Kyodo Senpaku has been found guilty in a case brought by Humane Society International – the first verdict of contempt of the environment act

An Australian court has found a Japanese whaling company guilty of “wilful contempt” of court for breaching an order to stop killing whales, and has fined it $1m.

On Wednesday, the Australian federal court heard an application by Humane Society International (HSI) as part of a decade-long legal battle against the company Kyodo Senpaku to stop Japan killing whales within Australia’s Antarctic whale sanctuary.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Amber Rudd puts focus on making energy affordable and secure – but will commit to closing coal-fired stations by 2025

The energy secretary, Amber Rudd, is to “reset” Britain’s energy policy on Wednesday in a direction that downgrades tackling climate change from its highest priorities but commits to closing all traditional coal-fired plants by 2025.

In her biggest speech in the job, Rudd will say she wants policy to focus on making energy affordable and secure. She will say the aim is a “consumer-led, competition-focused energy system that has energy security at the heart of it”, and will suggest the balance has swung too far in favour of climate change policies at the expense of keeping energy affordable.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Data suggests giant climatic event could be the strongest on record, meaning rains for drought-stricken California and a worsening of the coral die-off

The giant El Niño climatic event is set to bring rain to drought-stricken California by January, but is likely to exacerbate a widespread die-off of corals in the ocean, new data suggests.

The relentless warming trend highlighted by the new data also shows the world has just experienced its warmest October on record.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Thomas Piketty is right to draw attention to the importance of investors taking action on climate change (Piketty urges investors to divest stakes in fossil fuels, 14 November). My foundation has divested. But divest/invest are not the only options for investors, many of whom cannot quickly divest from all fossil fuels.

We need concerned investors to use their stakes in fossil-fuel companies, and also in companies at risk of diminishing value due to climate change, to change company behaviour. They can do this by requiring them to develop and share their plans for transition to a low-carbon economy. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, has given a lead on this and thoughtful companies will already be working on such plans. Investors can and must give the process the momentum it badly needs to ensure that companies across the board reduce their emissions in the five to 10 years we have left before irreversible climate change takes hold.
Carolyn Hayman
Chair, Preventable Surprises

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Source: Guardian Environment

US Fish and Wildlife Service has allowed one of world’s rarest wolves to be killed, as an estimated 50 to 75 are left in North Carolina wilderness, lawsuit alleges

The US government has failed to properly protect the red wolf, one of the world’s rarest wolves, by allowing a member of the species’ small wild population to be killed, conservationists have claimed.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has been taken to court by a coalition of environmental groups that argues it has not properly protected the endangered red wolf, with estimates of just 50 to 75 of the animals left in the wild in North Carolina.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Timberland’s former chief operating officer sheds light on the company’s lofty sustainability practices, but argues more needs to be done to develop an industry standard for emissions reporting

The first decade of the 21st century was a boom time for corporate sustainability. Iconic US companies, including GE, IBM, Walmart and Google, embraced the movement. Fortune 500 firms published their first corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. Conferences, consultants and awards proliferated.

Timberland – where I worked for 15 years through 2007 – won more than its share of plaudits. One personal highlight was attending the 2002 ceremony at the White House, where Timberland received the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, joining the ranks of other US exemplars of corporate citizenship such as UPS, General Mills, HP, Alcoa, Johnson & Johnson, SC Johnson, Procter & Gamble and many more.

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Source: Guardian Environment

It was meant to be a comment on climate change. But now, by sailing 12 pieces of ice from Greenland and placing them in the Place de la République, the artist is hoping to restore the numbed feelings of a city in shock

It was planned as a wake-up call to one crisis, but it is sailing towards the heart of another. A mass of ice harvested from Greenland is currently on its way to Paris, where it is due to be installed on Place de la République on 29 November to mark the UN climate change conference COP 21. “The blocks are in freezer containers normally used to ship shrimps from Greenland,” says Olafur Eliasson, the Danish-Icelandic artist behind Ice Watch Paris.

He imagined the work as a way of making the fragility and decay of the Arctic visible, not to mention tangible: “You stand in front of the ice, and then you can touch it.” Now, it also feels like a strange and unexpected homage to Paris itself.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Stanford University president John Hennessy was asked about his current policies on fossil fuel divestment while getting his hair cut at a local barber. In a video posted online by the Fountain Hopper, Hennessey is told there are more than 100 students protesting outside his office and asked if he will meet with them. He says he cannot see them right away, but that they can make an appointment

• Stanford students begin ‘indefinite’ sit-in over fossil fuel divestment

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Source: Guardian Environment

Scientists have discovered a breed of sandpiper with four different sexes. It makes for a complicated mating season

Name: Ruffs.

Age: Up to four-and-a-half years, on average.

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Source: Guardian Environment