Renewables cut Europe's carbon emissions by 10% in 2015, says EEA
European Environment Agency report solar and and wind is reducing fossil fuel dependency but clean energy capacity still not growing fast enough A surge in the use of wind and solar energy helped Europe to cut its fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by about 10% in 2015, an authoritative new report has found. […]
Fracking firm Ineos leads industry lobbying to avoid green tax
Documents show Anglo-Swiss firm is using Brexit as a chance to seek further exemptions from climate policy costs Anglo-Swiss chemicals firm Ineos is privately leading an industry lobbying attempt to avoid paying for the cost of decarbonising Britain’s economy. Documents released under freedom of information rules reveal that Ineos is pushing the government to use […]
The eco guide to virtual reality
Fancy looking a polar bear right in the eye, then swinging across the canopy of the Brazilian rainforest? VR is for you I worry that humanity isn’t getting enough direct contact with the wild and we’ll all end up with Nature Deficit Disorder. Plus, how can you protect what you don’t love and haven’t experienced? […]
Doctors reject AMA chief’s stance on Hazelwood closure and health
Australian Medical Association accused of supporting politics over science after Dr Michael Gannon said impact of job losses may outweigh health benefits Members of the Australian Medical Association have threatened to quit over comments by the national president, Dr Michael Gannon, that the impact of job losses from Victoria’s Hazelwood power plant closure should be […]
Salmon farming in crisis: 'We are seeing a chemical arms race in the seas'
Rare only 40 years ago, farmed salmon is now taken for granted in our kitchens. But the growth of the industry has come at great cost Every day, salmon farmers across the world walk into steel cages – in the seas off Scotland or Norway or Iceland – and throw in food. Lots of food; […]
The ridiculous story of airline food and why so much ends up in landfill
Airlines generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration – and it cost them £400m You probably know about the waste problem in our oceans. But how about the one in our skies? Airline passengers generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill […]
A glorious presence suddenly surfaces – a drake goosander
Llanfairfechan, Gwynedd In their usual river habitat, these magnificent, large, hole-nesting ducks are shy and rightly so Traeth Lafan’s wide expanse of sand is a landscape that draws you in, like the Elenydd moors or the high Arctic, through its abstraction. Nothing’s solid here; all’s sketched and coloured in shifting tones of water and light. […]
Need for transparency as 'slush fund' allegations get bandied about | Lenore Taylor
If the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility hasn’t got a risk policy yet, how can it be considering a $1bn loan for the Adani project? We don’t yet know whether the $5bn Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) will be – as was alleged in parliament this week – a “slush fund” used to pursue the government’s […]
Circulate on Fridays: why ‘conscious consumerism is a lie’ and much more
This week’s Circulate on Fridays is rollover edition! Double the fun. Enjoy! IDEO’s Tim Brown argues that ‘we should design businesses like circles, not straight lines’ in Quartz, explaining why the circular economy excites him as a designer, and sharing some examples of businesses innovating with a circular mindset. Tim and IDEO want to see […]
China to create 'giant' giant panda reserve to boost wild population
National park three times the size of Yellowstone in the US will link up 67 existing reserves to make mating easier China is planning to create a giant panda reserve three times the size of Yellowstone national park in the US, as part of efforts to boost the wild population of the long-endangered animal. The […]