London’s former mayor says he knew about the report showing deprived schools were disproportionately affected by air pollution, so why wasn’t it made public?

The former mayor of London’s response to claims he buried a report on how toxic air disproportionately affects deprived schools was trademark Boris Johnson bluster. To allege there was a cover-up was “absurd” and “risible”, he said. Of course he hadn’t hid the impact of dirty air.

But in defending his record on air pollution, he also seemed to make things worse. On Monday we didn’t know if Johnson himself was personally aware of the findings of the unpublished report that the new mayor Sadiq Khan accuses him of suppressing.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Before this year’s drought, farmers’ yields were tripling in some regions. With the right investment, Ethiopia can get back on track for middle-income status

A year ago, Ethiopia was on the verge of achieving something remarkable. Having been the second poorest country in the world as recently as 2000, Ethiopia was on track to becoming middle-income by 2025. The 1980s image of a country ravaged by famine, poverty and conflict was fading.

A large part of Ethiopia’s phenomenal growth was thanks to more than a decade of investment, with a particular focus on transforming agriculture. This sector employs more than 80% of the population of 91 million people (pdf), and accounts for more than 60% of exports. Agricultural yields were tripling in some regions, with the farmers I visited proud to be harvesting more, earning more, and sending their children to school and university.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Government plans to fell Poland’s Białowieża forest have divided families, led to death threats against green campaigners and allegations of an ‘environmental coup’ by government and state timber interests

Europe’s last primeval forest is facing what campaigners call its last stand as loggers prepare to start clear-cutting trees, following the dismissal of dozens of scientists and conservation experts opposed to the plan.

Poland’s new far right government says logging is needed because more than 10% of spruce trees in the Unesco world heritage site of Białowieża are suffering from a bark beetle outbreak. But nearly half the logging will be of other species, according to its only published inventory.

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Source: Guardian Environment

The fossil fuel industry, fee-hungry lawyers, banks and those that stay silent are profiting from the reef’s destruction. It’s time for them to say no more

It’s the worst crisis ever to hit the Great Barrier Reef and the extent of the devastation is only just coming to light. The reef is in the middle of the worst bleaching event ever seen, with unusually warm water killing as much as half the corals in the northern sections, with the trend set to continue for the next 20 years.

Who’s to blame for this destruction? And which businesses are profiting from the activities that are causing this havoc?

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Source: Guardian Environment

Regulators should focus on end product of food, rather than crops that went into it, says US study

Genetically manipulated food remains generally safe for humans and the environment, a high-powered science advisory board declared in a report on Tuesday. The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine concluded that changing the genetics of what we eat does not produce the “Frankenfood” monster some opponents claim – but is not feeding the world with substantially increased yields, as proponents promised.

With the line between engineered and natural foods blurring because of newer techniques such as gene editing, the 408-page report said, regulators need to make their safety focus more on the end product of the food that is made rather than the nuts and bolts of its making.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Trust sets unusual terms because property in North Wales is on land that requires time-intensive, ‘nature first’ approach

The National Trust is offering the tenancy of a £1m farm for £1 a year to a farmer who will help protect its rare and fragile landscape. Last year the organisation bought land on Great Orme in north Wales, including the 145-acre Parc Farm, which has views of Anglesey and grazing rights to 720 acres of headland. The move aimed to protect the habitats of unique and rare plants and animals and save fragile grasslands from being turned into a golf course.

As part of its 10-year vision to reverse declines in wildlife, the Trust is looking for a farmer willing to take on the “nature first” approach to grazing the coastal headland, which may go against the grain of modern farming.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Commissioner says decision not to proceed made after legal advice from prosecutors

Tasmania police have dropped charges against the former Greens leader Bob Brown over a protest at a logging site in the state’s north-west.

The 71-year-old was among several people charged after they allegedly failed to comply with directions to leave a business access area.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Exclusive: Market Forces says halt to refinancing existing loans would also test banks’ support for 2C warming target

Australia’s big four banks could act on their stated ambition to help achieve a 2C warming target simply by giving no new loans to coal projects, analysis by financial activists Market Forces reveals.

Such a move – including a halt to refinancing existing loans – would virtually empty the banks’ loan book of the $8bn they are lending to coal in just five years.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Police cordon off parts of Brooklands Lake after three dogs which drank its water died and up to seven others fell ill

An investigation has been launched after three dogs died and up to seven more became ill after drinking from a lake.

Kent police have cordoned off parts of Brooklands Lake, near Powder Mill Lane in Dartford, after a dog walker said that three of her animals became ill and died. Vets are still working to save the life of a fourth dog which was also on the walk.

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Source: Guardian Environment