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Ethiopia's farmers fight devastating drought with land restoration

Ethiopia has confirmed its commitment to restore its degraded lands to improve food security and biodiversity. Now, it’s looking to the private sector for support

Ethiopia is in the midst of the worst drought in 50 years. Famine and malnutrition have now spread to 443 of the country’s 750 districts. Earlier this month, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), called Ethiopia’s condition “a deteriorated humanitarian situation”.

Related: African forestry scheme aims to build prosperity by restoring landscape

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Source: Guardian Environment

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EU vote too important to be dominated by Tory politics, says minister

Environment secretary Liz Truss appeals to supporters of other parties to vote for UK to remain in the European Union

A Conservative cabinet minister has made a direct plea to supporters of other political parties to vote in favour of Britain’s membership of the EU by warning that Brexit would be a “hugely retrograde step” for the environment.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the environment secretary, Liz Truss, said the referendum was too important to be dominated by internal Tory politics.

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Source: Guardian Environment

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Lazy Britons are missing out on the joy of walking | Phil Daoust

Half of us are reluctant to get on our feet for more than 20 minutes. Compared to the progress made on cycling, for walkers it’s been pedestrian

If you live in Britain, and you’re enjoying day three of the bank holiday weekend, you may already be dreading going back to work – not just the grind of the office or factory, but the misery of getting there. If you’re not jammed into an overcrowded, unpunctual train or bus, you’ll be struggling with jams and roadworks in your car, or trying not to be crushed by a lorry on your bike. It’s no better if you’re taking the kids to school or popping to the shops. Thanks to a combination of hypermobility and underinvestment, even the shortest journey can take you to hell and back.

Related: Just like cyclists, pedestrians must find a sense of self-righteousness | Zoe Williams

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Source: Guardian Environment

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People love Chris Packham because he isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers | Nicholas Milton

As his #wheredovesdie trip to Malta shows, Packham uses his celebrity status to promote good causes, even if it means making a few enemies

Love him or loathe him Chris Packham is a hard man to ignore. Recently returned from Malta, where he has been for a second time to highlight the massacre of thousands of birds on migration by Maltese hunters, he came up with the hash tag #wheredovesdie in tribute to the late singer Prince. The idea was to draw attention to the plight of the declining turtle dove. In 2014 he was intimidated by hunters and then threatened with arrest for his efforts. This time he has been accused of being an “unethical fake and a liar” by the hunters’ federation chief executive Lino Farrugia and declared a persona non grata on the island.

Packham has been credited in the media with waging war on everything from pandas to insect-eating celebrities

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Source: Guardian Environment

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Peabody coal's contrarian scientist witnesses lose their court case | John Abraham

Peabody Energy brought contrarians Spencer, Happer, and Lindzen to testify on their behalf, but the judge wasn’t convinced by their case

In Minnesota, an administrative hearing resulted in a judicial recommendation that will have impacts across the country. It was a case argued mainly between environmental groups (such as Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and their clients Fresh Energy and the Sierra Club) and energy producers (such as the now-bankrupt coal company Peabody Energy) regarding what a reasonable social cost of carbon should be.

I was called as an expert witness in the case along with respected climate scientist Dr. Andrew Dessler. We were opposed by the well-known contrarians Drs. Roy Spencer, Richard Lindzen, and William Happer (who has recently received attention related to his charged fees in the case). In full disclosure, Dr. Dessler and I were not paid for our work in the case. I recently wrote about the testimony and provided links to the testimonies submitted for the case. The judge’s recommendations and how they will impact energy decisions in the USA were the keys to this trial.

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Source: Guardian Environment

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Labor policy could increase power prices by 8% to 25%, economist says

Danny Price, who helped devise the Coalition’s climate policy, says Labor scheme to shut brown-coal generators would lead to higher prices

A little-noticed part of Labor’s climate policy could push up retail power prices by between 8% and 25%, economist Danny Price has claimed, with price hikes in Victoria exceeding the impact of the former Labor government’s carbon tax.

Price, who helped devise the Coalition’s climate policy, told Guardian Australia last week the main plank of Labor’s policy – a new style electricity emissions trading scheme – was exactly what he designed for Malcolm Turnbull in 2009 and mirrored what the Coalition’s Direct Action plan would almost certainly have to become to meet Australia’s greenhouse targets. He said the price rises under that scheme would be “minimal” for many years.

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Source: Guardian Environment

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Armed guards at India's dams as drought grips country

Government says 330 million people are suffering from water shortages after monsoons fail

As young boys plunge into a murky dam to escape the blistering afternoon sun, armed guards stand vigil at one of the few remaining water bodies in a state hit hard by India’s crippling drought.

Related: Daytime cooking ban in India as heatwave claims 300 lives

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Source: Guardian Environment

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Overfishing puts $42bn tuna industry at risk of collapse

Experts make first estimate of the value of tuna fisheries and warn Pacific Islanders have most to lose from declining stocks

Overfishing is jeopardising a global tuna industry worth more than $42bn (£29bn), according to the first assessment of its kind. A report produced by the Pew Charitable Trusts has highlighted the significant revenues that fishermen, processors and retailers are generating from severely depleted species of tuna.

Taken together, the seven most commercially important tuna species – skipjack, albacore, bigeye, yellowfin, atlantic bluefin, Pacific bluefin and southern bluefin – generated $12bn (£8bn) for fishermen in 2014, while the full value, including the total amount paid by the final consumer at supermarkets and restaurants around the world, was estimated to be $42bn (£29bn).

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Source: Guardian Environment

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Google and eBay refuse to ban ads offering to remove car pollution filters

Internet giants say removing diesel particulate filters which reduce toxic emissions is not illegal, although driving without them is

Google, Gumtree and eBay have refused to ban adverts for a service which removes crucial pollution filters from the exhausts of diesel cars, sending toxic emissions soaring.

Over a thousand diesel car owners have already been caught after removing the filter, though experts warn the problem may be far more widespread.

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Source: Guardian Environment

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