-110 mph), which can generate a storm surge of around 2-3 metres. Following its current direction, Gustav looks likely to make landfall west of the city, which has yet to recover three years after being devastated by hurricane Katrina. The centre's latest update said reports indicated Gustav's "maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 110mph, with higher gusts". "No significant change in strength is likely before landfall, with weakening expected to begin after Gustav moves inland later today. "Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles [113km] from the centre and tropical storm force winds extend outwards up to 230 miles." The deputy director of the federal emergency management agency, Harvey Johnson, said the eye of the storm was expected to pass west of New Orleans. But the storm surge was likely to breech levees and at least partially flood the city, he warned. He said an estimated 2 million people have been evacuated from Louisiana, though as many as 10,000 remain in the New Orleans area. Tropical storm force winds and torrential rain brought on by Gustav, dubbed the "storm of the century", hit the US Gulf coast around 5am. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005 as a strong category 3 storm, creating a storm surge of 7.6 metres, which broke through the levees protecting the city. Although the army has shored up some of the levees since then, fears this time centre on the city's west bank, where levee repairs have not been completed. Thousands of troops, rescue workers and volunteers have been deployed in Louisiana and neighbouring Gulf of Mexico states after what has been called the biggest evacuation in US history. Gustav's arrival comes days after the third anniversary of Katrina, which left more than 1,600 dead and caused $30bn (£16.5bn) in damage. Mindful of the government's inept response to Katrina, President George Bush planned to go to Texas, where emergency response personnel were getting ready to head into the storm zone. The New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, praised the deployment. "It's amazing. It makes me feel really good that so many people are saying, 'We as Americans, we as the world, have to get this right this time,"' he said. "We cannot afford to screw up again." "I feel a little nervous about the storm and exactly where it's going to end up, but I also feel good about the resources. Man, if we have resources, we can move mountains." The storm will test three years of planning and rebuilding that followed Katrina's devastation. Gustav has already killed at least 94 people in the Caribbean. US officials have moved beyond merely insisting tourists and residents leave south Louisiana. They threatened to jail looters, loaded thousands of people on to buses and warned that anyone who remained behind would not be rescued. Hundreds of police and national guardsmen are patrolling the city's empty streets to deter looters and take action if a major rescue operation is required. The homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, said search and rescue would be the top priority once the storm passed. He said high-water vehicles, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, coastguard boats and a navy ship had been posted around the strike zone. The storm forced the Republican party to cancel most of the programme for the first day of its four-day convention, which had been scheduled to begin today in Minneapolis-St Paul. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney cancelled plans to speak at the convention tonight. | ['us-news/hurricanegustav', 'uk/weather', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'tone/news', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/louisiana', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'profile/davidbatty'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2008-09-01T14:00:31Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
us-news/2021/jun/23/us-navy-shock-exercises-marine-life | US Navy’s powerful shock exercise harms marine mammals, expert says | The US navy set off a massive explosion last week, detonating a 40,000lb blast as part of a test to determine whether its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, is ready for war. The test, known as a full ship shock trial, is just the first of three planned blasts over the coming months. But the amount of explosive used – 40,000 lbs – is enough to have outsized effects on any marine life in the area, said Michael Jasny, who directs the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Marine Mammal Protection Project, working on the law and policy of ocean noise pollution. Ordinarily, the navy uses much smaller detonations in sinking exercises, just a fraction of this size, he says. “The navy’s own modeling indicates that some smaller species of marine mammals would be expected to die within 1-2km of the blast, and that some marine mammal species would suffer injury including hearing loss out to 10km of the blast. That gives some sense of the power of the explosives we are talking about,” Jasny said. It’s difficult to monitor marine mammals even in the best of conditions, as they spend most of their lives underwater – but the navy doesn’t use trained biologists to do the monitoring, so it’s hard to say what the true impacts will be. “This is unfortunately a black box of an exercise,” Jasny said. “We don’t know how conscientiously the blast site was chosen, and we don’t know how effective the monitoring was before the detonation, so it’s hard to put a great deal of faith in the safety of marine life.” The area is home to populations of dolphin and small whales at this time of year, and Jasny says that’s worrisome because as a general rule, smaller animals are more vulnerable to blast injury. “A large whale might need to be within a few hundred meters of the blast to die, while a small mammal could be a couple of kilometers away,” he said, adding that even if the animals survive, loss of hearing is a significant problem for mammals who make their living in the ocean, as they use their hearing to find food and find each other. Images and video footage from the most recent blast showed a gigantic plume of water shoot from the ocean as a result of the test, and the US Geological Survey said the explosion, which took place in the Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles off Palm Coast, Florida, registered as a 3.9 magnitude earthquake on the coastline. A spokesperson for the USS Gerald Ford, a nuclear-powered carrier, told Defense News that the test took place “within a narrow schedule that complies with environmental mitigation requirements, respecting known migration patterns of marine life in the test area”. These blasts are just the tip of the iceberg for navy activity – while these are huge explosions, each year the navy will detonate thousands of explosives in its more heavily-used ranges off the south-eastern coast of the US, or off of southern California. “None of those are of the power used in a shock trial, but many of them, hundreds of them, are of a power sufficient to kill marine mammals,” Jasny said. | ['us-news/us-military', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/katharine-gammon', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-06-23T13:58:20Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
uk-news/2022/jun/22/cornish-village-to-pilot-communal-grid-to-source-low-carbon-energy | Pump up the volume: Cornish village to pilot communal grid for green energy | The environmental evangelising of a retired mechanical engineer, Brian Piper, is bringing a renewable energy revolution to the streets of a small Cornish village. Until now, Stithians, which sits halfway between Redruth and Falmouth, was best known for its annual show, said to be the largest agricultural spectacle in Cornwall. But Piper is determined that in future the village will become known for its role in tackling climate change. For years Piper has been educating local parishes about the threat from global heating. In 2017 he formed the Stithians Energy Group, producing pamphlets which circulated helpful information around the local parishes about how people could reduce their carbon footprint. “We talked about climate change, from the very basics right through to net zero Britain. One of the things that we featured was heat pumps,” he said. “But the problem with ground source heat pumps is the cost. They come in at around £20,000 depending on the size of the property, and that has been a deterrent for people.” One of the members of the energy group worked for the Cornish firm Kensa Utilities, whose factory three miles from the village is the only UK producer of ground-source heat pumps. So when the company applied for money from the EU’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) money to pursue the idea of spreading the use of ground-source heat pumps by providing a communal grid of underground pipes to source the energy, the villagers of Stithians wrote in support of its application. Now Stithians is part of a multimillion-pound pilot project to link homes to the underground low-carbon energy system. Known as Heat the Streets, the project has been given £6.2m from the ERDF. Hundreds of homes, both new-build and older houses and bungalows, in three areas of Cornwall will be linked up to the new system of underground heating. The first boreholes were drilled this month in the streets to install a network of pipes to draw heat from the rock beneath, and feed into heat pumps in individual properties. “It will be just like a gas network of pipes,” said Lisa Treseder, senior project manager for Kensa Utilities. “Rather than taking energy from the air, ground-source heat pumps take it from the ground. So these vertical boreholes are drilled, and plastic pipes are put into them that collect heat from the ground. What we are creating is a shared network of pipes to feed individual heat pumps in a community.” The government has set a target of installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028 but its own projects have so far fallen far short of what is required to transform the domestic energy system. Domestic heating accounts for around 14% of UK emissions, according to the Institute for Government, and decarbonising the way homes are heated will cost an estimated £200bn over the next 30 years. Government-funded green stimulus programmes have so far failed to tackle the scale of the challenge; the £1.5 bn green homes grant scheme closed early after disastrous administrative delays, and less ambitious £450m boiler upgrade scheme was launched. In Cornwall the sinking of boreholes into the streets to create a communal low-carbon energy system, is a sign of what a combination of grassroots activism and an enlightened private business can do. The network of boreholes, pipes and heat pumps which are part of the pilot scheme are being installed in two other areas of Cornwall: Carlyon Bay, near St Austell and Harlyn Bay, near Padstow, to connect 200 new-build homes to ground-source energy. In Stithians all the linking to the network of energy pipes will involve retrofitting existing houses, from 120-year-old stone cottages, to 1970s bungalows. Householders selected would be given their heat pump free and once connected they would pay £300 a year for their energy, said Treseder. “The idea of these networks is to make it easier for people to install a ground-source heat pump, and reduce the cost for individual households,” she said. “The ground array of pipes will last for 100 years. It is a utility for the public, emulating the gas and electricity utility structure.” The parish chair, Phil Blease, is one of many who have applied to have his 120-year-old four-bedroom, detached house connected under the pilot scheme. “There is a whole mix of houses,” he said. “We are trying to demonstrate that the technology can be applied to all these different properties. Brian has done brilliantly raising awareness of climate change and ways to tackle and mitigate it, and motivating others.” The project has proved so popular it is oversubscribed, with more than 270 villagers expressing an interest in having their homes connected. Many will be disappointed because the funding is likely to cover around 120 properties. But Stithians’ residents and Kensa both hope the pilot will be just the start of the much-needed energy transition. “Kensa intends to demonstrate a business model that can overcome some of the barriers to decarbonisation of heat in domestic properties, primarily through split ownership: retaining ownership of the ground array to reduce the upfront cost to households,” said Treseder. “Once established this business model will work without government incentives.” “People are very excited,” said Piper. “Other villages are watching closely. It is our hope that what we are doing here will just keep spreading.” | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/energy', 'uk-news/cornwall', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sandralaville', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-06-22T14:17:16Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2005/oct/01/hurricanes2005.usnews | Fema blamed for Katrina housing delay | A month after Hurricane Katrina, US authorities have placed just 109 Louisiana families in temporary housing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) signed contracts worth $2bn (£1.1bn) for temporary housing in the aftermath of the disaster, including 120,000 trailers. By this week only 1,397 had been installed in Louisiana. The news comes days after it emerged that Fema signed contacts worth $236m to hire three cruise ships to house evacuees. The ships remain less than half full, and have mainly been used by rescue workers. A total of 48,000 people are in shelters in Louisiana, and 30,000 Louisiana citizens remain in other states. Fema officials blamed local officials for the delay. "This is not a takeover," said a Fema spokesman. "We have to work within the limitations set by state and local officials." The strategy of creating large trailer parks has its critics. "You're concentrating people in the middle of nowhere, and once they're there it's very hard for them to get out," said Susan Popkin of the Urban Institute in Washington. The parks, referred to as Femavilles, are seen by many as a dumping ground. Often isolated, with few services or amenities, they have been plagued by crime, poverty and unemployment. | ['environment/environment', 'world/hurricanes', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/louisiana', 'type/article', 'profile/danglaister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international1'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-10-01T01:44:46Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk-news/2017/dec/14/sheffield-council-votes-fell-trees-planted-memory-war-dead | Sheffield council votes to fell trees planted in memory of war dead | Councillors in Sheffield have voted to fell dozens of trees planted 98 years ago in honour of fallen soldiers in a move attacked by critics as “the first publicly sanctioned desecrations of a war memorial”. Campaigners have fought a long battle with Sheffield city council over the fate of the trees, planted in 1919 as a “living memorial” to soldiers killed in the first world war. But at a public meeting on Wednesday, the council said 41 of the trees would be chopped down as it was too expensive to save them. Council officials said it would cost £500,000 to keep the memorial trees, which it claimed were causing “significant damage” to roads and private property. The decision is the latest in the long-running battle over the council’s controversial plans to chop down 5,500 street trees as part of a £2.2bn PFI contract to improve the city’s roads and pavements. Dan Llywelyn Hall, an artist who painted the Queen three years ago and who has campaigned to save the memorial trees, said the council’s decision meant Britain would soon witness “the first publicly sanctioned desecrations of a war memorial”. He added: “Sheffield council have ignored the sentiment of what these trees represent for a community and the nation as a whole. They have proven themselves thoroughly undemocratic and negligent of any kind of social responsibility for the war dead.” Llywelyn Hall, who led a “mass painting” of the memorial trees this year, said the move was the “final straw” for campaigners. He said artists would be in attendance at the first sign of tree-felling “juggernauts” from the council’s contractor, Amey. “Our artists will continue to paint and draw these trees in their splendour and go to any lengths to prevent their destruction,” Llywelyn Hall said. “The corporate juggernaut of Amey will have blood of the war dead on their hands and, as for the council, their days of bean-counting are numbered.” At Wednesday’s heated meeting, which was reportedly adjourned at one point because of shouts from the public gallery, the council said it could fund the removal of the trees from its existing highways contract. But the £500,000 required to save the trees and make surrounding roads and pavements safe would have to be found from other budgets, including social care, the authority said. In a press release, the council said it would replant any memorial tree that was felled and plant another 300 memorial trees in the city’s parks. The councillor Bryan Lodge, the cabinet member for environment, said: “Cabinet has agreed that 41 memorial street trees, which are damaging our roads, paths and private property will have to be replaced. “This is because the council, in such stretched financial circumstances, cannot justify switching £500,000 out of our social care or schools’ budgets to retain the trees. “Given that, over the years, about half of the original memorial trees have been lost and never replaced, we believe our commitment to replace the 41 trees, both now and in perpetuity, is a decision that the vast majority of Sheffielders will support.” | ['uk/sheffield', 'uk/uk', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'society/localgovernment', 'politics/politics', 'society/society', 'world/firstworldwar', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/josh-halliday', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2017-12-14T10:06:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/jan/11/tasmanian-garden-wins-prize-for-worlds-ugliest-lawn | Tasmanian garden wins prize for world’s ugliest lawn | It is not so much a lawn as a moonscape: pitted craters dug by bandicoots, exhausted tufts of withered yellow grass plucked by wallabies and pitiful plants shrivelled brown under the Australian sunshine. But Kathleen Murray is the proud winner of the first World’s Ugliest Lawn competition after the Swedish contest to encourage water-saving, environmentally-friendly gardening went global. Murray’s lawn in Sandford, Tasmania, beat competition from parched grass patches in Germany, France, Canada, Croatia, Sweden, the US and the UK. “It’s pretty shock-and-awe,” said Murray of her lawn. “The bandicoots love digging – that’s how they find their favourite food. Now my back yard looks like a real-life Hungry Hungry Hippo game. I also have an echidna that helps, and some chooks.” Murray lives in an area without mains water, and so rainwater collected in tanks is too precious to waste on the lawn. If she and her four teenage children run out of water in summer, it can be a two-week wait before more water is delivered via tanker. “I used to think the bandicoots were wildlife of mass destruction invading my lawn, but now I see that they’ve actually liberated me from ever having to mow it again,” said Murray, who is the proud owner of the inaugural trophy – a commemorative T-shirt. “I’m all for guilt-free weekends, especially since my ex-husband left with the lawnmower back in 2016.” The competition began in Gotland, Sweden, two years ago, after the popular holiday island came within hours of running out of water the previous summer. The contest, devised by the municipality of Gotland, became global news after the Guardian picked up the story. Water consumption in Gotland has fallen by 5% thanks to the competition and other measures. Mimmi Gibson of the municipality said: “It’s a gentle way to nudge people into action and it automatically turns you into a climate hero by not doing anything. We need to start the conversation on how to save water. It’s a global problem. Sometimes, there’s pressure on people to keep their lawn really green and tidy and lush and it can be easier to say ‘I’m in this competition, I don’t need to water my lawn.’” Murray previously shrugged off criticism of her lawn by calling it “a paddock”, or claiming she’s waiting for the grass to grow so she can cut hay, but is now happy to talk about the biodiversity benefits of her laid-back gardening style. Blue-tongue lizards, kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons all visit from the neighbouring nature reserve. “I’ve chosen to make my place an extension of the nature reserve because it is right beside it. That’s another excuse for me not watering my lawn. Do you water Cradle Mountain? No. It just looks after itself. By and large, that’s what’s happened.” The jury took nearly two hours of deliberations to reach their verdict on the ugliest lawn. “All of them were hideous and well worthy of winning but the winning entry was really, really bad,” said Gibson. Diarmuid Gavin, the garden designer and broadcaster who was also a member of the jury, said it was the weirdest competition he had been asked to judge but he hoped it would encourage people to ditch old attachments to green lawns and create climate-appropriate gardens. “Seeing a lawn in Tasmania like this, wondering why there’s a prize for the world’s worst lawn, really makes people think but with that sense of humour, without lecturing or hectoring,” he said. “The Tasmanian garden was soulful because it had an understanding of what’s happening. If we’re lucky enough to look after a piece of land, we all need to be thinking gardeners now. The moral imperative isn’t so much to fit in, or not let the neighbourhood down, it’s to not let the planet down.” Murray added: “You’ve got a choice to make – do you want farmers to have enough water to produce food for a growing human population or do you want to play some type of lawn nazi competition with your neighbours to make them jealous of how green your lawn is?” “It brings me a lot of joy to see all the little creatures who now feel safe to come out during the day in my back yard – they’ve got camouflage, they have happy digging areas. It really enhances my feeling of inner peace knowing that I’m playing a microscopic part to help other things.” | ['environment/water', 'world/world', 'australia-news/tasmania', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'world/sweden', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrickbarkham', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-01-11T05:00:33Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
lifeandstyle/2015/nov/11/lazy-man-mug-kitchen-gadgets-review-rhik-samadder | Kitchen gadgets review: Lazy Man Mug – a storm in a teacup | What? The Lazy Man Self-stirring Mug (£7.95, geniegadgets.com) is a specialised cup implanted with rotored vanes. The button-activated mechanism agitates fluid to vortex, in place of manual mixing. Why? Gender cliches are back, and boy, are they causing a stir! Well? Generally, I scorn man-branded anything, whether it is tissues or noodles or hand soap. I never once bought a Yorkie bar without also picking up a copy of Mizz and some fresh flowers. It was a point of principle – but also “behaviour attracting police interest”, and I had to stop doing it. So my heart sinks at the Lazy Man Mug. Haven’t we moved past these dated stereotypes towards fresh, new stereotypes? The gimmick here is a button that, when pressed, rotates spokes in the cup, swirling your drink. Why is it only aimed at slobby men? What if you have carpal tunnel syndrome? What if you’re a lazy nan? Gendered cups are nonsense (with the noble exception of the Mooncup). Yet this complacent goblet of patriarchy is not totally without interest. “Get the perfect stir, without lifting a spoon,” it says. At first, I felt an irritation-migraine coming on; there is no “perfect stir’. Then I saw the picture on the box: a cyclonic whirlpool, like a storm in a teacup. It looked amazing. Maybe there is a perfect stir: slosh-free, blending power and control, milk and tea, at a cellular level? I had them send me one by first pigeon. It was oversized and flimsily plastic, with unpleasant weighting, owing to the AAA batteries in its bottom. It didn’t work. Pressing the grungy button did nothing. I had another sent. The second grubby rubber button worked once – without liquid, its tiny spokes whizzing through air. I put in tea, pressed the rotten grubby bugger – nothing. Had to stir my chai myself like a bloody pauper. A cup for men – so lazy it works once and never again – is a refreshing feminist joke, but a wasted opportunity. I dream of a world in which politically correct punchlines and mimimal-effort milk drinks coexist, for all. The quest for the perfect stir continues. The Lazy Man is a glass barely raised to the virtue of idleness – ironically, its creators shouldn’t have bothered at all. Redeeming features? None. There’s only one self-stirring mug in this house. Counter, drawer, back of the cupboard? Cupboard. With a rolled-up FHM in it, and a coaster made of a Now! 21 CD, because apparently it’s 1992. 0/5 | ['lifeandstyle/series/inspect-a-gadget', 'food/tea', 'food/food', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/technology', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/rhik-samadder', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2015-11-11T10:35:45Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
weather/2009/jun/19/winds-health-weatherwatch | Weatherwatch | Breezes and fresh air have always been associated with health, while stale, stagnant air suggests the opposite. Back in the 4th century BC, Hippocrates wrote on Airs, Waters and Places, theorising that the vapours from rotting vegetation formed a "miasma" which caused disease. This idea was developed by other classical writers; malaria, commonest in swampy regions, means "bad air". The Miasmatist view was not challenged until the 19th century when Contagionists suggested that disease was transmitted directly between people. There were some variations that combined both. A popular theory put forward by Professor Max Pettenkofer said that exhalations from diseased people were absorbed by the earth and fermented to form the deadly miasma. Even some of the modernising health reformers were Miasmatists. Florence Nightingale believed that it was the smell of filth that caused disease to spread in hospitals, hence her belief in the importance of cleaning. Victorian social reformer Edwin Chadwick said that "all smell is disease." Some seasonal winds are celebrated for their power to vanquish illness, like the "Cape Doctor," a dry south-easterly wind on the South African Coast. In Perth the south-west wind blowing from Fremantle is nicknamed the "Fremantle Doctor". A good breeze especially benefits those with bronchial conditions - it helps drive away the modern urban miasma of photochemical smog. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'type/article', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2009-06-18T23:01:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2008/sep/03/hurricanegustav.usa1 | New Orleans authorities work to get 2m city residents home | Authorities on America's Gulf Coast were yesterday struggling to orchestrate the orderly return of nearly 2m evacuees to New Orleans and low-lying areas of Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. Officials credited the exodus from New Orleans, one of the largest evacuations in American history, for the relatively low loss of life. Ten people were killed in the US as a result of the hurricane. But with Gustav past, Louisiana's governor, Bobby Jindal, yesterday faced the equally epic challenge of negotiating a peaceful and safe return of 95% of the population of southern Louisiana, now scattered in northern areas of the state, Texas and Tennessee. The evacuees would not be allowed to go home until today at the earliest, officials said. With more hurricanes forming over the Atlantic - Hanna was chewing up the Bahamas en route to Florida and South Carolina yesterday - the authorities were also under pressure to make sure that the public do not see the relatively light toll of Gustav as an excuse to ignore future evacuation warnings. "The reason that you are not seeing a dramatic series of rescues is because we had an efficient evacuation," Michael Chertoff, the secretary for homeland security, said. "I wouldn't want to give the impression that a category three storm is a false alarm." Though weakened, Gustav inflicted considerable property damage on Louisiana. Some 1.4m homes, and even a number of hospitals, were without power yesterday. Trees and dangling power lines were strewn across roads and the water and sewage systems in some small towns were knocked out of action. Mayor Ray Nagin announced that the public will have to be patient for another day. New Orleans will reopen to the public at 12.01am on Thursday, when the mandatory evacuation will become voluntary. Business owners will be allowed back in from the start of Wednesday. But Nagin warned that it would be take time before all the city's hospitals, water and sewage services and power were fully operational and he urged residents to be cautious in returning. Officials believe there are still 78,000 people without electricity due to severely damaged transmission lines and substations. "Considering all we've heard from the experts, it is my opinion that the city is in a very, very vulnerable state," Nagin said. "We're under incredible pressure to repopulate and we're trying to react in a responsible fashion." Asked about potential traffic congestion, he said: "I'm trying to phase this so people are not stuck on the interstate for 12, 14, 20 hours." Pressure is growing on Nagin because some neighbouring parishes are already open, a move which he admitted had taken him by surprise. People were being urged to bring battery-powered torches, food supplies because not many shops would be open, and cash because ATMs might not be functioning. Nagin added: "The message is we want you to come and see the city and see your properties. You can make then an intelligent decision about whether you want to stay or not. Everyone needs to understand at this time that you might not have power in your home." More than 1,800 people were killed three years ago in the aftermath of Katrina, and scenes of stranded flood victims became a symbol of the indifference and incompetence of the Bush administration as well as the state authorities. But while authorities were priding themselves on their response to Gustav yesterday, the storm still exposed the vulnerability of New Orleans, despite the billions spent shoring up the system of levees and floodwalls since 2005. Although the winds barely reached hurricane force, water still poured over the top of floodwalls on the western Industrial Canal - the same canal whose collapse led to the flooding of New Orleans's Ninth Ward during Katrina. At a press conference yesterday, Jindal sketched out a plan for a phased return to New Orleans and other low-lying areas, starting today or tomorrow with shop owners and workers for major companies. The authorities were lining up hundreds of buses to pick up the evacuees and return them as close as possible to their homes. "We're going to reverse the process. We had buses, trains and planes getting people out, now they're going to be bringing people back in," Nagin said. Those evacuees with their own transport would be allowed back once each local parish gives the all clear. The thousands who were evacuated by the authorities by bus and train would have to wait their turn. The elderly or those with medical conditions would be the last to return. Anyone attempting to drive back into New Orleans before then would be sent back by police. "They will be detained and turned around," a spokesman for Jindal said. "Then they could get in a situation where they run out of fuel. We're really saying to people, they need to stay where they are. Returning home too soon could prove dangerous because of downed power lines, standing floodwater and trees and other debris on major roadways." In Shreveport, Louisiana, there were reports overnight of fights at an overcrowded shelter. Others seemed unfazed by Jindal's warnings. By mid-morning, one elderly woman in Lafayette was already packing up her car to return to her home in Morgan City, with her husband, a kidney patient. The couple live in Morgan City, a centre for offshore drilling, that was hit badly by Gustav. Neighbours had told them their roof was damaged and their house was without power, but they were determined to return. "Tomorrow is my husband's last day before he needs his dialysis again. We have to find some place where we can have it, so we are just going to go home and see," she said. | ['us-news/hurricanegustav', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'us-news/louisiana', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'profile/davidsmith', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2008-09-03T02:25:40Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2023/jan/04/right-millennials-vote-snowflakes-conservative | The right thrives on bullying ‘snowflakes’. But who will vote for it when they grow old? | Owen Jones | Spite. When you dig down to the essence of modern rightwing politics, you’re left with little else. This wasn’t always the case. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan offered clear, coherent visions of society, even if their worship of free markets delivered economic insecurity and stagnating living standards. While today’s Tories and Trumpified Republicans remain committed to defending privileged interests, their driving ambition now seems to be deliberately provoking fury among the progressively minded, much to the delight of their supporters. It’s this tendency that led Donald Trump to denounce Mexicans as criminals and attempt to ban Muslims from entering the US; it’s the same tendency that drove the home secretary, Suella Braverman, to declare that her “dream” and “obsession” was to see a flight transporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. Cruelty is precisely the point. But this spite has found a particular target in younger British and American people, many of whom increasingly embrace progressive social values such as anti-racism and LGBTQ+ rights (granted, this relies on a generous definition of youth as millennials – while the oldest members of Generation Z are only in their mid-20s, the most senior millennials have now reached their early 40s). These generations have become a common enemy for the right. The feeling is mutual. According to new research and survey data, millennials are defying a supposed iron law of politics, that we shift to the right as we age. No other generation in recorded political history has retained such an entrenched rejection of rightwing politics as they’ve grown older. The right has become its own gravedigger for two reasons. First, by building an economic model that promised individual freedom but delivered mass insecurity; and second, by intentionally and repeatedly insulting the social values of the young. British culture fetishises home ownership even while its economic policies make this an increasingly distant dream for younger citizens. Young people have also borne the brunt of austerity, being saddled with university debt and suffering the closure of youth and Sure Start centres. Yet a generation that is more educated than ever but simultaneously deprived of prospects is treated with unadulterated contempt by the right. It is, after all, labelled the “snowflake generation”, which the Collins English Dictionary has defined as “the young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations”. On both sides of the Atlantic, the right fears a younger generation of economically insecure and socially progressive citizens. Commentators and politicians treat younger people as woke barbarians at the gates threatening to tear down everything conservatives hold dear. The moral panic over so-called “cancel culture” is a striking example of this: what it really boils down to is an attempt by millennials and zoomers to assert their progressive social values and reject the bigotries found among some older Britons and Americans. “Millennials are the silencing generation,” complains the rightwing Wall Street Journal, denouncing them as “perpetually offended” (what this perhaps really means is that younger people are less keen on demonising migrants or obsessing over the existence of trans people). “Millennials were woke enough … but the next generation is much worse,” cries the Telegraph, denouncing university students as “Stalinist foot-soldiers”. Younger people are more likely to defend the rights of the minorities bullied and harassed by rightwing politicians, and conservatives hate them for it. And so the British and US right have apparently condemned themselves to a political doom loop: savaging the progressive values of younger generations, and in doing so driving them further into the arms of the left. This bile may serve a short-term political purpose in rallying the core vote of the Tories and Republicans, but it seems that conservatives have thought little about what will happen as younger generations come of age politically and culturally. Perhaps rightwingers believed that the historic precedent of voters shifting rightwards with age would automatically assert itself, however much the young remained locked out of the prosperity their parents had enjoyed. What’s intriguing is how rightwing politicians and commentators alike have doubled down on poisonous invectives that alienate young people. Perhaps this is evidence of a fatalism: they know their fate is sealed, so nothing is to be gained from restraint. As a case in point, last week a British rightwing shock jock announced that she’d choose the life of professional misogynist Andrew Tate “over the life of a half-educated, autistic, doom-mongering eco-cultist” Greta Thunberg. Her use of autistic as an insult was indicative of an increasingly vicious rightwing culture, but the unapologetic loathing towards Thunberg – whose offence is to seek to prevent humanity from destroying itself – was revealing. Thunberg has become emblematic of progressive younger generations: the bile frequently directed at her speaks to a hatred and fear of those whom she is seen to represent. In building and benefiting from an economic model that has left younger people bereft of a secure future, and repelling them with a “culture war” against progressive values, British and US conservatism seems to be authoring its own demise. Young people voted for Margaret Thatcher’s Tories in the 1980s, but little over a fifth of them voted for the party in 2019. While young Americans flocked to support Reagan in the 1980s, today their political icons are Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The political right has treated the young as the enemy within. It may soon realise what bitter harvest it has reaped as oblivion awaits. Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'politics/politics', 'us-news/us-politics', 'uk/uk', 'us-news/us-news', 'politics/conservatives', 'us-news/republicans', 'environment/greta-thunberg', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/owen-jones', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/greta-thunberg | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2023-01-04T08:00:11Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
world/2021/aug/31/new-zealand-flash-floods-force-evacuations-in-auckland-motorists-rescued-by-jet-ski | New Zealand flash floods force evacuations in Auckland, motorists rescued by jet ski | Aucklanders have been forced to evacuate their homes in the middle of the night due to flash flooding, after New Zealand’s largest city was hit by unexpectedly heavy rainfall. Evacuations were carried out in the suburbs of west Auckland and nearby townships, such as Kumeu and Piha, with firefighters having to use jet skis to reach motorists trapped in their cars, according to the New Zealand Herald. Emergency services received 150 calls for assistance through the night. At least 50 homes across the region were evacuated, with flood waters yet to subside as rain continues. One family said they had been forced to bring their horses into their home and appealed for neighbours to kayak in horse feed. “With the weather last night we lost everything,” the Huapai resident posted on Facebook. “We have pushed ourselves to the limit swimming horses in and bringing them up into the second level of our house … thankfully we were able to get the kids taken out by jetski … if anyone has some hay or horse feed they can kayak or boat down to us it would be so so appreciated.” “We’ve been dealing with drought conditions and suddenly we’ve got this,” Auckland mayor Phil Goff told Radio NZ. “The rain through the night was hitting around 90mm an hour which is a hell of a lot of rain. “That’s now come back but it’s still around 40mm an hour … then the weather is expected to dissipate so we imagine later this morning things will be getting better.” New Zealand’s weather forecasting agency MetService issued a yellow “heavy rain watch” on Monday, upgrading it to orange warning on Tuesday morning after the bulk of the rain had fallen. “We knew it was going to rain overnight ... but there was no early indication that this was likely to cause the level of flooding it has,” Goff said. “Our forecasters are pretty good but they’re not miracle workers. They can’t be expected to know everything. This has hit in a pretty localised way.” The fruit-growing centre of Kumeu has been devastated, with the main road and shops under water, with houses and cars damaged. Auckland remains in a strict lockdown due to a Covid-19 outbreak, with almost 500 cases identified in New Zealand‘s biggest city over the last fortnight. But stay-at-home orders are trumped by emergency management controls, meaning affected Kiwis can take the necessary action to safeguard property and family. “People need to know that while we are under alert level 4 ... that is superseded by the more urgent requirement to get out of homes that are no longer habitable,” Goff said. Emergency shelters have been set up in Henderson and Kumeu. | ['world/newzealand', 'world/asia-pacific', 'world/world', 'environment/flooding', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/new-zealand', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-08-31T01:02:58Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
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