Pope should know that resisting birth control is bad for the environment | Letter
While the call by Pope Francis that religions should take far more responsibility for rampant environmental damage is most welcome (Environmental destruction is a sin, says pope, 2 September), he should be reminded that by far the most damaging cause of impending crisis is the huge near-threefold increase in the human population over the last 75 years […]
EU hits energy reduction target six years early
Major savings reported across all sectors before 2020 goal but analysts warn UK could reverse gains after Brexit Europe has met a landmark goal of slashing its energy consumption six years ahead of time, cutting greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to switching off about 400 power stations. In 2014, the EU’s 28 member countries consumed 72m […]
State schools face solar tax hike – but private schools exempted
Campaigners say the government intends to charge business rates for small solar installations on schools, but academies, private and free schools will be exempt due to charitable status State schools with solar panels will be hit with a tax hike that exempts private schools, free schools and academies, according to campaigners. The government proposes to […]
G20 reaffirms climate commitments – but dodges deadlines
Climate Home: Leaders back rapid implementation of the Paris agreement and ramping up of green finance, but fail to set timeline for phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies Leaders of the world’s biggest economies reaffirmed their commitment to tackling climate change as the G20 summit came to a close in Hangzhou on Monday night. What they […]
Brexit negotiators urged to examine tougher rules on farming antibiotics
Campaigners and politicians say discussion is a matter of urgency following fresh revelations of superbugs in UK supermarket meat products Tougher regulations on the use of antibiotics on farm animals are needed as a matter of urgency as part of Brexit negotiations, campaigners and politicians have urged, after fresh revelations of superbugs found in UK […]
Obama's Hawaii marine conservation area is just a drop in the ocean
At three times the size of California, the scope of the Papahānaumokuākea reserve has also highlighted how little of the world’s oceans are protected As a grand gesture in the dying embers of a presidency, Barack Obama’s decision to create the world’s largest marine protected area in Hawaii was a chance to flex American exceptionalism […]
Conservative media bias is inflating American climate denial and polarization | Dana Nuccitelli
New studies show that climate polarization is on the rise in the US; WSJ climate coverage is full of denial. A new study by a team of sociologists at Oklahoma State University has found political polarization on climate change is growing in the United States. Today’s Republicans are less likely than they were a decade […]
Australian kitesurfer killed by shark off New Caledonia
West Australian man in his 50s, whose name has not been released, bitten while kitesurfing inside the reef at Koumac A shark has bitten and killed an Australian kitesurfer off New Caledonia in the second fatal attack in the South Pacific territory in six months, officials say. “The man in his 50s was kitesurfing inside […]
Turkish coal plants in line for public subsidies
MPs and campaigners warn new amendment could open the door to dirty, harmful coal projects with no means to demand environmental assessments Turkish coal plants are in line for eye-watering public subsidies and exemptions from environmental regulations, under an amended energy package delivered by the country’s parliament, late last week. Turkey is a member of […]
Palm oil firm accused of hiring men to kidnap smog inspectors in Indonesia
Seven people from a ministry of environment team documenting illegal forest fires were taken hostage and threatened, ministry says Up to 100 Indonesian men, believed to have been hired by a palm oil firm, took a team of official environmental investigators hostage on Friday and threatened to burn them alive, Indonesia’s environment ministry has said. […]