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environment/2021/dec/16/plans-for-carbon-neutral-homes-in-england-are-a-step-back-say-experts | Plans for carbon-neutral homes in England are a step back, say experts | The government’s new building regulations were supposed to be the blueprint for carbon-neutral homes, helping the country reach net zero by 2030, but instead are a step backwards, industry experts have said. The government policy, published on Wednesday and due to be introduced by 2025, has mandated a 30% carbon cut in all new buildings and a 27% cut in others. The new rules will come into force in June in England, with a transition period to allow for planning applications that are in progress at the time. The housing minister, Eddie Hughes, said the change would pave the way for the future homes and future buildings standards in 2025 and would mean all future homes would be ready for net zero and not need any retrofit work. “The changes will significantly improve the energy efficiency of the buildings where we live, work and spend our free time and are an important step on our country’s journey towards a cleaner, greener built environment,” he said. However, construction industry experts said the new regulations are “a tiny and far cry from what is needed” especially considering Cop26 commitments. They argue, in particular, that allowing large building companies to use their own performance metrics does not bode well for a reduction in emissions. “From a first glance it may seem that the interim uplift is positive. From the face of it, it looks like buildings under the 2021 uplift will emit 30% less carbon,” explained Clara Bagenal George from LETI, a network of 1,000 built environment professionals that are working together to put London on the path to a zero carbon future. She argued that in fact, “due to the methodologies behind the regulation, this is more likely to translate into only a 5%-10% improvement in energy efficiency in practice”. Joe Baker, head of carbon management at Haringey council, reacted on Twitter to the regulations, saying: “This is disappointing and lacks ambition. Industry experts, investors, and citizens have shared with the government what is possible and what they want to see. They have given examples of where development is delivering better building far beyond this proposal. Showing the benefits to the industry, investors, and building occupiers. However, their views, expertise, and experiences, have been disregarded for a lower standard. “What happened to global Britain? Where is the global leadership in building a better zero carbon future? Using the UK’s skills and knowledge to deliver this ambition.” Experts have also argued that the new commitments don’t require existing housing stock to be retrofitted, which would reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency. Julie Godefroy at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, explained: “CIBSE had many concerns about the consultation proposals, including performance metrics, the treatment of heat networks and the lack of ambition to retrofit the existing stock. Some of these concerns have been partially addressed and, in some cases, government has adopted the most ambitious option from the consultation. “However, the uplift is a significant missed opportunity to provide a meaningful step towards the future homes/buildings standard, and it risks adding to the legacy of buildings and networks which will need future retrofit. “New buildings are the easiest part of decarbonising the built environment, so we must get it right, and there is huge industry support for net zero, which government must build on.” Vanessa Scott, the climate change manager for West Oxfordshire district council, said: ‘‘At a local authority level, in order to achieve net-carbon homes, we needed government to be listening to experts and pushing forward with standards that will lead us towards this goal and sooner rather than later. Industry experts have shared with the government what is possible, but they have not been listened to.” | ['environment/carbon-emissions', 'business/construction', 'society/housing', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helena-horton', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2021-12-16T18:29:11Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2011/feb/09/british-windfarms-vestas-profits-rise | British windfarms blow Vestas towards 25% profit rise | Strong demand from British windfarms helped the world's biggest turbine manufacturer, Vestas, raise profits by 25% over the past year and have boosted future prospects. UK equipment deliveries totalled 530MW – a leap from 120MW over the previous year – helped in particular by shipments for the 300MW Thanet windfarm, which is currently the largest offshore windfarm ever built. Shares in Vestas soared 5% as the Danish-based group reported net income of €156m for 2010, compared with €125m for the previous 12 months, while the overall order intake almost tripled to 8,673 MW. Vestas will claim its own world first later this spring, when it opens a £50m turbine research and development facility on the Isle of Wight, and is still weighing up the construction of a new manufacturing plant. In 2009 it closed Britain's only major wind turbine plant, which was based at Cowes, despite several weeks of protests. Ditlev Engel, the Vestas chief executive, is upbeat about new orders but said Britain was still failing to take advantage of the full potential of its wind resources, and he remained unconvinced that all the major "round 3" offshore wind farms would be built. Competitors Siemens and Gamesa have unveiled firm plans for blade construction factories on the east coast of Britain, but Engels said Vestas was still taking a wait-and-see approach. "We have taken no decision yet but we still have ample time as we do not expect to see any round 3 blades installed until 2014 or 2015," he explained. Separately, the government has given the green light for the first offshore wind farm for two years with permission granted to Germany's E.ON to construct a 230MW windfarm off the coast of Humberside. "A new wind farm off the Humberside coast will be a further jobs and investment boost for the region, hot on the heels of Siemens' announcement of plans to develop the Port of Hull, " said Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary. The Humber Gateway windfarm will generate enough electricity to power up to about 150,000 homes. The announcement came as energy minister Charles Hendry co-chaired the Offshore Wind Developers Forum in London, where windfarm developers discussed how the government's proposals for reforming the electricity market might help remove barriers to investment. | ['environment/vestas', 'environment/energy', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/green-jobs', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2011-02-09T16:39:00Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2022/sep/23/greta-thunberg-fridays-for-future-california-wildfires-video | ‘The climate crisis is now’: haunting video spotlights California wildfires | In a chilling new video released by Fridays for Future, the youth-led climate movement inspired by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, filmmakers capture how escalating wildfires have devastated California’s picturesque landscapes in the hopes of igniting an urgent call to action. The short video, titled “I love you, California,” sees the camera pan slowly over the aftermath of megafires: apocalyptic scenes of smoldering canyons, communities reduced to rubble and once lush hillsides turned to blackened moonscapes. The film is soundtracked by a haunting rendition of California’s state song, accompanied only by the sounds of quiet, rustling wind. “The regional anthem of California, adopted in 1951, celebrates the beauty of California’s rich, diverse natural landscape, from the redwood forests, to the natural exports of honey, fruit and wine,” filmmakers said in a statement. “Today, these lyrics ring more painful than joyous to residents who are forced to watch these same forests and fields of grains burn down year after year.” Fires have always been part of the landscapes across the US west, and are an essential part of many ecosystems that evolved alongside them. But the climate crisis has turned up the dial, fueling a brutal new kind of wildfire more likely to leave devastation in its wake. In the last six years, the state has seen its eight largest fires on record, 13 of the top 20 most destructive blazes, and three of the top five deadliest fires. The release of the film is timed with the global climate strike, a set of international demonstrations culminating around youth-led demands for policymakers to act, launching on Friday. Centered on the theme of #PeopleNotProfit, this year’s actions include calls for transformative justice reparations to address systemic inequities exacerbated by the climate crisis. While the video is just one part of the actions organized in the US, it highlights how life in the most populous US state has already been scarred by dangerous environmental shifts that are expected to intensify in the coming years. “The climate crisis is no longer an abstract future or a news article about a far-off country. It’s here – it’s now,” said Katharina Maier, national coordinator of Fridays for Future US, in a written statement, urging others to join the movement. Rising temperatures have escalated drought conditions across the American west, leaving parched plants primed to burn. Drying and dying vegetation has turned to tinder that spurs flames faster and higher, creating conflagrations that can’t be controlled. These types of fires are increasingly harmful to the environments they once helped, and far more dangerous to communities that lay in their paths. As conditions shift, fire season has also lengthened straining resources and fatiguing first responders. The problem is expected to worsen as the world continues to warm. “Growing up in California, it’s impossible not to see the devastating effects of the fires on everything around you,” said Kiyomi Morrison, a second-generation California native and junior art director for Fred & Farid, the LA-based agency that produced the video in collaboration with Fridays for Future. Hers is the voice heard echoing over the images, and she hopes it will inspire action toward a a different future. “As just one of the terrible realities of climate change,” she said, “I hope this can bring more awareness to the current path we’re heading down.” | ['world/wildfires', 'us-news/california', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/gabrielle-canon', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-09-23T10:00:33Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2019/mar/13/heres-why-i-am-striking-from-school-on-friday | Here's why I am striking from school on Friday | Hugh Hunter | My name is Hugh Hunter. I am 15 years old and I live on a farm in Gunnedah in regional NSW. This Friday, I am joining hundreds of thousands of students around the world to strike from school and call for urgent political action to stop the climate crisis. Our message to politicians is simple: if you care about us, our kids and their kids, then please treat climate change for what it is – a crisis – and take urgent action to stop it. That means stopping Adani’s monstrous coal mine, saying no to all new fossil fuel projects and rapidly transitioning Australia to 100% renewable energy by no later than 2030. My principal doesn’t want me to join the strike, and I do see his point of view. But it wasn’t until I heard about the school strike that I felt I could do something about the climate crisis. When I walk out those gates on Friday I will be creating hope for myself and my generation. I am only at school for another two years but I will be feeling the effects of climate change for the rest of my life. It’s not only Gunnedah that is grappling with climate change. I see the impacts everywhere: the crippling drought that is pushing farmers to the brink, sea levels rising and increasing catastrophic events, yet still many people deny it is happening. The evidence is everywhere, and ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away. But this crisis isn’t just about us. It’s about the people and countries that are too poor to change or don’t have the right to ask for it. These are also the people we are standing up for because we all have to share this world, and at the moment some countries are suffering the worst when they contributed the least to the problem. The climate crisis is not a vague future threat. It is here and it is hurting people right now. The cause of all this is short term thinking. Our government wants what they think is good for Australia; however, this means profits come first and it seems that not much thought is given to the repercussions and long term impacts. I have friends and family that work in coal mining, and I don’t want to risk their livelihoods. But our governments must put in place strategies to transition to 100% renewables immediately. We have the sun and the space for renewables – and they don’t risk our water, communities and climate the way that fossil fuels do. In NSW, 14 new and expanding coal mine projects are in the approvals pipeline. This includes one right near me on the banks of the Namoi River. According to analysis by Lock the Gate these projects would together produce more carbon pollution than Adani’s mega mine proposed for Queensland, and contaminate our valuable water sources. Meanwhile, politicians are discussing the Narrabri Gas Field which is likely to open up our farms to more across the state. Why are these projects and Adani’s coal mine even up for discussion? Communities like mine are already grappling with climate change. Us young people shouldn’t have to go to bed each night worrying about how much worse off we’ll be if all these new coal and gas projects go ahead. As school students, we can’t vote yet. But it’s us who will have to clean up the mess that our politicians are leaving behind. This is not fair, and that is why we are striking. The scientists tell us we have just over a decade to turn the climate crisis around. I will not even be 30 by then. My whole life will be ahead of me, as will the lives of today’s almost 2 billion children. So on 15 March we strike – in over 50 locations across Australia and over 70 countries around the world. And then we go back to our communities to continue the hard work moving Australia beyond fossil fuels to a brighter future for everyone. See you at the strike! • Hugh Hunter is 15 years old and lives in Gunnedah | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/activism', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'society/children', 'environment/environment', 'world/protest', 'australia-news/australian-education', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'environment/school-climate-strikes', 'profile/hugh-hunter', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-opinion'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-03-13T17:00:16Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2021/oct/10/nearly-half-of-britains-biodiversity-has-gone-since-industrial-revolution | Nearly half of Britain’s biodiversity has gone since industrial revolution | Almost half of Britain’s natural biodiversity has disappeared over the centuries, with farming and urban spread triggered by the industrial and agricultural revolutions being blamed as major factors for this loss. That is the shock finding of a study by scientists at London’s Natural History Museum, which has revealed that the UK is one of the worst-rated nations in the world for the extent to which its ecosystems have retained their natural animals and plants. “Britain has lost more of its natural biodiversity than almost anywhere else in western Europe, the most of all the G7 nations and more than many other nations such as China,” said Professor Andy Purvis, of the museum’s life science department. “It is very striking – and worrying.” The work by Purvis and his team has been published as negotiators prepare to begin online discussions for the UN biodiversity conference (Cop15) this week. These talks will then be followed by an international biodiversity summit next April in Kunming in China. Its aim will be to establish firm goals that would halt the loss of wildlife and the degradation of habitats that threatens to reach crisis levels across the planet in the near future. To aid these negotiations, Purvis’s team have drawn up a biodiversity intactness index (BII), which rates nations for how well their ecosystems have kept their natural diversity of animals, plants and fungi. This index revealed that across the developing world biodiversity tends to be at a high level but is often falling rapidly. By contrast, biodiversity has been stable in much of the developed world for the past 20 years but has been at a low level throughout that period – with the UK appearing near the bottom of this list. “Our analyses found the UK was consistently in the bottom 10% of nations in terms of biodiversity intactness,” said Dr Adriana De Palma, a senior researcher at the museum. As to the reason for Britain’s grim standing in the world biodiversity league, the team points to the fact that the agricultural and industrial revolutions started in the UK. “Basically, that triggered the mechanised destruction of nature in order to convert it into goods for profit,” Purvis said. “As a result, the UK has been among the most nature-depleted countries in the world for a long time.” Across the nation, woods and grassland have been ripped up and fields of single crops planted in their place. Over two-thirds of the UK is now used for agriculture and 8% has been built on, leaving little room for nature – although this is not a universal picture. The index reveals – not surprisingly – that in the remoter areas of northern England, Scotland and Wales, biodiversity is more intact than in areas such as south-east England, where farming tends to be more intense and where there are more people and more towns and cities. The world’s overall biodiversity intactness is estimated at 75%, which is significantly lower than the 90% average considered to be a safe limit for ensuring the planet does not tip into an ecological recession that could result in widespread starvation. On this scale, the UK’s index reading was 53%. Not surprisingly this has left dozens of species hovering on the brink of extinction. They include the Scottish wildcat and the pine marten, the natterjack toad, the turtle dove and insects such as the cicada. Even the existence of the once-ubiquitous hedgehog is threatened. Nor is the decline confined to animals: species of plants, fungi and soil micro-organisms have also suffered. Scientists believe it would be a relatively straightforward process for Britain to improve its biodiversity rating. However, they warn that should not be done by “offshoring” – letting developing nations shoulder the burden for providing our goods and growing our food while at the same time suffering the depletion of their own wildlife to ease pressure on our biodiversity. “Many people think of biodiversity as a luxury – as nice-to-have, charismatic, beautiful species. They are good for the soul but no more than that, these people argue,” Purvis said. “But biodiversity is so much more than that. It is the engine that produces everything that we consume. You can think of it like a wild supermarket that provides us with food and other gifts without us doing anything. The fact that we have several different varieties of apples, tomatoes and other foods is down to biodiversity – and when it is diminished we lose out.” The Natural History Museum has opened up the Biodiversity Intactness Index data through the Biodiversity Trends Explorer, which makes this data easy to find, understand, visualise, filter and download for anyone who wishes to use it. | ['environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'environment/conservation', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'science/science', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/robinmckie', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-main'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-10-10T08:45:08Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2017/oct/11/sewage-plants-are-leaking-millions-of-tiny-plastic-beads-into-britains-seas | Sewage plants are leaking millions of tiny plastic beads into Britain's seas | Sewage plants are contributing to plastic pollution in the oceans with millions of tiny beads spilling into the seas around the UK, according to a new report. Dozens of UK wastewater treatment plants use tiny plastic pellets, known as Bio-Beads, to filter chemical and organic contaminants from sewage, according to a study from the Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition (CPPC). The report found that many millions of these pellets, which are only about 3.5mm wide, have been spilled and ended up in the environment. The author of the report, Claire Wallerstein, said once the Bio-Beads had been released they are hard to spot and almost impossible to remove – yet can cause significant harm to marine wildlife. “We are learning more all the time about the environmental impact of consumer microplastics in wastewater such as laundry fibres, cosmetic microbeads and tyre dust,” said Wallerstein. “However, it now seems that microplastics used in the wastewater plants’ own processes could also be contributing to the problem.” However, South West Water said there was “no evidence that Bio-Beads are currently being released into the marine environment” from any of its sites. It said only nine of its 655 plants use Bio-Beads but did accept there had been spills in the past that “were subsequently cleaned up”. A spokesperson added: “We worked with the authors to encourage evidence-based rigour to this well-intentioned report. However, in parts, it remains anecdotal rather than factual, some of its conclusions are not supported by evidence and it insufficiently differentiates between nurdles [tiny pellets that form the basis of most plastic products] and Bio-Beads.” However, Wallerstein said samples had been analysed by a plastics expert who had been studying nurdles for 20 years and he had confirmed they were Bio-Beads. The Bio-Bead system is used in at least 55 wastewater treatment plants around the UK, according to CPPC. Wallerstein said the scale of the subsequent pollution could be far-reaching adding that in Cornwall Bio-Beads account for the majority of industrial plastic pellets found littering the beaches. “We know that these Bio-Beads have now reached the coast of northern Europe as well as the beaches here in the UK. What we need is more research into the scale of this problem and for a concerted effort by water companies to do something about it.” Industrial pellets and small bits of plastic such as Bio-Beads are mistaken for food by birds, fish, and other marine animals. These particles can kill animals, not only by causing digestive blockages, but also as a result of the high concentrations of pollutants, such as DDT and PCBs, which adhere to them in seawater. Plastic pollution can also enter the food chain. Last August, the results of a study by Plymouth University reported plastic was found in a third of UK-caught fish, including cod, haddock, mackerel and shellfish. Wallerstein said: “We understand that Bio-Bead plants have been good at improving the quality of the effluent discharged by our wastewater plants – but this should not involve the risk of polluting our seas and waterways with microplastics, which could have long-term and far-reaching consequences.” Bio-Beads are used in the last step of the sewage cleaning process before treated effluent water is released back into rivers or straight into the sea. There is currently no mechanism in place to trap lost Bio-Beads in the event of a spill and the CPPC report details several spills and near misses in recent years. Wallerstein said: “We believe that the Bio-Bead system is far too vulnerable to losses. We are calling for a range of safeguards to be put in place at all plants using it, and ultimately for water companies to phase out its use altogether.” South West Water said it welcomed the report but called for more research. “We commend the report’s authors in raising this subject but they insufficiently acknowledge other potential sources of small plastic pellets on south-west beaches such as plastic manufacturing plants in the UK and abroad, or spills from container ships, all of which are worthy of further investigation.” | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/waste', 'environment/oceans', 'uk/uk', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'environment/water', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-10-11T10:20:54Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2016/jul/11/feel-summer-yet-migrating-birds-nearly-over-weatherwatch | We might not feel we've had a summer yet, but for migrating birds it's nearly over | July may not feel like autumn, but in the world of birds, the return migration has already started – bringing an autumnal tinge to the air. Species that breed around the Arctic Circle – mostly waders such as plovers and sandpipers – are already heading south, towards their winter quarters in sub-Saharan Africa. These birds may only have passed through Britain in the opposite, northerly direction a few weeks ago, in mid-to-late May. They have to time both their outward and return journeys very carefully, to coincide with a brief window of opportunity during the middle of the summer, lasting just a few weeks. From mid-June to late July, temperatures in these high latitudes rapidly rise. Because this coincides with almost 24-hour, round-the-clock daylight, there is a massive but short-lived abundance of food. These birds are able to take advantage of the glut to feed their growing chicks. Local weather conditions can play a crucial part in their success or failure. A late, cold spring might mean that they arrive too soon, and then need to wait until they can start nesting. But an early spring can be even worse: if the birds have arrived too late, the food supply will be on the wane. Should this happen, instead of attempting to breed, many waders simply cut their losses and fly straight back south. So from early July onwards look out for turnstones and knots, bar-tailed godwits and spotted redshanks, many of them still in their splendid breeding garb, as they drop off to feed on our coastal estuaries, marshes and wetlands. | ['environment/birds', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'environment/environment', 'uk/weather', 'science/science', 'science/meteorology', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/stephenmoss1', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-07-11T20:30:42Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/shortcuts/2019/sep/19/burger-king-is-giving-up-on-free-plastic-toys-for-kids-when-will-others-follow | Burger King is giving up on free plastic toys for kids – when will others follow? | Plastic is the wonder product of the last century: durable, flexible, versatile and cheap to produce. It is also catnip to small children, to whom it can be used to sell anything from fast food to extravagantly priced magazines; typically a few sheets of newsprint with a tiny water pistol. But if parents think they are expensive, so may children in the future. “These toys are nothing but future landfill; the legacy our children will inherit,” says Sian Sutherland, the co-founder of A Plastic Planet, a group campaigning against pollution. “Fast-fix plastic toys are used for moments and exist for centuries.” Burger King is, at last, taking a stand against the plastic scourge by giving up on giving away small plastic toys. McDonald’s has demurred, while others in the retail, fast-food and children’s magazine industries are so far sitting on their hands. The toys are not just clogging up bins, landfills and oceans but recycling machines, too. Joe Allen, the chief commercial officer at First Mile recycling company, says: “Many aren’t recyclable at all, and will contaminate the mixed recycled collections that many households are offered by the council,” he says. “Even the toys that are made from easily recyclable plastic are usually too small, or have components that are too small, to be picked up by conventional recycling-sorting machinery. Their size also causes potential problems with the machinery itself because of blockages.” Julian Kirby, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth, says rules are needed to stem the plastic tide: “Companies [that give away the toys] must adopt a new business model that prioritises the safeguarding of the Earth’s limited resources for future generations – and if they won’t, the government should make them.” However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has no plans to ban or restrict the toys under incoming rules that will essentially remove straws, stirrers, cotton buds and other single-use plastics because technically the toys are meant for reuse. Allen disagrees. “These toys are usually made so cheaply that they don’t last long enough for reuse, and become single-use items – not the habits or attitudes we should be promoting to our children.” Few companies other than Burger King seems willing to step up and take the imaginative leap necessary to find ways to attract children innately attracted to any sort of novelty. They will need to soon, says Solitaire Townsend of the Futerra consultancy. “Kids themselves are becoming aware of it,” she says, having run focus groups that found recycling was the environmental issue that grabbed children most immediately. “Children like recycling, and they are aware of waste. You’re not selling plastic, you’re selling fun, play and an experience – why does that have to be plastic? There’s a massive advantage for the company that works out how to sell that experience in a better way than badly moulded plastic. Give away books instead.” | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/environment', 'news/shortcuts', 'food/fast-food', 'business/burger-king', 'business/mcdonalds', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-09-19T14:23:42Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
news/2012/dec/18/weather | Weatherwatch: How do you make a cloud? | How do you make a cloud? It is a problem that has puzzled some of the finest minds, and last week scientists met at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, to celebrate the man who invented the "cloud chamber" – Charles Thompson Rees Wilson. Wilson became captivated by clouds while staying at the Ben Nevis observatory for a fortnight in September 1894. This short-lived meteorological station (operational from 1883 to 1904) was situated at the summit of Britain's highest mountain, with meteorological readings taken every hour. During Wilson's visit a combination of sunlight from behind, cloud above and a steep drop in front of him created a number of "brocken spectres" – a multicoloured halo around the shadows. Determined to understand how these eerie optcal phenomena are formed, Wilson went back to Cambridge University and constructed a cloud chamber. Inside his special box clouds were created by rapidly expanding moist air. Wilson also found that he could create beautiful trails of droplets by firing x-rays into the box and ionising atoms. Brocken spectres were rather forgotten in the wake of this exciting discovery, and instead Wilson achieved celebrity for his incredible box, where people could watch the paths made by ionising particles. The cloud chamber became a vital tool for exploration of the microscopic world, and led Wilson to be the first person to speculate the existence of cosmic rays – penetrating radiation arriving from outer space. In 1927, Wilson was awarded the Nobel prize for his invention. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'uk/weather', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/kate-ravilious', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-12-18T16:29:55Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2005/may/20/science.tsunami2004 | Earth 'still ringing' from tsunami quake | The Indian Ocean earthquake that triggered the great Boxing Day tsunami literally shook the world and triggered a swarm of minor earthquakes 11,000 kilometres away in Alaska. It set new records - the longest fault rupture ever seen; the longest duration and the most energetic swarm of aftershocks ever observed. The calamity began with a sudden shift on average of more than 16.5ft (5 metres) along an 800 mile fault line deep below the ocean. Just off Banda Aceh in northern Sumatra, the ocean floor suddenly moved north-eastward, pushing as much as 20 metres under the Burma tectonic plate. It raised the tip of the Burma plate several metres, and it lifted the ocean itself, setting up a tsunami that slammed into the coasts of Sumatra, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka, killing 300,000 people. The earthquake was so catastrophic that its effects could be measured from space, according to scientists reporting today in the US journal Science. It rearranged the Earth's surface and caused measurable deformation almost 2,800 miles away. "The Earth is still ringing like a bell today," said Roland Bürgmann of the University of California, Berkeley. "We have never been able to study earthquakes of this magnitude before, where a sizable portion of the Earth was distorted. Normally, we see deformation of the surface a few hundred kms away. But here we see deformation 4,500 kms away, and five or six times the deformation we have seen in previous quakes." Seismologists now believe that the 9.15 magnitude earthquake was probably twice as powerful as previously estimated. The violence was also was more enduring: much of the movement along the fault line happened half an hour after the initial shock and continued for up to three hours. Readings from 41 GPS stations were used to reconstruct the biggest shock in 40 years. At one site, 45,000 kms from the epicentre, the surface shifted by just a millimetre. It shifted two cms in southern India. The shock waves caused the ground to rise and fall 9 cms in Sri Lanka. It moved massive slabs of rock 20 metres, along a 1,300km section of the fault. And it set the Earth ringing. "Just like thumping a watermelon to hear if it is ripe, after a big earthquake thumps our planet we measure the natural tones from seismograms to detect properties of the Earth's deep mantle and core," said Jeffrey Park of Yale University. "The Sumatran-Andaman earthquake produced the best documentation of the Earth's free oscillations ever recorded." Previous comparable earthquakes all occurred at least 40 years ago: in Kamchatka in Russia in 1952; the Aleutian islands in 1957; southern Chile in 1960 and Prince William Sound, Alaska, in 1964. "This really is a watershed event. We've never had such comprehensive data for a great earthquake, because we didn't have the instrumentation to gather it 40 years ago. And then the sheer size of the event is so awesome. "It is nature at its most formidable, and it has been humbling to all of us who have studied it, " said Thorne Lay of the University of California, Santa Cruz. "Even among seismologists, we call this a monster earthquake." | ['world/world', 'science/science', 'world/tsunami2004', 'world/earthquakes', 'type/article', 'profile/timradford'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-05-19T23:10:34Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
travel/2017/jun/15/tilos-greece-renewable-energy-wind-solar-power | Tilos, Greece: the first island in the Med to run entirely on wind and solar power | You’re more likely to run into friendly partridges, rare orchids and endangered eagles than people as you trek around Tilos. The entire Dodecanese island is a nature reserve, with more than 150 species of resident and migratory birds, over 650 plant varieties, and a permanent population hovering around 500. Tilos owes its extraordinary biodiversity to a network of underground springs that feed five wetlands – but also to the late mayor, Tassos Aliferis, a committed environmentalist who earned Tilos its reputation as “Greece’s green island”. Aliferis banned hunting in 1993. (He also conducted the first same-sex marriages in Greece in 2008 long before they became legal in 2015.) The current mayor, Maria Kamma, continues to champion sustainable development, and human rights. She has extended an open invitation to refugee families to settle on Tilos, working with the NGO SolidarityNow and the UNHCR to establish sheltered accommodation, language classes and mentoring schemes to help asylum-seekers set up organic farming businesses in partnership with locals. “We want to revive traditions that were dying out due to a dwindling population, like making cheese and gathering medicinal herbs,” says Kamma. “By integrating refugees, we can boost the local economy and encourage eco-tourism.” Soon Tilos could become even greener: it’s set to be the first island in the Mediterranean powered by wind and solar energy. The island currently relies on oil-based electricity from neighbouring Kos, via a submarine cable that is vulnerable to faults. Power cuts are frequent. By installing a single wind turbine and small photovoltaic park, Tilos is creating a hybrid micro-grid that will generate and store energy. Installation is under way and an 18-month pilot begins in September, as part of a €15m project largely funded by the European commission. Eventually, Tilos could export excess power to Kos, and the goal is to roll out similar projects on other small islands in Europe. Financial support has also been provided for Tilos Park, a non-profit residents’ association set up to protect and promote the island’s natural and cultural heritage, and upgrade the Information Centre, where visitors can pick up maps of nature trails, mountain bike routes, and the best spots for sighting rare birds, or sign up for canoe and kayak trips. It’s hoped that knock-on effects will include increased visitor numbers – which currently stand at 13,000 per year – particularly among eco-minded travellers. “Tilos has many loyal ‘fans’ who’ve come every year for 30 years,” says Kamma. “Now we’re getting a lot more interest from young people who have heard about Tilos because of the renewable energy project. They like what we are doing and want to support the island.” Kamma also hopes the positive publicity will help generate additional funding to install solar-powered street lighting, introduce electric bicycles and motorbikes for municipal staff, and charging stations for electric cars. “Usually it’s hard for a tiny island community to break with tradition, but on Tilos we’ve always welcomed alternatives,” she says. “If we can do it, anyone can.” | ['travel/greek-islands', 'travel/series/on-the-radar-travel', 'travel/greece', 'travel/green', 'travel/beach', 'travel/familyholidays', 'travel/europe', 'travel/travel', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/travel', 'theguardian/travel/travel', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-travel'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2017-06-15T10:15:37Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2009/jun/28/nuclear-industry-global-body-plans | Nuclear industry accused of hijacking clean energy forum | The nuclear power industry has been accused of trying to muscle in on plans to establish a global body to represent the renewable energy industry at a key meeting in Egypt tomorrow. France – a major user and exporter of nuclear technologies – is accused by critics of trying to win the top job inside the renewable organisation so it can move the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) towards being a promoter of "low-carbon" technologies – including atomic power. The talks in Sharm el-Sheikh are already threatening to become a major standoff between Germany and the United Arab Emirates over which country should win the right to have the headquarters of Irena based in its country. France, which recently signed a nuclear co-operation agreement with the UAE, is supporting Abu Dhabi. It also wants one of its own civil servants, Hélène Peloss, to be given the top role. Britain, which only signed up for membership on Friday, has given no indication whether it plans to cast its vote in favour of Bonn or Abu Dhabi, while the US is expected to join Irena in Egypt and then lend its support to Germany. Karsten Sach, an official in the German environment ministry with responsibility for Irena, said he was "very optimistic" that his country would be chosen but he refused to be drawn on the competition with Abu Dhabi or the role of France. "I think we have an excellent offer in terms of experience, policy frameworks and vibrant research but we are not campaigning against any other offer," he argued. Bonn is considered by many to be the more obvious location because the renewables agency was the brainchild of the Germans, who have led the way in the clean technology sector through its determined championing of solar power. The promoters of Bonn are also suggesting that the Danish renewables policy expert Hans Jørgen Koch should be chosen as director general. But Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, is pushing its claims to host Irena by emphasising its new commitment to clean technology through the construction of the hugely ambitious, low-carbon Masdar City project. It is also arguing that a developing country rather than the west is better placed to pursue the vital north-south dialogue needed to beat global warming. At previous planning meetings for Irena, the French have talked about "low-carbon" technologies, encouraging speculation about its ultimate motives. Eric Martinot, a senior research director with the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies in Tokyo, and a former environment specialist at the World Bank, told the Huffington Post, an online newspaper, that the French manoeuvres should be resisted. "An Irena located in Abu Dhabi under such circumstances would be 'nuclear tainted' because the negotiating process used to select a host country would be based on support for nuclear power," said Martinot. "Are the original goals of Irena being co-opted so that renewables become a mere appendage to a nuclear agenda? 'Sprinkling some renewables on top of our nuclear power'?" he asked. More than 100 countries have signed up to the new organisation, although the US and China have yet to do so. Sach said he was hopeful that the US might join in Egypt and that China would eventually come on board. The renewable agency will have a mandate to disseminate knowledge, develop regulatory framework and to actively promote the widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies around the world. It comes ahead of vital new talks in Copenhagen at the end of this year about how to tackle global warming and amid excitement that the US and China are finally starting to play more constructive roles compared with the past. | ['business/business', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'world/france', 'world/egypt', 'world/germany', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'world/europe-news', 'world/africa', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2009-06-28T13:52:09Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2021/nov/25/the-guardian-view-on-germanys-government-green-light-for-change | The Guardian view on Germany’s government: green light for change | Editorial | Confirmation that Germany will soon be governed by a three-party coalition led by the social democrat Olaf Scholz is an event to take seriously, and not just in Germany. That is especially true because once the coalition parties – social democrats, greens and liberals – have each voted their formal approval, Mr Scholz will take over from Angela Merkel, who has governed resourcefully for 16 years while providing great stability on the international stage. Mrs Merkel’s departure means her centre-right CDU-CSU alliance faces a period of eclipse and reinvention. The new administration, dubbed the traffic-light coalition because of the parties’ colours, will, however, provide continuity with the recent past, especially in foreign, European and defence policy. More problematically, the new finance minister, Christian Lindner of the liberal Free Democratic party, is now positioned to uphold Germany’s familiar fiscal orthodoxy and debt aversion in the face of future spending pressures from the other coalition parties, as well as on the EU budgetary stage. To an extent, such tensions are implicit in any three-way coalition. These should neither be exaggerated nor downplayed. Yet the new government and the EU will not easily survive any hasty German return to traditional austerity and debt avoidance, so the commitments in the coalition deal may prove more aspirational than achievable. The investment pledges on infrastructure and climate crisis measures will also challenge the culture of budgetary restraint. Ultimately, the test of the Scholz government will be how it deals with these tensions. Yet the coalition’s wider agenda, set out in the 178-page document hammered out since September’s general election, should not be dismissed as a steady-as-we-go programme. With the Green party heading a new ministry for economy and climate protection, targets will require 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030, the phasing out of coal “ideally” by the same deadline, and a sped-up abandonment of gas by 2040. Equally striking, especially seen from Britain, is the coalition’s pledge of a paradigm shift in migration and integration policy to make Germany “a modern country of immigration”. Promised measures include speeding up the visa process, easier passport entitlement and support for refugee quotas. Other important liberalisations include easing the process of gender change, lifting the ban on the sale of cannabis for recreational use and reducing the voting age from 18 to 16. Old party loyalties are breaking down across Europe, not just Germany, so this coalition should be watched as a possible shape of things to come. As ever, though, the best laid plans are vulnerable to immediate events. Germany’s Covid rates have hit record levels this month, and contentious lockdowns and compulsory vaccinations are on the agenda in some states. Mr Scholz and his government may not long enjoy the luxury of a honeymoon period. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'world/germany', 'world/angela-merkel', 'environment/green-politics', 'world/europe-news', 'type/article', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-11-25T19:07:19Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2021/oct/13/a-burning-issue-for-guardianistas | A burning issue for Guardianistas | Brief letters | Yet more anti-science rhetoric on wood burning (Letters, 11 October). The World Health Organization estimates that every year, worldwide, 4 million people die prematurely as a consequence of burning domestic biomass. Yes, the extra CO2 burden from burning dry wood as compared with gas is not huge, but it is the particulates that kill people – and if they don’t kill you, they exacerbate bronchitis, asthma and other lung ailments. Sometimes I despair of my fellow Guardianistas! John Freeman Kingswinford, West Midlands • Jonathan Hewett’s defence of accepting poor writing skills is flawed (Letters, 7 October). Full stops and commas have a function: pauses, emphasis, nuance, organisation. Having spent many hours marking essays, one aim was to make writing and punctuation enjoyable, not to produce snobs. Have I wasted my life? Veronica Edwards Malvern, Worcestershire • When I woke up to read “Matt Hancock appointed UN special envoy to help Covid recovery in Africa” (Report, 12 October), I thought that I must have slept right through until 1 April next year. Harry Bower Rotherham, South Yorkshire • Your correspondent (Report, 11 October) says: “Bats are New Zealand’s only land based mammals.” Do all the people live in the sea? Francis Blake London • Daniel Trilling (Britain is learning the hard way that migration can’t be turned on or off like a tap, 12 October) quotes the party slogan: “Vote Tory to get a pay rise.” Tell that to the nurses. Ian Wishart London • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication. | ['environment/biofuels', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'environment/pollution', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'education/english', 'politics/matt-hancock', 'world/newzealand', 'society/nursing', 'politics/conservatives', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2021-10-13T15:55:22Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
sustainable-business/2014/oct/27/future-business-people-not-profit-sustainability | The future of business lies in people, not profit | Can business become a force for good? Even the question sounds like a suspect PR strategy, such is the depth of distrust of business. In the aftermath of the financial crisis there is soul-searching and this offers a golden opportunity for a different path. For some in the business world the remedy is minor course correction. They know that capitalism needs customers, and if to continue to make money business now has to factor in more social and environmental costs, then so be it. But there are also people who see that the problem goes deeper. They look at the way the market economy has developed over the last 25 to 30 years and see the obsession with subordinating all other aims to the sole goal of maximising profits as deeply warped. They know it has ended up exploiting people and society rather than serving them. Over the past couple of years a group from business and society have been working on a distinctive approach to this. Called a Blueprint for Better Business, it offers a way for businesses to renew and regain a sense of social purpose. The key question is why a business exists. The point this group focused on is that the true purpose of business is to solve problems and meet social needs. Profit is the result. Profit is not the purpose. If you go back to the 1950s this is how most business leaders thought and acted. The obsession with maximising shareholder value as the purpose of business is a recent, and deeply damaging aberration. It changes organisations, and it has skewed human motivation to focus unhealthily on status and material reward. Blueprint for Better Business, which draws on learnings from faith traditions and philosophy and then shapes these into an actionable framework with leading UK multinationals, has come up with five principles of a purpose driven business. The core of it is that a business must have a purpose that delivers long-term sustainable performance. That purpose – the ‘why’ – has to meet two societal tests: respect for human dignity and serving the common good. It is through developing products and services that are true to this purpose that the business delivers a fair return to investors. There is no trade off between purpose and profit, and no outsourcing of social purpose to CSR programmes. The identity and core purpose of the whole business is clear and directs everything the business does. But to deliver such a purpose requires people to bring the best of themselves to work. It needs both competence and character. It needs people at the top who care about others and enthuse the whole business by the quality of relationships they instil. It taps into the potential of people. It is both an axiom of many faith traditions and philosophy, and also increasingly evidenced through behavioural economics, neuroscience and positive psychology, that to be human is to be more than simply self-interested. We have a deep need for relationships with others, and there are common goods that only come into being through the commitments that people make to each other. Furthermore, we also yearn for meaning and fulfilment at work. The energy and creativity that fosters and encourages innovation often comes from the desire for joy and fulfilment in making a positive difference to the world. It is a paradox that we have ended up in our society with a lot of very talented people who shy away from the private sector because they think it is about making money with no meaning. And sometimes it is. But the deep desire to make a positive difference comes out in the amazing number of young people starting social enterprises and seeking to make a reasonable living through a purpose that serves society. Many are convinced that now there is a true opportunity to reframe the place of business in society. This Thursday there will be a call to action based on the Blueprint’s five principles of a purpose driven business. It’s a movement and it’s free. And to those who say business cannot change, my question is “why not?”. Charles Wookey is Acting CEO of Blueprint for Better Business and works part time as an assistant general secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. Read more stories like this: Six strategies for creating system change for a sustainable future Happiness and wellbeing trump material growth Challenging the old narrative that possessions equal prosperity Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox | ['sustainable-business/series/rethinking-prosperity', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'sustainable-business/behaviour', 'business/business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'environment/environment', 'world/ethics', 'type/article', 'tone/comment'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-10-27T14:56:35Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
politics/2005/sep/03/hurricanekatrina.usa | Letters: Storm hits the markets | It is instructive to juxtapose the current blind faith in markets to deliver freedom, happiness and economic development (Comment, September 2) with the US government's pathetic attempts to deal with the major disaster brought about by Hurricane Katrina. Markets cannot deliver aid to those who need it, although they can deliver excellent pictures of their suffering. Governments, including our own, must recognise that prior to being consumers demanding choice, people are citizens demanding adequate social services, citizens with rights and responsibilities. And people, including those advocating less government, must recognise that civilised life requires a properly functioning and properly funded state bureaucracy that can deliver services to its citizens. Prof Yiannis Gabriel Imperial College, London The recent surge in oil prices and the knock-on effect caused by hurricane Katrina will bring US petrol prices at the pump into line with those that UK consumers are used to. This will, perhaps, offer market discipline to help the US to wise up on climate change. Our research shows that UK consumers are responding to water shortages and rising energy prices by trying to live more sustainably. Perhaps consumers can make a virtue out of a necessity: as fossil fuel gets more expensive, at least the costs of going green fall. Ed Mayo National Consumer Council | ['politics/politics', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'us-news/us-news', 'politics/economy', 'uk/uk', 'world/world', 'tone/letters', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-09-02T23:29:07Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
sustainable-business/2014/jul/11/hobby-lobby-birth-control-contraception-supreme-court-sexism-constitution | The Hobby Lobby shock: it's high time for an equal rights amendment | Last week, in the Hobby Lobby case, the US supreme court decided to protect the religious rights of closely-held corporations and their owners — at the expense of the rights of millions of women employees to contraception under the Affordable Care Act. The court found that Hobby Lobby was “substantially burdened” by the inclusion of certain contraceptives, in this case two types of morning-after pills and two types of intrauterine devices (IUD), in its employees’ health insurance. In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, noted that the price of contraceptives discourages their use by many women. She pointed out that an IUD costs the equivalent of a month’s pay for women working full time at the minimum wage. According to a range of different studies, women of childbearing age spend between 40% and 69% more for out-of-pocket health costs than men of the same age. In truth, the Hobby Lobby decision will cause much more damage to women — 51% of the population — than a contrary result would have caused to religious freedom.
After all, including the contraceptives in employees' coverage is not the same thing as making the decision to use them. Even if they were offered, it is the women employed by the company — not the company — who would independently determine whether or not to access contraceptive services under the insurance. This “burden” of providing this coverage, which would likely add nothing to employers' insurance cost, pales in comparison to the burden on women resulting from the denial of coverage for these services. The supreme court could not have reached its decision if we had had an equal rights amendment in the US constitution. Depriving women of coverage for health services they need is sex discrimination, plain and simple. Also, the religious protections the court relied on were statutory, and a statute cannot override a constitutional provision. An equal rights amendment would have forced the court to consider thoroughly the harm to women of depriving them of contraception, and to recognize women’s fundamental right to freedom from sex discrimination. Unsurprisingly, the term “sex discrimination” appears nowhere in the court’s decision. Although the constitution should be read to protect women against discrimination – women, after all, are “persons” entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment – the standard for protection against sex discrimination is not as stringent as it should be. And for some members of the court, women don’t seem to count as constitutional “persons", even though corporations do. Justice Scalia, for example, has said: “Certainly the constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't.”
The women’s health amendment to the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2009, is meant to ensure that women can obtain contraceptives, mammograms and other preventative care without additional cost. Increased access to contraception will reduce unintended pregnancies — which for some women could be life threatening — and enhance public health, women’s economic opportunity, and the dignity that comes with women’s ability to control their own reproductive choices. But it has taken hits, not only from the Hobby Lobby decision, but also from another recent supreme court action, involving Wheaton College, that came through just a few days later. Wheaton College, an evangelical Illinois school, objects not only to the idea of providing coverage for birth control, but also to the idea of filling out a government form that would essentially certify its religious objections to contraception and transfer the responsibility for this coverage to insurers. The school was able to get an injunction to keep it from having to fill out the form while the case was pending. The court considered that merely filling out the form might “substantially burden” Wheaton College’s religious freedom. The three women justices who dissented pointed out the absurdity of this claim. Once again, if we had an equal rights amendment in the constitution, the supreme court would have had to weigh the burden of the form on Wheaton College’s religious rights against the burden on women of denying them access to contraception, a burden that is serious and real and involves millions of women — and men. Sadly, Hobby Lobby and Wheaton College are just the latest in a long series of supreme court cases that have denied women protection from sex discrimination. In 1976, the supreme court ruled that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy was not sex discrimination, a ruling Congress overturned. In 2007, the court determined that Lilly Ledbetter could get back pay for only six months of the 20 years she was paid less than her male colleagues, a decision Congress also overturned. And in 2011, the court dismissed the action against Walmart for paying women less than men, making it more difficult for women to remedy sex discrimination against them. Although the 1972 effort to adopt the equal rights amendment failed, US Representative Carolyn Maloney has introduced a new equal rights amendment that would finally add the word “women” into the constitution. And Senator Ben Cardin and Representative Jackie Speier have introduced legislation to resuscitate the 1972 proposal. Those who think we don’t need the new amendment may want to think again in light of the Hobby Lobby and the Wheaton College decisions. For those who think we can’t get the equal rights amendment, ask why not. It’s high time for it — simple justice, long overdue. Elizabeth Holtzman is a former member of Congress. Jessica Neuwirth is president of the recently formed ERA Coalition. The social impact hub is funded by AngloAmerican. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement feature. Find out more here. | ['business/business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'sustainable-business/health-and-wellbeing', 'type/article', 'tone/comment'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-07-11T13:00:05Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2016/feb/10/no-evidence-that-eus-illegal-timber-policy-is-working | ‘No evidence’ that EU's illegal timber policy is working | There is “no solid evidence” that an EU law has done anything to prevent the illegal timber trade or even that it has been implemented, according to a draft commission review seen by the Guardian. Nine EU countries have still not imposed penalties or taken action against timber traffickers and six others have yet to carry out checks on importers as required by the EU’s timber regulation. The review finds that “only a fraction” of private sector firms use independent monitoring groups to source their timber, and that loopholes anyway exempt many types of timber import from scrutiny. Alexandra Pardal, a spokeswoman for the campaign group Global Witness, said that the EU’s law had been a landmark in the fight against deforestation “but almost three years after its introduction, we haven’t seen a single prosecution in Europe.” “If EU member states are serious about cracking down on the drivers of illegal logging, they need to start abiding by their own laws – by seizing illicit timber and prosecuting the companies that import it.” Global Witness says that it has presented EU authorities with “clear evidence” of illegal timber being exported to Europe from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, but that no action was taken. Greenpeace is also demanding an Interpol investigation into a boat that it suspects of being laden with illegal timber, which is reportedly docked in Bilbao at present, after being towed away from the French coast. The global illegal logging industry is worth up to$100bn a year, according to Interpol estimates. The commission review did detect a drop in timber imports to the EU between 2010 and 2013, but found that this was mostly because of economic stagnation in Europe and high timber demand in Asia. “There is no solid evidence to show that the due diligence system obligation so far has been effective in preventing illegally harvested timber and that operators across the EU have consistently implemented their due diligence requirements to date,” it says. Part of the problem is that only the first seller of timber to the European market has to verify a product’s legality, so contraband spot checks tend to be ineffective. “Competent authorities do not yet have the capacity and resources they would need for effective application of the regulation,” the review says. It goes on: “Only a fraction of operators, with a rough estimate of 100 to 200, currently use a due diligence service with monitoring organisation support and verification services.” The findings chime with a recent European Court of Auditors study which reported that the regulation had been poorly designed, badly managed and largely ineffective. Government authorities are often too under-resourced to carry out its measures thoroughly. Greece and Hungary are currently facing legal proceedings for non-implementation of the law. “Proper checks on timber being traded in the EU are the keystone of the EU Timber Regulation,” said Emily Unwin, a lawyer for the green law firm, ClientEarth. “This law can and must prevent illegal logging around the world, but we have to get the enforcement right. Industry needs accountability. Governments must commit resources.” Illegal logging is thought to be responsible for around one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, more than from all the world’s ships, trains, planes and cars combined. | ['environment/deforestation', 'environment/forests', 'environment/conservation', 'world/eu', 'environment/environment', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'environment/illegal-wildlife-trade', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/arthurneslen'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2016-02-10T10:43:01Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/feb/10/loophole-allowing-for-deforestation-on-soya-farms-in-brazils-amazon | ‘Loophole’ allowing for deforestation on soya farms in Brazil’s Amazon | More than 400 sq miles (1,000 sq km) of Amazon rainforest has been felled to expand farms growing soya in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso in a 10-year period, despite an agreement to protect it, according to a new investigation. In 2006, the landmark Amazon soy moratorium was introduced banning the sale of soya grown on land deforested after 2008. From 2004 to 2012, the clearing of trees in the Amazon fell by 84%. But in recent years deforestation has climbed steeply, reaching a 15-year high last year – encouraged, campaigners say, by President Jair Bolsonaro’s anti-conservationist rhetoric and policies. With the moratorium applying only to soya, farmers have been able to sell the crop as deforestation-free, while still clearing land for cattle, maize or other commodities. To map the deforestation, researchers from the Brazilian NGO Instituto Centro de Vida, along with Greenpeace’s Unearthed and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, looked at satellite data of land where soya was being grown in Mato Grosso state, which stretches across the southern part of the Amazon. The state grows more soya than anywhere else in Brazil. They found that while studies show the moratorium had successfully stopped rainforest being directly converted into soya fields, deforestation had continued. Farmers were clearing land to grow commodities other than soya, with 450 sq miles of rainforest – equivalent in size to Greater Manchester – felled in Mato Grosso between 2009 and 2019, according to the research. Holly Gibbs, professor of geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, said: “At the same time that soy farmers comply with the moratorium, they continue to deforest illegally for other purposes.” The revelations undermine claims by supermarkets that soya is no longer linked to the loss of Amazon rainforest. Soya is a key commodity used by dairy, cattle, pig and poultry farmers in Europe and the rest of the world to feed their livestock. The Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), the main association for soya traders in Brazil, said the moratorium had resulted in significant reductions in deforestation in municipalities that produce soya. “If soy beans are planted in polygons [an area between a specified set of coordinates] with deforestation after 2008, the entire farm is considered noncompliant with the soy moratorium,” Abiove said a statement. Previous analysis has suggested more than 1m tonnes of soya used by UK livestock farmers to produce chicken and other food in 2019 could have been linked to deforestation. Gibbs said pressure from soya buyers in Europe and the US was needed to stop the deforestation. “Legislation in the EU, UK and the US raises the stakes of this ongoing deforestation on soy properties. The soy industry could consider broadening the Amazon soy moratorium to close the door to all deforestation connected to soy.” Prof Raoni Rajão, an agricultural specialist at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said the current regulations were insufficient. “Only the specific areas where soy is grown are monitored, not the entire property. Farmers have already noticed this loophole.” The Retail Soy Group, which represents leading retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Lidl and Waitrose, acknowledged there were limitations to the moratorium and said the new allegations “further highlight the need to have strengthened legal protections of these vital ecosystems”. Sign up for the Animals farmed monthly update to get a roundup of the biggest farming and food stories across the world and keep up with our investigations. You can send us your stories and thoughts at [email protected] | ['environment/series/animals-farmed', 'environment/environment', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/forests', 'world/brazil', 'world/americas', 'world/world', 'global-development/global-development', 'environment/food', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/andrew-wasley', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-02-10T06:01:12Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2013/mar/04/ships-sail-north-pole-2050 | Ships to sail directly over the north pole by 2050, scientists say | Ships should be able to sail directly over the north pole by the middle of this century, considerably reducing the costs of trade between Europe and China but posing new economic, strategic and environmental challenges for governments, according to scientists. The dramatic reduction in the thickness and extent of late summer sea ice that has taken place in each of the last seven years has already made it possible for some ice-strengthened ships to travel across the north of Russia via the "northern sea route". Last year a total of 46 ships made the trans-Arctic passage, mostly escorted at considerable cost by Russian icebreakers. But by 2050, say Laurence C. Smith and Scott R. Stephenson at the University of California in the journal PNAS on Monday, ordinary vessels should be able to travel easily along the northern sea route, and moderately ice-strengthened ships should be able to take the shortest possible route between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, passing over the pole itself. The easiest time would be in September, when annual sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is at its lowest extent. The scientists took two classes of vessels and then simulated whether they would be able to steam through the sea ice expected in seven different climate models. In each case they found that the sea routes opened up considerably after 2049. "The emergence of a … corridor directly over the north pole indicates that sea ice will become sufficiently thin such that a critical technical threshold is surpassed, and the shortest great circle route thus becomes feasible, for ships with moderate ice-breaking capability," says the paper. "The prospect of common open water ships, which comprise the vast majority of the global fleet, entering the Arctic Ocean in late summer, and even its remote central basin by moderately ice-strengthened vessels heightens the urgency for a mandatory International Maritime Organisation regulatory framework to ensure adequate environmental protections, vessel safety standards, and search-and-rescue capability," it adds. The northern sea route has been shown to save a medium-sized bulk carrier 18 days and 580 tonnes of bunker fuel on a journey between northern Norway and China. Shipowners have said it can save them €180,000-€300,000 on each voyage. A direct route over the pole could save up to 40% more fuel and time. | ['environment/travel-and-transport', 'environment/environment', 'environment/sea-ice', 'environment/poles', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/arctic', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal'] | environment/poles | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2013-03-04T20:00:02Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
law/2012/mar/20/who-killed-hilda-murrell | Who really killed Hilda Murrell? | Michael Mansfield | Hilda Murrell was murdered in March 1984. Who killed her - and why - has already been the subject of books, plays and films, and the conviction of a man for her abduction and murder in 2005 failed to answer many of the questions surrounding her death. The reasons for this enduring enquiry are exposed at length in A Thorn In Their Side, a book being launched this week to mark the 28th anniversary of her death. The author is Hilda's nephew, Robert Green, with whom she had a close relationship and who was a commander in naval intelligence during the Falklands war. He has followed and chronicled the case meticulously. Was this just a random, bungled burglary by a lone 16-year-old - as the police would have it - or was it an operation involving several individuals on behalf of a government agency, namely the security services? The book cannot definitively answer this question, but it raises serious and substantial doubts about the criminal investigations to date. The accumulated concerns make an overwhelming argument for these to be reopened by an independent police force unconnected with any previous enquiries, or by an independent commission of inquiry. "Nuclear disaster is both avoidable and inevitable. Nuclear technologies have too many inherent risks and widespread consequences to be a sensible choice for energy production." The words are those of Rebecca Johnson, a former senior advisor to the Blix commission on weapons of mass destruction, writing about the disaster at Fukushima earlier this month. Back in 1984, this was exactly Hilda Murrell's position. Murrell was a respected horticulturist: a rose was named after her shortly before she was murdered at the age of 78. She was a committed environmentalist and regarded Margaret Thatcher's nuclear power policy as utterly misguided. She began campaigning against it, accumulating high quality information about the risks from scientists and activists, and intended to provide it in person to the Sizewell B public inquiry, where she had was accreditated as a witness. She was an outstanding and outspoken independent voice. The murder occurred before she could be heard. Her nephew's book chillingly reveals the threats, fears and surveillance she reported to others before she died. A central theme of her research was the hazardous nature of radioactive waste and the difficulty in managing it. This still besets the nuclear industry, to the extent that the US currently has a moratorium on new reactors in some states. Murrell was also acutely aware of the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979. Her critique embraced nuclear weapons as well. At which point we pan across to Commander Rob Green. The Argentinian cruiser, the General Belgrano, was sunk in 1982 during the Falklands war by HMS Conqueror, a nuclear submarine. Green was in naval intelligence. The truth about where the Belgrano was whether it was really necessary to sink her became a very hot political potato. A great deal of speculation and information entered the public domain that undermined the government's position. Although entirely without foundation, there must have been at least a suspicion that Green might in some way have been connected with the supposed leaks. Ultimately, the MP Tam Dalyell, who had been asking questions about the Belgrano's sinking just before her disappearance, was driven to tell the Commons that British intelligence lay behind Murrell's murder in their search for material they thought she may have secreted at her home. In the official version of her murder, Murrell was the victim of a demeaning and callous assault, abduction and murder by a young adolescent, on his own, without obvious motivation. The police version of the sequence of events is bizarre. On one and the same day, Hilda - having been assaulted in her home - is forced into her own car, driven through Shrewsbury in broad daylight past the police station and a number of witnesses, to a country lane some miles away. The car crashes into a verge with the driver's door jammed. The driver then exits via the passenger seat and takes Hilda with him, but not before she has retrieved the car keys and put them in her pocket. He assaults her again in a field, where she loses her hat and spectacles. She is then either dragged or pushed across a ploughed field over a fence into a copse where she is stabbed,although not fatally, and left to die of hypothermia. Her body was not found for two days. While DNA from the convicted man shows he was in Hilda's house, there are a huge number of other evidential matters that Rob Green has assembled which challenge the manner of this killing. Although many of them are not new, most have not been assembled in an intelligible format until now, and some have never been presented in court proceedings. A few of the features which tend to undermine the idea that only one person was involved are: (a) DNA discovered in relation to Hilda is not from the man convicted, but from at least two others; (b) Photographs of Hilda's body in the copse show that she was clearly visible, and confirm the striking evidence of a local landowner. Ian Scott took his dogs for a walk the day after the murder in the very area where the body was supposed to have been left. He saw nothing and has always maintained he would have done had she been there because he was carefully identifying trees for felling. (c) The 16-year-old could not drive and the descriptions given by witnesses of the driver do not fit him; (d) Changes at her house over the days of her disappearance. Until an independent inquiry takes place, the reader must be the judge. | ['law/criminal-justice', 'law/law', 'uk/series/justice-on-trial', 'environment/nuclear-waste', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/environment', 'world/nuclear-weapons', 'uk/ukcrime', 'uk/uk', 'uk/mi5', 'law/michael-mansfield', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/michael-mansfield'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2012-03-20T16:27:28Z | true | ENERGY |
us-news/2021/may/13/colonial-pipeline-fuel-cyber-attack-outage | Colonial pipeline reaching full capacity after cyberattack, Biden says | Joe Biden announced on Thursday that the vast Colonial petrochemical pipeline stretching from Texas to New York was reaching full capacity again after resuming operations following a cyberattack. “This is not like flicking on a light switch. It’s going to take some time, and there may be some hiccups,” the US president said, adding that services were expected to return fully to normal this weekend. There have been conflicting reports about whether Colonial has paid a ransom to the hackers. Biden declined to comment on the issue when questioned by the media at the White House. Meanwhile, Biden noted that according to his intelligence briefings, the Russian state and Russian president Vladimir Putin were not involved in the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Co last week, which shut down its pipeline carrying gasoline and other petrochemical commodities, for six days. But the US believes that the cyber gang DarkSide, which has said it carried out the attack, emanates from Russia and has urged the Russian president to take action against such actors. Biden said on Thursday: “We are working to try to get to the place where we have international standards that governments, knowing that criminal activity is happening from their territory, that we all move on those criminal enterprises.” The US president is expected to meet with Putin in person next month when he makes his first trip overseas since winning the White House and visits the UK and the European Union, though a date and place for the meeting is not yet announced. “I expect that’s one of the topics I will be talking about with Putin,” Biden said of fighting cybercrime. Hours after the Colonial pipeline company moved some of the first millions of gallons of motor fuels after a six-day outage following a crippling cyber-strike, a report emerged claiming that the company paid an almost $5m ransom to eastern European hackers behind this high-tech attack. The outage spurred fuel shortages, driven in part by consumers panic-buying petrol–across east coast states. Bloomberg reported Thursday that Colonial paid this extortion fee in “untraceable cryptocurrency within hours after the attack”. After the ransomware hackers received this payout, they provided a decryption mechanism to enable the restoration of its computer system, Bloomberg reported. This decryption tool was so slow, however, that Colonial kept using its own backups to help relaunch its system, sources told the media outlet. Bloomberg’s report contradicts Reuters and Washington Post reports on Wednesday that the company had no immediate plans to pay up. These reports were also rooted in anonymous sources. The pipeline, which carries 100m gallons per day of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, resumed computer-controlled pumping late Wednesday after adding safety measures. The shutdown caused gasoline shortages and emergency declarations from Virginia to Florida, led two refineries to curb production, and had airlines reshuffling some refueling operations. “Relief is coming,” said Jeanette McGee, a spokeswoman for motor travel group AAA. Motorists’ tempers frayed as panic buying led stations to run out even where supplies were available. The average national gasoline price rose above $3 a gallon, the highest since October 2014, the American Automobile Association said, and prices in some areas jumped as much as 11¢ in a day. As FBI investigators dug into an attack that paralyzed a large part of the US energy infrastructure, the group believed to be responsible said it was publishing data from breaches at three other companies, including an Illinois technology firm. The FBI, which said the hackers were linked to a group named DarkSide, discourages the payment of ransoms, as there is no certainty that cyber-attackers will actually agree to the terms of an arrangement. Moreover, paying ransom provides incentive to other possible hackers, Bloomberg reported. Colonial has a type of insurance that typically covers ransom payments, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said on Thursday that ransom should not be paid by companies that are the victims of cyberattacks. “We don’t want people to think there’s money in it to threaten the security of a critical infrastructure in our country,” Pelosi said. Pelosi noted a “governance issue” in hardening US facilities against attacks. “This cannot be open-season for hackers who can make money off of a threat even if they don’t go as far as crippling the entity, as with Colonial,” she said. Pelosi referred to the incident as “Russian-oriented. We don’t know [whether it was] Putin-oriented.” | ['us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'technology/hacking', 'technology/technology', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/joan-greve', 'profile/victoria-bekiempis', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | technology/hacking | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2021-05-13T17:30:23Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2023/sep/22/orphans-children-derna-libya-floods | ‘The least we can do is care for their children’: Libyans rally to protect Derna’s orphans | People in western Libya have rallied round to provide care and breastmilk for young children orphaned by the devastating floods that hit the coastal city of Derna on 10 September. Hundreds of traumatised babies and young children are thought to have lost their parents in Derna, where whole neighbourhoods were wiped out after two dams broke. “Infant children do not wish to use artificial feeding bottles, which forced us to search for breastfeeding mothers,” said Mona Alashi, a volunteer. Nawal Alghazal, a 62-year-old resident of Benghazi, has started a campaign to collect breastmilk from women already breastfeeding their own children and distribute it to children whose mothers are dead or missing. “The least we can do for our country and the people in Derna is to take care of their children,” said Alghazal, who has taken 70 young children into her care since the disaster. Another woman, Marwa Abdelrazzaq, said she was willing to take in a Derna orphan and promised to provide the same care and attention as she does for her own daughter. According to Unicef, children who lose their parents or are separated from their families are more vulnerable to dangers such as violence and exploitation. Noura Eljerbi, a Libyan journalist, nevertheless cautioned against rushing to relocate children before the paperwork was completed to classify them as orphans, which would increase the likelihood of them being matched with relatives. Eljerbi estimated that about 400 children separated from their families in Derna are now living in two schools converted into shelters. Every day, desperate people come by the schools searching for missing relatives. In theory the ministry of social affairs is responsible for caring for orphaned children in the first instance and arranging their long-term care with foster families, but after years of political fracturing and violence, trust in institutions of the state is low. Abdelnabi Abu Araba, a civil activist, said he had received nearly a thousand offers of foster care through his Facebook page and phone contacts. While praising the empathy of his fellow citizens, he also expressed concern that some would-be fosterers were offering to help on impulse after being moved by the horrific scale of the flooding disaster. Abu Araba emphasised that the ability to provide financial support was not the sole criterion for becoming a foster carer, and that a person’s social situation and behaviour should also be assessed. He noted that the social affairs ministry would normally conduct a wide survey of a prospective fosterer before coming to a decision. The floods in Derna inundated as much as a quarter of the city, officials have said. Thousands of people were killed, with many dead still under the rubble or at sea, according to search teams. Government officials and aid agencies have given varied death tolls ranging from about 4,000 to more than 11,000. More than 43,000 people have been displaced in the area, including 30,000 in Derna, according to the UN’s migration agency. Many people have moved to other cities across Libya, hosted by local communities or sheltered in schools. Local authorities said they have isolated the worst-damaged part of Derna amid growing concerns about waterborne diseases. Health authorities have launched a vaccination campaign that initially targeted search and rescue teams along with children in Derna and other affected areas. On Monday hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside the main mosque in Derna, where they castigated the political class that has controlled Libya since the dictator Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a Nato-supported uprising in 2011. Bushra Kareem, a 37-year-old volunteer, is working to identify children who have made it out of Derna with and without their families and provide psychological support to help them integrate into schools before the academic year starts. Kareem said that even if children managed to make sense of what has happened to them, reality could become blurred with their imagination, making them susceptible to “severe disturbances” involving fear, anxiety, and other psychological symptoms. Several social media pages have shared heartbreaking accounts by children recounting the moment when they were swept away by the flood waters. Kareem said she was encouraging parents to seek the assistance of volunteer psychological support professionals for children and ensure that these children receive psychological support, either individually or in group sessions with other children. | ['world/libya-flood-2023', 'world/libya', 'environment/flooding', 'world/middleeast', 'world/natural--disasters', 'world/extreme-weather', 'world/africa', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-09-22T04:00:08Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2024/apr/22/high-interest-rates-could-add-billions-to-uk-green-energy-transition-says-report | High interest rates could add billions to UK green energy transition, says report | A permanent shift to higher interest rates could add billions of pounds to the UK’s renewable energy transition, a leading thinktank has warned. Borrowing costs have soared since the easing of pandemic lockdowns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the world’s leading central banks raised interest rates to tackle inflation – pushing up the costs of investment in infrastructure across advanced economies including for green power generation schemes. The Resolution Foundation said £29bn a year could therefore be added to household energy bills in 2050 in a scenario where interest rates persist at current elevated levels, relative to a situation where borrowing costs return to pre-pandemic levels. However, it said the green transition would still save consumers billions of pounds compared with current sky-high energy costs, and slowing down the pace of transition was not an option. The thinktank said a fourfold increase in investment in the UK’s power sector was required to provide the crucial next step in decarbonising the British economy, and a plan was needed to fund this investment in case interest rates stayed at current high levels. Its report comes amid a pushback against green policies by rightwing politicians who argue the costs of hitting net zero are too high. Labour earlier this year slashed its green investment plans amid concerns over higher borrowing costs and a campaign by the Conservatives to weaponise the affordability of its £28bn price tag. However, the Resolution Foundation said the green transition remained vital despite the higher costs of investment. Decarbonising the power sector is key to tackling global heating, it said, and would also help to reduce Britain’s dependence on volatile fossil fuel supplies, which risked exposing households to global energy shocks of the kind witnessed after the Russian invasion. “Responding by pausing or slowing the pace of power sector decarbonisation is not an option,” the report said. The government is committed to reaching net zero by 2050, with targets to decarbonise the power sector by 2035, and Labour promising to reach this goal five years earlier. The report, Electric Dreams, outlined two scenarios for future costs by 2050: a “high-cost” one with global interest rates remaining at current levels, and a “low-cost” alternative where borrowing costs fall back to pre-Covid levels. Compared with energy bills in 2023 – which are at a historically high cost – it said decarbonising the power sector would still save £14bn a year for households by 2050. However, larger savings of up to £47bn a year would be possible if interest rates returned to the levels seen in 2019. However, in comparison with 2019 levels – before the spike in wholesale energy markets – it said household bills would be £11bn a year higher by 2050 in the high-cost scenario. If interest rates fell back to levels comparable with 2019, households would save £18bn a year – a difference of £29bn between the two scenarios. The report called for a focus on keeping prices low when providing new investment, including pushing for the development of onshore wind – which can be cheaper than other renewable alternatives. It said some projects could be publicly funded, such as modernising the energy grid, because paying for investment via taxation – rather than through energy bills – could help to spread the costs more fairly across rich and poor households. It also called for the government to introduce a social tariff for lower-income households, which could help to protect poorer households who are high energy users in particular. Jonathan Marshall, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said policymakers could not count on interest rates falling back to pre-pandemic levels in future. “If interest rates stay high, energy costs will rise rather than fall in the years ahead,” he said. “So now is the time for planning on how we deliver the energy investment surge while protecting lower income households, with a greater focus on price reduction in contracts, price protection for vulnerable households, and rethinking the role of the state as an investor.” | ['business/energy-industry', 'business/resolution-foundation', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'environment/energy', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/environment', 'business/cost-of-living-crisis', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'uk/uk', 'politics/thinktanks', 'money/energy', 'money/money', 'business/interest-rates', 'tone/news', 'profile/richard-partington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2024-04-21T23:01:08Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2018/jan/20/supermarkets-organic-food-packaging | Why do supermarkets sell organic products wrapped in non-cyclable plastic? | My environmentally conscious wife Clare is the keenest recycler possible. She even collects and recycles the silver milk bottle tops that I tend to chuck out. But when it comes to organic food she’s furious. Why? Because she finds it is the worst culprit for wrapping almost everything in plastic and polywrap that cannot be recycled. How, she asks, did we reach the situation where the most environmentally produced food is also the worst for packaging and recycling? Like many others, the Brignall household despairs at the revelations over the past year that 86% of collected plastic is not actually recycled, and the Blue Planet claim that 8m tonnes of the stuff ends up in oceans. Yet when we pick up a packet of organic carrots, or apples, or avocados – in fact almost any organic fruit or veg in our local supermarket – it comes in plastic packaging that is not only unnecessary, it is almost always not recyclable. In Waitrose, organic beetroots that you could play football with without damaging, are packed in plastic trays surrounded in non-recyclable plastic sleeves. In Tesco this week organic mushrooms were housed in all-plastic containers, while the cheaper, conventional mushrooms could be bought in greener compostable trays. Organic apples and carrots that don’t need any packaging at all are almost always bagged in plastic that can’t be recycled. We don’t buy a lot of organic food in supermarkets as, in truth we can’t afford to, but we have been seriously wondering whether we should give up what we do buy, because the environmental benefits are overshadowed by the packaging it comes in. Take Morrisons, our family’s supermarket of choice. Its standard lettuces come in plastic wraps which we recycle separately. The organic lettuces, though, come in that crinkly packaging that can only be put in the bin, and this is replicated across the organic sector. Our unscientific study suggests Sainsbury’s is a little better than the others. But it is Waitrose’s Duchy Organic brand that disappoints us most for packaging. Red peppers, tomatoes and carrots are all bagged in non-recyclable plastic bags. If you’re a hedge fund manager and can afford the £3.30 for five organic Pink Lady apples, you’ll be putting the wrapping in the landfill bin. Two organic beetroots that could easily be in a paper, or compostable package, were covered in plastic. A spokeswoman for the Soil Association claimed organic food in supermarkets had to be packaged to prevent it being mixed with non-organic varieties. “While it is fair to say that there is a lot more to do on packaging when it comes to organic products, I would urge consumers not to give up on buying organic. The benefits to the environment, such as healthy soil, more wildlife and the protection of bees continue to be hugely important. We have convened a specialist working group of industry experts to come up with better packaging solutions, but it has to be done with other European certifiers,” she says. Waitrose said it didn’t believe its Duchy Organic products were packaged any differently to other organic brands. “We are actively looking at how we can reduce our use of plastic and package our products in more environmentally sustainable alternatives.” A final word from Clare. She says: “I simply don’t buy these arguments that organic food can’t be sold loose, or with minimal, greener packaging. It’s simple. Products covered in unnecessary, un-recyclable packaging should lose their organic status. Faced with that threat, suppliers would quickly find greener alternatives.” | ['environment/recycling', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/money', 'business/supermarkets', 'business/business', 'environment/food', 'environment/environment', 'business/fooddrinks', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'tone/features', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/milesbrignall', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/money'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-01-20T06:59:45Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
us-news/2015/sep/18/rescue-search-utah-boy-flash-flood | Rescue teams continue search for Utah boy after catastrophic flash flood | The sister towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, straddle one another’s borders and are often referred to as one place, Short Creek, a reference to the stream which passes through their rural neighborhoods. It’s typically a shallow river. On Thursday, it was almost dry. Car tires, tree limps, and other debris poke from its thick red mud. Search and rescue teams canvassed the riverbed on Thursday with shovels and cadaver dogs and dump trucks carried away tons of mineral deposit left by a wall of water that tore through earlier this week. Short Creek was the site of the catastrophic flash flood earlier this week, whose death toll hit 19 late on Thursday, after authorities found the body of a seventh person canyoneering in nearby Zion National Park. In the sister towns, three women and nine children were killed, as the search continues for a missing six-year-old boy. The National Weather Service is calling it Utah’s “hundred year storm”. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Darrin Bistline, a Hildale resident, told the Guardian. “There’s been some pretty good floods and everyone just comes to look every time. But never nothing like this.” According to the town’s mayor, the victims were returning from a park at the foot of nearby Maxwell Canyon when they approached an area of the road that had been washed upon by an overflowing flood channel. The families were all members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamous religious sect. The three mothers and their children stepped out of the vehicles, apparently to assess the flood, when a second surge of water came through in a seven-foot torrent. Although the women and children climbed back in their vans, the water carried the vehicles over several embankments and the windows shattered. Three of the boys are known to have survived. Their mothers’ and siblings’ bodies were found in separate areas of the Short Creek riverbed, a seven-mile stretch where crews are still looking for the last missing child, Tyson Lucas Black, a six-year-old who is also the only child victim to be named. The other children ranged in age from four to 11. It’s unclear whether the mothers had cellphones to receive the flood warnings that were issued several hours before the event took place. Yet even if they did, rural desert areas like Short Creek have notoriously poor cellphone coverage, and many complain that they don’t receive the notices with any consistency. And since the region receives as many as 120 flash floods per year, when warnings do come out, locals have a tendency to ignore them or go investigate on their own. “I saw the storm before it came,” said Joseph Levis Jessop, 36. “It looked like a tornado that was miles wide. It was dark black-gray and it just looked like it was barreling this way. It don’t rain here very much so we’re like, ‘Let’s go four-wheeling in it.’” It’s almost a town tradition to go out when it’s storming and even walk to flood channel areas to see the water surge. Bristine had to stop his children from walking toward the flood as it unfolded. “It’s a fascination,” he said, “Just something to go see.” Short Creek sits at the foot of several slick rock canyons that offer a stunning vista – red bluffs rising 2,000 feet around the most of the town – but those petrified sandstone cliffs are a great danger to residents in the valley below, which is essentially a drainage zone with ground that doesn’t absorb water. “In Utah, the ground is rock hard – it’s like a parking lot – it doesn’t have much vegetation if any and it’s really steep slopes,” said Brian McInerney, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service. “The headwaters from this flash flood came down 2,000 feet and were only about two or three miles away from the town of Hildale. When you think of a drop like that, it’s always going to come down really fast, it’s really efficient (it doesn’t infiltrate), and it’s going to have a lot of speed to it.” In Hildale and Colorado City’s gas stations and sandwich shops, conversations about Monday’s tragedy focused mostly on disaster response, but there was also significant talk about a cooling of tensions between members of the FLDS church and family and friends in town who are former followers of the sect. Almost every resident of Short Creek was, or is, affiliated with the polygamous group that was famously run by self-proclaimed profit Warren Jeffs (currently serving a life sentence for child sexual assault). “The community members that are not in the faith are trying to show expressions of sympathy and love,” said Duane Barlow, a stout-chested man who hadn’t spoken to family members in the church for three years. “The only way we can express it is through posters and flowers and things like that,” he said, referring to memorials around town. “I think it’s the beginning of a long-term reconciliation.” During search and rescue missions, people outside the church volunteered with cousins, brothers and sisters in the sect who they hadn’t spoken to in years, canvassing Short River together instead of staying to their separate sides of Hildale and Colorado City. “It’s too bad that it takes death to bring people together,” said Todd Barlow. Asked about the detente, Darrin Bistline said, “I think it’s helped for a minute. I think it’s gonna go back how it was, quite honestly, but for this week we’ve been working together and everyone’s been doing what they can to recover the bodies.” | ['us-news/utah', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/environment', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/daniel-hernandez'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-09-18T16:51:44Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2020/may/29/cut-air-pollution-avoid-second-coronavirus-peak-mps-urge | Cut air pollution to help avoid second coronavirus peak, MPs urge | Air pollution must be kept at low levels to help avoid a second peak of coronavirus infections, according to a cross-party report from MPs. There is growing evidence from around the world linking exposure to dirty air and increased infections and deaths from Covid-19. Lockdowns cut air pollution levels in many places, but the MPs said measures were needed to ensure it remains low. The report is based on evidence from scientists, businesses and local authorities and proposes a series of actions, including the continuation of home working, increased cycle lanes and training, more frequent public transport services to avoid crowding and the phasing out of wood and coal burning in homes. It also urges the rollout of clean air zones, currently delayed by the pandemic, and a scrappage scheme for dirty vehicles. The launch of the report also revealed new evidence of a biological mechanism that could explain how air pollution increases Covid-19 infections and the suggestion that pollution could help explain why certain minority ethnic groups have been more affected by the virus. “We need a wide-ranging air quality response as we emerge from lockdown and not an accentuated Covid-19 second peak because people get into their cars instead of using public transport or working from home,” said MP Geraint Davies, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on air pollution. “Some proposals can be introduced immediately and will help to ensure that a second peak does not overwhelm the NHS,” he said. “All will deliver cleaner air over subsequent years to help to ensure better public health and greater resilience against future pandemics.” Davies said measures to reduce pollution, such as travelling less, were the same as those that reduced contact between people and therefore the risk of infection. “They go hand in hand,” he said. The report will be submitted to government. Davies said: “This is something that should be on the prime minister’s desk and taken very seriously.” Prof Jonathan Grigg of Queen Mary University of London said: “It is increasingly likely that air pollution increases vulnerability to Covid-19 infection. Preventing the most polluting traffic from re-emerging on to our roads should therefore be part of Covid-19 policy.” He told the launch event that his new laboratory research had shown short-term exposure of airway cells to pollution particles from traffic increased the number of the ACE2 receptors that coronavirus hijacks to enter the body. “We showed a highly significant increase,” he said. The next step in the research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, is to confirm that virus infection does increase in these cells. “I would be surprised if it didn’t,” Grigg said. Also speaking at the launch event were researchers from Harvard University in the US, whose research indicates that even a tiny, single-unit increase in particle pollution levels in the years before the pandemic is associated with a significant increase in the death rate. “Air pollution and Covid-19 are even more dangerous together,” said Rachel Nethery at Harvard. “This information can help us prepare by encouraging these populations in areas with higher air pollution to take extra precautions and allocating extra resources.” She said air pollution might help explain the differences being seen in Covid-19 mortality rates between different racial groups. “People of colour and poor people are disproportionately affected by air pollution,” she said. The Harvard team initially estimated the rise in death rate associated with a single-unit increase in fine particle pollution at 15%. But further analysis, taking into account a wider range of other factors, reduced this to 8%, still a significant increase. Xiao Wu, another member of the Harvard team, said the result was consistent between both rural and urban areas, and between different statistical approaches. The team have also found similar results for nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant produced by diesel vehicles and at illegal levels in most urban areas in the UK. Prof Alastair Lewis, at the University of York and chair of the UK government’s air quality expert group, also spoke at the launch event. He said: “The changes seen in some air pollutants during lockdown have been dramatic and give an indication of what should be possible for the UK in the future.” | ['environment/air-pollution', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'environment/pollution', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'world/world', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2020-05-29T16:42:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2022/dec/21/governments-strike-78bn-deal-to-connect-snowy-20-and-nsw-renewable-zones-to-the-grid | Governments strike $7.8bn deal to connect Snowy 2.0 and NSW renewable zones to the grid | New South Wales’s renewable energy zones and the Snowy 2.0 hydro project will be plugged into the grid under a landmark $7.8bn agreement between the federal and NSW governments. The deal will be announced by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, on Wednesday, once the state parliament passes legislation to allow the capping of gas prices after Canberra’s plan to put downward pressure on energy prices passed through federal parliament last week. The federal government has committed $4.7bn to the plan, which is the latest announcement from its “rewiring the nation” commitment to connect more renewable power generation into the national electricity grid. The prime minister said thousands of jobs in the renewable energy sector will be created under the plan, as well as more reliable and affordable energy along the eastern seaboard. “The commonwealth has worked hand in glove with the states and territories to shield Australian households and businesses from the worst impacts of the energy crisis caused by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Albanese said. “But as well as that critical short-term action, the Australian economy can seize the opportunity of more affordable and reliable renewable energy over the long term – creating jobs in the regions that have always powered Australia and insulating ourselves from global fossil fuel shocks at the same time.” Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup He said support for critical infrastructure, like the Sydney Ring transmission link, the VNI West interconnector and HumeLink line – which are all included in the scheme – would help to “transform Australia into a renewable energy superpower”. Also included are the central-west Orana, Hunter-Central Coast and south-west renewable energy zones. Perrottet said the plan would support projected private investment in regional energy infrastructure of $32m over the next eight years. “This is our opportunity to invest in our future industries that will drive jobs and wealth creation in our state,” the premier said. Government modelling predicts the plan would support almost 4,000 jobs in regional NSW. The deal follows similar joint agreements made with Tasmania and Victoria. The NSW treasurer and energy minister, Matt Kean, described the deal as a “huge win” for the state. “This investment will support the delivery of our electricity infrastructure roadmap through fast-tracking the development of renewable energy zones and transmission infrastructure,” he said. The federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, said making these investments now would save consumers into the future. “The best way to lower energy prices for Australian households and businesses is by increasing firmed renewables across our grid; it is the cheapest and most abundant form of energy across our vast continent,” he said. “Today’s announcement helps make that a reality by supporting the projects to plug Snowy 2.0 into the grid and linking renewable energy zones to ensure … energy can be supplied from wherever the wind is blowing and the sun is shining to where it’s used by households and industry.” The federal government has promised $20bn to “rewire the nation” by quickly building new electricity transmission links between states and regions to support the east coast’s transition from running predominantly on coal power to renewable energy. Perrottet will return from a short Christmas break to pass the energy laws in a special sitting of parliament on Wednesday before resuming his leave. | ['australia-news/energy-australia', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/new-south-wales-politics', 'environment/energy', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/tamsin-rose', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-state-news'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-12-20T14:00:02Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2020/sep/08/extinction-rebellion-criminals-threaten-uks-way-of-life-says-priti-patel | Extinction Rebellion 'criminals' threaten UK way of life, says Priti Patel | The home secretary, Priti Patel, has claimed Extinction Rebellion activists are “so-called eco-crusaders turned criminals” who threaten key planks of national life. The government’s rhetorical venom against XR was triggered by the blockading of newspaper print works at the weekend, which disrupted the distribution of some newspapers and led to scores of arrests. The Guardian understands, however, that despite the government threatening to crack down on the climate emergency group, more than a year of talks between police and ministers about law changes has yet to produce any public plans. Patel described XR as an “emerging threat” in a speech to the annual conference of the Police Superintendents’ Association on Tuesday. She said XR was “attempting to thwart the media’s right to publish without fear nor favour”, and claimed their campaign of civil disobedience was “a shameful attack on our way of life, our economy and the livelihoods of the hard-working majority”. “I refuse point blank to allow that kind of anarchy on our streets,” the home secretary told the virtual conference. “The very criminals who disrupt our free society must be stopped. And together we must all stand firm against the guerilla tactics of Extinction Rebellion.” More than 100 protesters used vehicles and bamboo structures to block roads outside the Newsprinters printing works at Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, on Friday evening. It took until Saturday to fully remove them. The presses print the News UK titles including the Sun, Times, Sun on Sunday and Sunday Times, as well as the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, and Daily Mail. Over the weekend government briefings floated the idea of classing XR as an “organised crime group”. Neither Patel nor the policing minister Kit Malthouse repeated that idea in the Commons on Monday, with police believing it is nonsense. The police regard XR as a non-violent group committed to civil disobedience that is time-consuming and costly for officers to deal with. One senior police source said officers had enough powers: “The powers are there. They [XR] are not an organised crime group. Part of the definition of an OCG is they commit violence in achieving their aims, and no one seriously suggests XR commit violence.” Police who dealt with the XR weekend action described it as “sophisticated” and a well-prepared military-style operation. One source said: “It takes hours to get them off. You have to go slowly and carefully.” Last year XR caused disruption in London with their campaigns, triggering talks between police chiefs and the Home Office about changes to specific sections of the 1986 Public Order Act. The Guardian understands that changes could include lowering the threshold at which police can place restrictions. One change could mean the prospect of “disruption” is enough to impose tough conditions, not “serious disruption” as the act currently states. Sarah Lunnon, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, said: “Our media and our government are captured by vested interests. They do not want to see change. Three companies alone own 87% of the national newspaper market. “These powerful vested interests are the real organised criminals. They are the true threat to our democracy. And it’s depressing – although no surprise – that so much of the political and media elite has jumped to their defence, and jumped at the opportunity to suppress people power and grassroots protest. We will not allow them to criminalise the noble tradition of non-violent civil disobedience.” | ['environment/extinction-rebellion', 'politics/priti-patel', 'uk/police', 'environment/activism', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/protest', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/vikramdodd', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2020-09-08T16:33:18Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
commentisfree/2015/jul/22/the-guardian-view-on-greening-the-economy-the-price-is-worth-paying | The Guardian view on greening the economy: the price is worth paying | Editorial | The government’s energy policy is chaotic. On the one hand, with time running out before the Paris climate change summit in December, it is committed to agreeing tough international targets, backed by demanding European and domestic programmes for carbon reduction and renewable energy growth. But then there are Treasury-driven cuts to subsidies for renewables, and a cabinet that looks set to back off from existing schemes such as the Green Deal to incentivise energy efficiency. It is easier to offer consumers a cheap fix for energy bills by removing the small element that pays for investment in renewables than it is to pay an incentive for boiler modernisation. Lower efficiency standards for starter homes have been announced, a new committee set up to take the decision on a third runway at Heathrow is packed with supporters, and fracking has the greenest of lights. Under cover of the drive for austerity, and reinforced by a desire to appease Tory voters opposed to onshore windfarms, the foundations of a green economy are being undermined one by one. Britain’s complex, interrelated package of incentives and subsidies for renewables has been remarkably successful in modifying behaviour. Together with other inputs, like an unexpectedly fast decline in the use of coal and the drop in demand caused by the recession, last month the independent Committee on Climate Change found that greenhouse gas emissions had fallen by 8% over the previous year, ahead of target. But the report sounded a cautionary note, not only because the rate of reduction was slowing. It was published after the new energy secretary, Amber Rudd, announced an end to subsidies for onshore wind and before she called time on those for solar power and other renewables, and it warned that without greater certainty over the long-term policy framework, investment will not happen. It is true that some of the incentives have been too successful. No one had anticipated quite how fast the cost of some renewables would come down, nor that offshore wind would generate so much more power. It is not fair that homeowners with a roof can get subsidised solar power not available to tenants or people in flats. But it is possible to build a system that reflects these variables and tapers subsidies. The green economy is a model of the kind of infrastructure development to which George Osborne so often sounds committed. An analysis by the lobbyists Green Alliance of the link between private-sector investment and GDP growth over the last parliament found it matched the investment in renewables. Just like fracking and nuclear, greening the energy supply needs intervention. It will not be cheap. But for future generations, not doing it will cost far more. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/environment', 'money/energy', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/household-bills', 'money/money', 'environment/energy', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/windpower', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'environment/solarpower', 'technology/politics', 'technology/technology', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'politics/economy', 'environment/green-deal', 'type/article', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2015-07-22T18:50:45Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2008/mar/26/recycling.waste | Pennon Group buys electricals recycling firm | Viridor, the waste management arm of the Pennon Group, has bought an electrical and electronic equipment recycling company, it said yesterday. Viridor is paying £23m in cash for Perth-based Shore Recycling in a deal which takes the company's acquisition spending to more than £100m in just over three months. As well as its facilities in Perth, Shore has recycling plants in Manchester and St Helens and a collection fleet. Viridor said its latest acquisition would fit in well with its operations in Scotland and the north-west of England and was in line with its plans to expand its waste management operations. "The UK's waste strategy demands ever increasing levels of recycling, particularly now in waste electrical and electronic equipment," Viridor chief executive Colin Drummond said. He expects the deal to enhance earnings, before intangibles, in its first full year. The government is keen to curb the amount of waste going to landfill. Electrical and electronic equipment, from computers and televisions to fridges and freezers, is also covered by the European Union's waste electrical and electronic equipment directive, which came into effect in the UK at the beginning of last year. Britain throws away 1.8m tonnes of such equipment every year, making it the fastest growing category of waste. The demand for recycling capacity is expected to increase. In December Viridor paid almost £80m for Grosvenor Waste Management, based in Kent, which handles 500,000 tonnes a year and owns Britain's biggest materials recycling plant, at Crayford. | ['environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'profile/markmilner', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2008-03-26T00:04:18Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
lifeandstyle/2015/jun/22/stop-sixth-mass-extinction-garden-grow-wild | I’m doing my bit to stop the sixth mass extinction – letting my garden go wild | Depressing news. The earth’s sixth mass extinction is on the way, and it’s our fault. I could have told you that ages ago, which is why my friend Clayden and I have been doing our bit to avert it and are clinging to the last remnants of biodiversity by letting our gardens grow rather wild. It’s easy for me, because it’s my garden. I can have frogs, foxes, nettles, dandelions and more bees if I so wish. But Clayden has the housing association contract gardeners to deal with, who like to shave the grass bald and hack everything else almost to death. This year he left a large notice out for them, saying, “No strimming,” and explained it to a neighbour. “I want part of the garden to be a grassy wildlife area.” “Boy scout,” mumbled the neighbour scornfully, and buzzed off. Clearly our government’s National Pollinator Strategy has not got through to everyone. Perhaps because it’s a bit wet – full of monitoring, promoting, securing awareness and commitments, workshopping and studying, and stopping funding this year for National Improvement Areas. I know voluntary action is cheaper and less bother for our leaders, but could I suggest they toughen up a bit, impose mandatory wild meadow areas for every council’s parks and verges, and enforce a strict ban on paving and shaving gardens, before the planet goes right down the pan? Even the Californians are beginning to give up on watering lawns in the desert and trying native, drought-tolerant plants, and then their gardens fill with darling humming birds and bumble bees. About time, too. I may sound a bit Fotherington-Thomas, but what does everyone want? To gaze at lovely flora and fauna, or die in a wasteland? “Why don’t you go over to China and tell them off,” says Fielding. “Their green programme is lamentable.” He calls himself a realist. That is our problem, people like Fielding. He has given up hope. I have not. I like to think we have a last, weeny chance to save ourselves. Or I might as well just go and bang my head on the nearest concrete patio. | ['lifeandstyle/series/michele-hanson-certain-age', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'tone/comment', 'tone/features', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'type/article', 'profile/michelehanson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2015-06-22T13:31:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
news/2022/apr/02/weatherwatch-varying-climate-of-dominican-republic | Weatherwatch: the varying climate of the Dominican Republic | The Dominican Republic – not to be confused with the much smaller Caribbean island of Dominica – forms the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. It is the most mountainous of all the Caribbean islands, with the highest peak, Pico Duarte, reaching an altitude of 3,098 metres (almost 10,200ft). Like other islands in the region, the climate is tropical: warm throughout the year. There are two distinct seasons: hot and muggy from May to October, and cooler and more pleasant from December to March; with April and November lying somewhere in between. Rain, too, falls mainly in the spring and summer months, averaging between 640mm and 2260mm (25 to 90 inches) a year, depending on the location. Along the northern coast, which is exposed to the northerly trade winds, winters can also be fairly wet. However, because the rain falls mainly in intense bursts and thunderstorms, the climate is generally very sunny throughout, with between six and eight hours of daily sunshine throughout the year; slightly more in the south of the island. Up in the mountains, however, temperatures can drop to as low as single figures, especially in winter; when wind chill from the trade winds can make it feel even colder. On the coasts, sea temperatures are mostly warm all year round. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/dominicanrepublic', 'world/world', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/stephenmoss1', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-04-02T05:00:43Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
us-news/2020/feb/21/california-drought-february-rain-snow-pack-sierra | Dry February sends California back to drought: 'This hasn't happened in 150 years' | San Francisco and Sacramento have not seen a drop of rain this February, and climate scientists are expecting that disturbing dry trend to hold, in what is typically one of the wettest months of the year for California. “This hasn’t happened in 150 years or more,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “There have even been a couple wildfires – which is definitely not something you typically hear about in the middle of winter.” Combined with warmer than average temperatures, the state is parched, and there is no moisture in the forecasts. “The dryness has picked up as the season has gone on,” said Swain. The year began with snowpack at 90% of its historical average. But less than two dry, warm months later, it’s hanging in at just 52% of average. “Those numbers are going to continue to go down,” said Swain. “I would guess that the 1 March number is going to be less than 50%.” That snow isn’t just the basis for the mountain tourism industry in the winter – it serves as a significant source of water for California cities and agriculture come spring melt. Last year’s snowpack at this time was more than 125% of average, an indicator of what Swain calls “precipitation whiplash”. California has long weathered these wet and dry cycles. The state’s future in the climate crisis looks warmer and drier not because of a lack of rain, but because of the extra heat drawing moisture out of the ecosystem. That heat is a major contributor to reduced snowpack, both as less snow falls, and as more of it melts more quickly. Climate science points to a California bound for a future that looks less like endless extreme drought alone. “We aren’t going to necessarily see less rain, it’s just that that rain goes less far. That’s a future where the flood risk extends, with bigger wetter storms in a warming world,” said Swain. The 2011-2017 drought was the worst since record-keeping began. It reshaped California’s landscape and its regulations, and memories of water rationing still loom large in the state’s memory. “Some folks will say you’re not in a drought until there’s water scarcity problems,” said Swain. “We have a fair bit of single-year drought resilience. No matter how severe it is, the cities and most of the [agriculture] zones won’t run out of water.” The more immediate impacts of this trend will be on the ecosystem and the inevitable fire season, as California’s grasslands and forests continue to dry out. | ['us-news/california', 'environment/drought', 'us-news/us-weather', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/susie-cagle', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2020-02-21T11:00:52Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2021/sep/02/victorian-farmers-angry-at-government-permitting-camping-on-riverside-crown-land | Victorian farmers angry at government permitting camping on riverside crown land | A controversial scheme allowing camping on some crown land next to Victorian rivers has come into force but a list of approved sites has been delayed due to Covid, the state government says, and many farmers remain angry about the increased access. State environment minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, in August announced 27 sites across north-east Victoria were being assessed for camping access based on safety, environmental impact and their Aboriginal cultural heritage. The land under consideration is licensed for grazing and some are frustrated by what they say is a lack of transparency. Others are worried about public safety and protecting nearby private farmland. The first campsites were scheduled to be opened from 1 September, but a Victorian government spokesperson told Guardian Australia lockdown restrictions in regional areas had stalled the assessment process. “The initial site assessment along the Goulburn, Broken, Ovens, Campaspe, Loddon, and Murray rivers … will restart as soon as restrictions are lifted,” the spokesperson said. Southern Riverina Irrigators chief executive, Sophie Baldwin, said she was angry she still didn’t know where any of the potential sites were. Her property backs on to Gunbower Creek in northern Victoria – a natural carrier in the irrigation supply system and a popular site for kayakers, due to its birdlife and bush scenery. Baldwin said she feared if camping areas were opened along the creek her land – currently leased to a dairy farmer for hay and young stock – would be at risk. “Under these laws, I can’t stop anyone from going into my property to camp on the creek. What happens if these people leave the gates open and the stock get out? The cattle are worth between $2,000 and $3,000 an animal,” she said. “What happens if they have an accident on my property but I haven’t let them in there? Who’s liable? “I just don’t think people should be allowed to travel through my property to get to a camping area. My block isn’t open for everybody in town to come to. It’s a farming business, people make their livelihood off my block.” The public could already access river frontage crown land for limited activities like fishing, hiking and picnicking. The final regulations allow camping for 14 days at a designated site – down from a proposed 28 days. Sites must be at least 200 metres from dwellings – up from 100 metres. The Victorian government first promised in 2018 to open new camping and fishing areas for public access – with hundreds of potential sites to be investigated. The regulations received more than 1,100 submissions during the consultation period. A Victorian government spokesperson said the final regulations carefully balanced greater recreational access with protecting agricultural, environmental and Aboriginal cultural heritage. Permitting camping on licensed crown land areas wouldn’t allow people to access adjoining private or leased land, which would still constitute trespassing. The regulations include a 24-hour Victorian Fisheries Authority hotline via 13FISH for farmers to report poor camping behaviour. Fair Camping Laws co-conveners Belinda and Les Pearce say a hotline isn’t good enough. In May, the couple helped organise a rally against the regulations in Melbourne that attracted more than 120 protesters. The Pearces, who run a beef property in north-east Victoria’s Kiewa Valley with five kilometres of river frontage, have serious concerns about how the new rules would be implemented and managed. “We have fenced off and planted native plants along the entire river frontage,” Pearce said. “The insurance and public liability issue is just one of many. We’re worried about biosecurity threats, the potential for adverse outcomes between cattle, campers and dogs, gates getting left open and cows getting on to the road. “But also falling branches on campers, disposal of human waste and litter, campfire risks – the list goes on and on.” The Victorian government has said licensees would have public liability insurance since crown land on river frontages could already be accessed for recreation. The regulations also prohibit camping on licensed areas that have been revegetated. The state minister for fishing and boating, Melissa Horne, earlier this year argued: “The public has a right to enjoy public land. With these changes, campers will be welcome to use crown land with water frontage free and in harmony with licensees and the environment.” Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said the landowners with licenses affected by the 27 pilot sites weren’t properly consulted with farmers shut out of the process. “No one knows the land better than farmers who live and work on it every day. It’s a no-brainer to involve farmers in this process,” she said. “Farmers who will have to deal with the campfire that gets away, the spooked stock, gates left open and god forbid a serious injury or death. These are not cases of if, but when. Unfortunately, the notion of free camping doesn’t exist and farmers will be the ones left out of pocket dealing with issues such as broken gates and wrecked fences.” The Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) executive director, Matt Ruchel, said the final regulations released on Wednesday were a significant improvement on the initial policy. “It is more site-specific by only allowing camping in places designated following an assessment,” he said. “It’s still a bit light on detail for how ecological assessments will work, but it’s better. Initially, we were calling this an initiative for camping with cows.” Ruchel said the VNPA had feared the regulations would act as a disincentive for the proper management of riverside areas which are critical junctures of water and land. “The state has never wanted to manage these things directly for their ecological and cultural values so if it can incentivise better management, that’s a good outcome for our rivers. “The devil is always in the detail though. Twenty-seven sites isn’t a lot at this stage and there will need to be clarity on additional sites and how they are managed. They are really important places ecologically.” | ['australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/victoria', 'australia-news/victorian-politics', 'environment/farming', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-09-02T03:08:11Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2019/mar/03/brazilian-mining-ceo-steps-down-amid-anger-over-dam-collapse-fabio-schvartsman-vale | Brazilian mining CEO steps down amid anger over dam collapse | The boss of the Brazilian iron ore mining firm Vale has resigned, following growing public and political anger over the collapse of a dam in which at least 186 people died. Fabio Schvartsman and several other senior executives resigned on a “temporary” basis on Saturday after prosecutors recommended their dismissal. The move came after a leak of official documents suggested that Vale knew the dam was at a heightened risk of collapse. In addition to the confirmed death toll, 122 people are still missing more than a month after the accident at the dam, which collected waste from an iron ore mine near the town of Brumadinho in Minas Gerais state. It was the second deadly burst at a Vale-linked tailings dam in Minas Gerais in four years. In 2015, an accident near the town of Mariana killed 19 people and led to Brazil’s worst-ever environmental catastrophe. Schvartsman started his term as Vale CEO in 2017 with the motto: “Mariana, never again.” The Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo reported that a Vale manager had told executives the integrity of the dam had worsened, although the company vigorously denied the report. In a letter to Vale’s board, Schvartsman said: “Even totally assured of my righteous ways and having fulfilled my duty, I request the board to accept my temporary leave in the benefit of the company’s continued operations.” He will be replaced by Eduardo Bartolomeo, an executive director, as the interim CEO. Vale’s head of ferrous minerals and coal, Peter Poppinga, its planning director, Lucio Flavio Gallon Cavalli, and the regional director Silmar Magalhães Silva also resigned. Vale said its board met on Friday night and Saturday morning following the prosecutors’ recommendation. Last month, Brazilian police arrested eight Vale employees accused of covering up weaknesses at the dam. The arrests and search warrants targeted employees of Vale as well as employees of German auditing firm TÜV SÜD, which had certified the dam as stable. Brazil’s mining authorities have started an inquiry into Vale over a possible cover-up regarding safety procedures, which could lead to a fine of up to 20% of its 2018 gross revenue. The maximum penalty could be around 25bn reals (£5bn), based on estimates of preliminary 2018 data. “The law is clear in punishing companies if they are found to have colluded to prevent proper government monitoring,” Brazil’s mining secretary, Alexandre Vidigal de Oliveira, told Bloomberg. “I’ve requested the start of the probe and now the mining agency has 180 days to present some conclusions.” | ['world/brazil', 'world/americas', 'world/world', 'business/mining', 'business/business', 'environment/mining', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rupertneate', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2019-03-03T11:49:33Z | true | ENERGY |
uk-news/2016/mar/20/bioplastic-formcard-designer-peter-marigold-uk-mend-fix | Bioplastic encourages people to mend, not replace, says designer | There are incongruous dots of colour speckled around Peter Marigold’s kitchen in north London. Pots and pans hang from blue and yellow hooks while the edge of a shelf is rounded off and smoothed out with a distinct red material. It is a live test environment for Marigold’s creation, a piece of plastic called FORMcard that can be manipulated like putty after it is dropped in hot water. It can be used to fix objects such as broken door handles, or to make new objects like mobile phone holders and makeshift tools. Coming in pieces the size of a credit card, it is intended as a new and simple way to mend broken household items. It can be reshaped numerous times before it eventually hardens. “We have entered this world where people are throwing things away all the time for a small thing that is broken,” Marigold said. “It is not their fault. They know that if you try to get something fixed by a manufacturer, it is disproportionately expensive so people buy new things all the time. They eventually just get sick of them and then get rid of it.” Marigold, a designer who has worked on displays for galleries, installations and public art projects, developed the idea after becoming interested in plastics that melt at low temperatures and how they could be used in the home by consumers. The FORMcard is made with a bioplastic that becomes pliable once it is placed in boiling water for 30 seconds. “When it is floppy it is ready for you to use,” Marigold said. Once it is lifted out of the water with a spoon it can be moulded in a similar way to Blu-Tack or putty. It then hardens and becomes as strong as nylon.” The strength of a piece of the hardened plastic is illustrated in a video where a 10kg weight is shown hanging from a hook made from a FORMcard. “I really want people to have this in their kitchen drawer. I want them to have it in their back pocket when they need it,” Marigold said. “It is all about accessibility. You can get the raw granules but people don’t carry around the raw granules on holiday.” The amount of time it takes for the substance to become solid after it has been taken out of the water can vary, so Marigold urges users to trust their own intuition and take safety precautions. “Don’t put your fingers into hot water, use a spoon. Imagine you are working with a hot tea bag – just be sensible. If in doubt, let the water and the FORMcard cool down a bit. You can always reheat,” he said. When hot and pliable the FORMcard sticks to polyester and other plastics such as PVC, polycarbonates and ABS, which is used to make car bumpers. Since it went on sale in December, 60,000 of the cards have been sold. A packet of three costs £5 and a Canadian company is now pairing them with snow shovels to repair cracks. There has been renewed interest in fixing items instead of replacing them, especially among the “maker” community. Sugru, a malleable silicone rubber, is a similar product that has become popular. Marigold said he is aiming his product at the everyday person. “It is about making it as accessible to normal people as possible – so that my mum would have some,” he said. • You can read our archive of The innovators columns here or on the Big Innovation Centre website where you will find more information on how Big Innovation Centre supports innovative enterprise in Britain and globally. | ['business/entrepreneurs', 'uk/uk', 'environment/plastic', 'uk/london', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'artanddesign/design', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tone/features', 'profile/shane-hickey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2016-03-20T15:23:29Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
technology/2022/may/18/crypto-crash-unlikely-to-reduce-its-climate-impact-expert-says | Crypto crash unlikely to reduce its climate impact, expert says | The crypto crash will not reduce the sector’s climate impact any time soon, an economist has warned, even though the environmental footprint of digital currencies is in theory set by their market value. “Unless bitcoin collapses further, there’s no reason to expect a decrease in environmental impact,” said Alex de Vries, a data scientist at the Dutch central bank and the founder of Digiconomist, which tracks the sustainability of cryptocurrency projects. His research shows that while the increase in a cryptocurrency’s price encourages more computer capacity to be dedicated to it – increasing carbon emissions – that capacity takes a long time to disappear after the value declines, so the climate impact persists. Cryptocurrencies work by validating their transactions through huge numbers of “miners”, who use their computers to solve extremely complex maths problems in exchange for the chance of getting tokens as a reward, in a highly energy-intensive process. De Vries estimates that the bitcoin network uses about 204 terrawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year, around the same as the energy consumption of Thailand and above that of all but 23 sovereign nations. Other cryptocurrencies add to that footprint: ethereum, the token that underpins the NFT boom and the “decentralised finance” sector, has an annualised footprint of around 104TWh (equivalent to Kazakhstan, more than all but 34 nations), while even dogecoin, a lighthearted spinoff of bitcoin famed for its community’s positive attitude, consumes an estimated 4TWh annually. Those figures have barely changed over the past month despite $1tn being wiped off the crypto sector, and other measures of the amount of processing power devoted to “mining” similarly show little decline. All major cryptocurrencies use electrical power in rough proportion to the price of the token because that dictates how much the reward given to miners is worth. For bitcoin, for instance, the reward for successful mining is 6.25 bitcoin every 10 minutes – currently, about $210,000. The higher the value of the reward, the more energy it is worth using to try to win it, ensuring that as the price of bitcoin rose from $8,000 in October 2019 to $60,000 two years later, the energy use of the sector rose too, from 73TWh to its current high. But while an increase in the price of cryptocurrency quickly leads to an increase in the carbon emissions of the sector, a crash like the one seen in past month doesn’t do the reverse. “It likely stops the environmental impact from going up any further,” said de Vries, “but a bitcoin price of $25,200 is sufficient to sustain an annual electricity consumption of 184TWh.” That’s because the cost of cryptocurrency mining is split over two main areas: buying the hardware, and paying for electricity. When prices are on the rise, miners buy new computers – expensive graphics cards for ethereum, or purpose-built “rigs” for bitcoin – but once they are already set up, it’s worth switching them off only when the cost of electricity alone is higher than the expected revenue. In a paper published in the journal Joule last year, de Vries estimated that a massive crash in the price of bitcoin, back down to $8,000, would be required to meaningfully reduce the total emissions of mining – and even then, it could sustain an energy consumption of up to 60TWh per year. The continued turmoil in the cryptocurrency markets means the sector may have further to contract. On Wednesday morning, tether, a stablecoin that effectively functions as a bank, paid out a further $1.5bn to depositors withdrawing their cash from its coffers. In the past week, the slow-motion bank run has seen $9bn of its reserves withdrawn, more than 10% of its total market cap and well over twice the cash-on-hand it declared it had at the beginning of the year. Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent venture capital firm and one of the key financial backers of the cryptocurrency sector, said on Tuesday that we may be entering a “crypto winter”, echoing a warning from the Coinbase chief executive, Brian Armstrong, that valuations may be depressed for some time. | ['technology/cryptocurrencies', 'technology/efinance', 'technology/internet', 'technology/technology', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'business/business', 'technology/bitcoin', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/alex-hern', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2022-05-18T15:25:40Z | true | EMISSIONS |
news/2019/may/03/weatherwatch-shackleton-in-an-open-boat-faces-a-cape-horn-roller | Weatherwatch: Shackleton, in an open boat, faces a Cape Horn roller | On 5 May 1916, explorer Ernest Shackleton and four of his men encountered a wave like no other. The crew of Shackleton’s ship Endurance were stranded on Elephant Island in the Antarctic. Shackleton hoped to get help from South Georgia by sailing a small lifeboat across the infamous Drake Passage, reputedly the roughest stretch of sea in the world. The weather was bad. “At midnight I was at the tiller and suddenly noticed a line of clear sky between the south and south-west,” wrote Shackleton. “I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realised that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the white crest of an enormous wave.” This wave was a Cape Horn Roller, bigger than any Shackleton had seen in 26 years at sea. There is uninterrupted sea at this latitude, so the fetch, or distance over which the wind produces waves, is extremely long and waves correspondingly high. Shackleton says the boat was “lifted and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf.” Amazingly it survived the seething chaos, though it half-filled with water. After 10 minutes of desperate baling the crew were thoroughly soaked but safe. The lifeboat arrived at South Georgia three days later. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/antarctica', 'science/exploration', 'environment/poles', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/poles | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-05-03T20:30:09Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2008/nov/18/medvedev-chavez-nuclear-russia-venezuela | Russia to build nuclear reactor for Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez | Russia's deepening strategic partnership with Venezuela took a dramatic step forward today when it emerged that Moscow has agreed to build Venezuela's first ever nuclear reactor. President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, during a visit to Latin America next week, part of a determined Russian push into the region. The reactor is to be named after Humberto Fernandez Moran, a late Venezuelan research scientist and former science minister, Chávez has announced. It is one of many accords he hopes to sign while hosting Medvedev in Caracas next week. The prospect of a nuclear deal between Moscow and Caracas, following a surge in Russian economic, military, political and intelligence activity in Latin America, is likely to alarm the US and present an early challenge to the Obama administration. "Hugo Chávez joins the nuclear club," Russian's Vedomosti newspaper trumpeted today. Venezuela's socialist leader said the reactor may be based in the eastern state of Zulia. He stressed that the project would be for peaceful purposes. As if to underline that point, four Japanese survivors from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs visited Venezuela this week at the government's invitation. The energy ministry, which is scouting locations, said the project was at a very early stage. A report which mooted a nuclear reactor long before Chávez came to power has been dusted off. Despite abundant oil reserves, Venezuela's energy infrastructure is creaking and prone to blackouts. A nuclear reactor would enable the country to utilise its rich uranium deposits and allay criticism that the government has neglected energy investment. More importantly for Moscow and Caracas, a nuclear deal will showcase a partnership which advocates creating new "poles" of power to check American hegemony. Nick Day, a Latin American specialist, said the nuclear deal was deliberately timed to pile pressure on the US administration during a moment of transition and weakness. "Russia is manoeuvring hard in the time between Obama's election and his inauguration. What the Russians are trying to do is to set up a chessboard that gives them greater mobility in negotiations when he [Obama] comes to power," Day said. He added: "Russia's message is: 'We can exert influence in your backyard if you continue to exert influence in our backyard. If you don't take your missiles out of Poland and end Nato expansion we're going to increase our influence in Latin America and do things to provoke you.'" According to Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia's federal nuclear agency, no reactor can be built until both countries have signed a preliminary agreement on nuclear cooperation. This will be signed next week, Novikov told Vedomosti. Both presidents are also expected to firm up details of a Russian-Venezuelan energy consortium to jointly produce and sell oil and gas. Russian companies which are already exploring oilfields in Venezuela could then extend their reach to fields in Ecuador and Bolivia. Venezuela has bought $4bn of Russian arms, including Sukhoi fighter jets, making it one of Moscow's best clients. Chávez has spoken of also buying Project 636 diesel submarines, Mi-28 combat helicopters, T72 tanks and air-defence systems. Despite the spending spree, Venezuela's military has not tipped the regional balance of power. Chávez's armed forces lag behind that of Brazil, Chile and Colombia and analysts question Venezuelan effectiveness. For Russia's president, however, Caracas is a valuable springboard into Latin America. In addition to Venezuela, Medvedev will visit Peru, Brazil and Cuba — the first trip by a Russian leader to Havana in eight years. Moscow has spoken of reviving Soviet-era intelligence cooperation with the communist island and in a sign of dramatically improved ties, President Raul Castro last month attended the opening of a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Havana. | ['world/venezuela', 'world/hugo-chavez', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/russia', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'world/dmitry-medvedev', 'world/europe-news', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'profile/rorycarroll', 'profile/lukeharding'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2008-11-18T20:55:57Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/blog/2007/dec/11/progressatbali | Progress at Bali | Things have moved fast today, with a second draft of the required Bali roadmap produced, and a third due later tonight. Tomorrow sees the start of the high level segment of the talks, with ministers getting to sit behind the national name badges. Disappointingly, there are no little flags (I checked). We UK hacks got our first briefing with environment secretary Hilary Benn and the rest of the British team this afternoon. The man from Daily Telegraph took advantage of this brief window in the secretary of state's packed diary to show him his holiday snaps. The man from the Guardian was in some of them. (They were from last week's press trip to Sumatra). Mr Benn is one of the few delegates here to persist with a suit and tie, though he doesn't have to sit in the overheated press room. Most people have followed the organisers' instructions to adapt to the sweltering climate by dressing down. Some have done it better than others. Some obviously thought they said dressing gown. At the negotiations, Europe and Britain are holding a firm line against attempts to water down the draft agreements, at least on the emissions targets. The 25-40% target for rich nations by 2020, which the US wants ditched, has taken on a totemic status, at least with the press, and is the first subject raised with politicians and officials from all sides. In the end, the target will probably be sacrificed (US involvement is too important to risk) and focusing on it too much could be a flawed way to judge the success or failure of the eventual agreement. For now, it's still there though. Today, the US is objecting to some pretty benign text on adaptation funding, which seems an odd move. Maybe it's a tactical ploy? To get what you really want you must concede something you don't. The trick is not letting the others know which is which. | ['environment/blog', 'environment/bali', 'environment/environment', 'tone/blog', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'type/article', 'profile/davidadam'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2007-12-11T13:57:41Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2018/mar/09/fukushima-communities-struggling | Town where nobody's home: Fukushima communities struggling to survive | Okuma, on Japan’s east coast, used to host a busy community of 10,500 people. But today the houses stand empty. The town is empty because it is one of the closest to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and – seven years after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered a triple meltdown – it remains under evacuation orders with decontamination still not finished. However, Okuma is not totally deserted. It is patrolled by Jijii Butai, or The Old Man squad. A group of hardy retirees who keep watch over their beloved former home. Tsunemitsu Yokoyama, 65, stands a few metres from a pick-up truck and recalls how he and his friends responded when they spotted a strange person on their streets. “There was a suspicious person who was walking around the town one day and we noticed this suspicious person and we picked this person up and we put him on the truck,” says the mild-mannered former town hall worker. “If we notice any suspicious actions or people of course we alert [the authorities].” Yokoyama is one of six retirees who formed the squad five years ago, partly to allay the concerns of homeowners about potential break-ins and fires. He says the squad members are less worried about radiation exposure than the younger generation because “we don’t have many years ahead of us anyway”. Almost every day, they travel from their new homes one to two hours away and conduct volunteer patrols. Despite the early focus on suspicious activity, they are now more likely to be occupied by keeping the town clean and tidy, looking out for damage caused by wild boars, picking up any rubbish that may have accumulated in the waterways, and clearing away fallen trees. “We belong to the same generation, we are around the same age, so we can understand each other pretty well in terms of sharing the same goal and also the objective and hope for this town,” Yokoyama says of the bond they’ve formed. The long road home The streets are not as quiet as they used to be. In some parts of the town, residents are now allowed to enter to periodically check up on their homes – but they are not allowed to stay overnight. It’s clear, however, that it will be a long and difficult process to entice them back given they have set up new lives elsewhere. Even Shuyo Shiga, the leader of the Okuma town recovery project, expects that the rest of his family will stay away once the situation has been put back to relative normality. For starters, it won’t be a case of simply moving back into their old home: Shiga’s property is part of a parcel of land earmarked to become an interim storage facility for nuclear waste. In addition, he says one of his three children suffered great trauma from seeing their neighbours “swallowed up by the tsunami” as they tried to flee the powerful waters. They are now in their 20s. “I think a person that has that kind of difficult experience, it’s very hard for them to come back to Okuma,” Shiga says. “The children said they will not return … and my wife is talking about not returning, so I suppose it will be for me to return to Okuma as a single person – not with my family, not with my wife.” The town is starting its recovery with modest ambitions. Residential homes are being built for 50 households – the number that indicated on a questionnaire that they wanted to come back. Eventually, says Shiga, the town plans to build 100 detached houses. But this is just a fraction of the pre-disaster population. It tends to be older residents who wish to return, he adds. Elsewhere in Fukushima prefecture, the town of Namie is a stark example of the challenges of getting a former evacuation zone back on track. Authorities lifted the evacuation orders there on 31 March 2017, except for some districts. Compared with Namie’s previous population of 21,000, so far just 490 people have returned. Yohei Aota, an official with the Namie town government, reveals the figures as he looks out over the portside district of Ukedo – a low-lying area that was swamped by a 15.5-metre wave. His home was one of those destroyed. Painful reminders “Of course looking at the scenery reminds me of what happened,” he says from an elevated vantage point where the local elementary students successfully escaped the reach of the tsunami. Now the school building stands empty and most of the homes in the area have been demolished. “There used to about 1,900 people living here [in Namie’s Ukedo district] but 182 people died unfortunately from the tsunami,” Aota says. “And actually there are still 30 missing persons – no remains, no belongings have been found of these 30 missing persons.” Fukushima authorities area anxious to say that a lot of progress has been made since May 2012 when the number of evacuees from across the entire prefecture peaked at 164,865. That figure has fallen below 50,000. But people are not exactly rushing back. Rieko Watanabe, 65, who evacuated from Namie to Minamisoma, says everyone has their own reasons for why they have not returned. She commutes from Minamisoma to run her business called Grandma Kitchen which serves meals and bento boxes to residents and workers. Watanabe notes that the people in Namie are shy about their plans for the future. “But they often look around and if they notice a friend or an acquaintance or a neighbour returning they might say, ‘oh maybe it’s time for me to return as well and maybe I can do something’. We are praying every day and we are working hard every day so that this trend of people coming back to Namie would be strengthened and can be maintained.” She adds with a determined smile: “Never give up.” | ['environment/fukushima', 'world/japan', 'world/earthquakes', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/environment', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/world', 'environment/energy', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/daniel-hurst', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2018-03-09T03:36:44Z | true | ENERGY |
uk-news/article/2024/jul/24/head-of-kings-property-portfolio-given-pay-rise | Head of king’s property portfolio given 20% pay rise to £1.9m | King Charles’s property management company has given its chief executive a pay increase of almost 20% after tripling his pay packet over the previous three years. The crown estate, the royals’ ancient portfolio of land and property across England and Wales that includes the seabed around its coasts, paid Dan Labbad almost £1.9m for the last financial year amid a rise in profits powered by offshore wind developments. As a result of that doubling of annual profits to £1.1bn over the year, the king is now in line for an increase of more than 50% in his official annual income to £132m in 2025-26, which will be used to support the official duties of the royal family. Labbad’s latest payday is more than three and a half times the £517,000 he earned in 2019 when he stepped into the role, and more than three times the £622,000 paid to his predecessor Alison Nimmo in her final year in the job. The 19.6% salary rise was revealed in the annual report of the crown estate, which has a mandate to return income to the Treasury “for the benefit of the nation”, alongside the doubling of annual profits. The crown estate has benefited from the success of Britain’s offshore wind industry after demanding hefty option fees from renewable energy developers to secure areas of the seabed to build their windfarms. The monarchy receives 12% of the crown estate profits to fund its work as well as to pay for the 10-year, £369m renovation of Buckingham Palace. The arrangement will be reviewed in 2026-27 to reassess the sum handed over to the palace and ensure it is an “appropriate level”. The crown estate said the pay given to Labbad, which was well above the remuneration typically awarded to those who manage taxpayer funds, was benchmarked against the “lower quartile” of pay offered to FTSE bosses. Its annual report said: “Our approach to chief executive pay and reward seeks to ensure that the crown estate can attract and retain a world-class leader from a diverse pool of eligible candidates, with the ability to lead an organisation that, in value terms, would rank in the top 50 companies of the FTSE 100 if it were publicly listed. “At the same time, it recognises that some form of remuneration discount is appropriate in leading an organisation that serves the nation.” | ['uk-news/crown-estate', 'uk/prince-charles', 'business/business', 'uk/monarchy', 'uk/uk', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'business/realestate', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jillian-ambrose', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2024-07-24T09:50:35Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2023/may/12/pfas-forever-chemicals-societal-cost-new-report | Societal cost of ‘forever chemicals’ about $17.5tn across global economy – report | The societal cost of using toxic PFAS or “forever chemicals” across the global economy totals about $17.5tn annually, a new analysis of the use of the dangerous compounds has found. Meanwhile, the chemicals yield comparatively paltry profits for the world’s largest PFAS manufacturers – about $4bn annually. The report, compiled by ChemSec, a Sweden-based NGO that works with industry and policymakers to limit the use of toxic chemicals, partially aims to highlight how the “astronomical” cost of using PFAS is shouldered by governments typically forced to fund the cleanup of pollution and individuals who suffer from health consequences. “If you compare the profits that they make and the cost to society – it’s ridiculous,” said Peter Pierrou, ChemSec’s communications director. PFAS are a class of about 15,000 chemicals often used to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. The chemicals are ubiquitous, and linked at low levels of exposure to cancer, thyroid disease, kidney dysfunction, birth defects, autoimmune disease and other serious health problems. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally degrade. The chemicals are thought to be contaminating drinking water for at least 200 million Americans, while watchdogs have identified thousands of industrial polluters. Similar widespread contamination persists throughout Europe. ChemSec found 12 companies account for most of the world’s PFAS production and pollution. Among them are 3M, Chemours, Solvay, Daikin, Honeywell, BASF, Merck and Bayer, though 3M this year announced it would discontinue making PFAS in part because of regulatory pressure and litigation. The report grew out of ChemSec’s work with investment firms to pressure companies to eliminate PFAS, Pierrou said. A letter on the issue circulated late last year and now signed by largely European Union investment firms holding $11tn in assets cites recent litigation brought against PFAS manufacturers, ever-increasing regulation that imposes strict limits on the chemicals’ use and the compounds’ public health threat. Investors have raised questions about companies’ PFAS production and uses, Pierrou added, but industry often tries to keep information around the chemicals from public view as it attempts to evade account or protect “trade secrets”. “There is low transparency and there is so much we don’t know,” Pierrou said. “[Investment firms] have the power to ask these questions because they own part of the company, so they have the right to ask ‘What’s going on here?’” The analysis broke down societal costs into four categories. Soil and water remediation are the most expensive, followed by healthcare costs and bio-monitoring of PFAS pollution. While the average market price of PFAS is about €19 (about $20.75) for each kilogram, the price spikes to about €18,734 ($20,456.78) for each kilogram when societal costs are factored in. Beyond profits and pollution, the analysis also provides a closer look at how the chemicals are used across the economy, and whether those uses are “essential” or “non-essential”. Those questions are likely to become a focal point in the debate over the chemicals’ use in upcoming years as proposed legislation in the EU would ban the chemicals except for essential uses, and a law passed in Maine that goes into effect in 2030 takes a similar approach. Banning non-essential uses would probably spell the end of the chemicals in most consumer goods and cut deeply into the industry’s profits. PFAS are used in thousands of consumer products, but public health advocates argue most of those uses are not essential because viable, safer alternatives exist. The chemicals are commonly used as waterproofing agents in clothing and textiles, applied to create non-stick barriers on cookware and utilized to greaseproof paper food packaging. Those functions can be achieved without PFAS, advocates note. However, the industry generally counters with claims that most PFAS produced are deployed for essential purposes, such as medical devices, energy production and pharmaceuticals. ChemSec agreed that many of those uses are essential, but still found just 8% of PFAS are used for “essential” purposes. Among those that it found to be essential were semiconductors, though researchers are already developing safe alternatives. “There are so many industry voices that are opposing the PFAS ban and they are using the ‘essential use’ concept as an excuse: ‘We cannot ban PFAS or everything will sink and go under,’” Pierrou said. “The parts that are ‘essential’ are really minor and there are so many uses we could do without.” • The subheading and text of this article were amended on 12 & 14 & 15 May 2023. ChemSec is based in Sweden, not in Belgium as an earlier version said. And misspellings of the company names of Daikin and Merck were corrected. | ['environment/pfas', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'campaign/email/today-us', 'environment/pollution', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/tom-perkins', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2023-05-12T09:00:51Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
sustainable-business/2015/jan/09/sustainable-leadership-three-types-resilience | Sustainable leadership: the three types of resilience you need | Resilience is the capacity for adapting to – and surviving – radically changing circumstances. This includes anything from climate change and economic collapse to the threat of international terrorism and pandemic disease. To meet these challenges sustainably, leaders must cultivate three types of resilience. Personal On the individual level, resilience is about developing the personal capacity to thrive and survive in the most challenging of times. Human beings are complex and we need to develop strength physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually to be truly confident of facing whatever confronts us. To do that, it helps to see the work we are engaged in as an opportunity for self-actualisation. Achieving a task is important, but how that task is completed and the individual’s experience is equally significant – perhaps even more so. Supporting people in being able to see their work as a place of meaning and purpose requires creating time and space for reflection. Organisations need to encourage employees to have some time alone: to reflect, to contemplate, to generate responses rather than just reactions. Workplace quiet rooms are an obvious solution, but so is scheduling five-minute breaks between meetings, and creating conscious processes to open and close meetings. Practising mindfulness and presence is also beneficial but, to truly strengthen resilience, they need to be practiced in an environment where the employee’s personal values and ethics are also honoured. Mindfully carrying out tasks and actions that the employee does not value will only create dissonance and dissatisfaction. The group As individuals we can achieve a certain amount, but if we harness the intelligence of a group and develop its collective wisdom we can achieve so much more. To build group resilience, we need to consider questions such as: how is the group operating and what is my place within it? What enables the group’s energy to grow and what diminishes it? What is the atmosphere like in this meeting? How am I affecting, and being affected by, it? What type of leadership is emerging and how is it being taken and resisted? When are we being collectively intelligent and when stupid? Over the years many practices have been developed to assist groups in developing resilience, from “appreciative inquiry” which accentuates the positive, to Otto Scharmer’s “U Theory”. Each of these processes has its own methodology, but at their core is the desire and willingness to move beyond the ego and to offer one’s contribution in service to the whole. This means identifying more with the corporate vision and purpose than with individual career opportunities. It requires the intention and capacity to serve something beyond oneself. Global Finally, we need to put all our personal and collective efforts into a global context. How do major international challenges and changes impact us? Not only do they threaten our way of living and call into question many things we have taken for granted – such as cheap travel, an endless supply of water and secure pensions – they also call forth a response from us. What does the world need from our corporations now? What is their planetary purpose and contribution? If organisations are tuned into their responsibility for global resilience, this will mean writing a comprehensive range of policies on environmentally-friendly supply chains (energy, paper, food and so on), sourcing sustainable building materials, recycling practices, providing incentives for car pooling, walking and cycling, and developing corporate social responsibility plans that really make a difference. At the Findhorn Foundation ecovillage where I live, for example, we are pioneering a way of life that leaves one of the lowest measured ecological footprints in the developed world, at around 50% of the UK average. Developing resilience on personal, organisational and planetary levels is not only imperative at this time of global emergency, it will also lead to a deeper experience of personal wellbeing, to the harvesting of collective intelligence and wisdom, and to organisations starting to articulate and live their planetary purpose. Without this, both inner and outer indicators will show they have no future. Robin Alfred is chief executive of the Findhorn Consultancy Service Read more like this: Our obsession with heroic sustainability leaders will leave us all disappointed Does power lead to corruption? Brought to you by Xyntéo: Paul Polman: ‘We need to leverage the young to drive change’ The leadership hub is funded by Xyntéo. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled ‘brought to you by’. Find out more here. Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox. | ['sustainable-business/series/leadership', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'business/business', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'business/corporate-governance', 'type/article', 'tone/features'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-01-09T17:00:01Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
news/2020/nov/16/weatherwatch-seabed-holds-clues-to-understanding-hurricanes | Weatherwatch: seabed holds clues to understanding hurricanes | Understanding the pattern of hurricane activity is important for predicting future events, but researchers never have enough data. For example, in Florida, hurricane records only go back to the 1850s, a mere moment ago in geological terms. Researchers from the Florida Gulf Coast University have been filling in the gaps in their data with paleotempestology – looking at the record left by hurricanes on the seabed. In normal conditions the tidal lagoons are full of dark mud, rich in organic matter. A powerful storm brings in quantities of lighter coloured sand, leaving a distinct layer. Even long after the organic matter has decayed, scientists can distinguish layers from the sizes of sand grains, observing fossilised storms in the deposits known as tempestites. The researchers took core samples from lagoons and applied radiocarbon dating and other techniques to date the storm deposits. Their findings suggest that the current pattern, where more hurricanes strike the Gulf coast than the Atlantic coast on the other side of the Florida peninsula, may date back thousands of years. This could be because of the higher water temperature in the Gulf, which drives hurricanes. The study also allows researchers to correlate the number of hurricanes with the sea temperature in a particular period, helping to determine the way the pattern of hurricanes changes with rises in sea temperatures. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/hurricanes', 'science/fossils', 'world/extreme-weather', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2020-11-16T21:30:16Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
sport/2018/apr/09/transgender-weightlifter-laurel-hubbards-eligibility-under-scrutiny | Transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard's eligibility under scrutiny | New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard went into the women’s +90kg finals at the Commonwealth Games as favourite, expected not only to win but also perhaps break records. She finished the first half 7kg ahead of Samoa’s Feagaiga Stowers, but her efforts ended after she injured her elbow striving for a lift of 132kg. But the eyes the Gold Coast’s Carrara Sport and Leisure Centre were also on Hubbard for another reason, after public challenges to her eligibility because she is a transgender woman who had competed in men’s weightlifting prior to transitioning. Although no country lodged an official objection, many said they felt it was unfair for Hubbard to be going up against their athletes. “A man is a man and a woman is a woman and I know a lot of changes have gone through, but in the past Laurel Hubbard used to be a male champion weightlifter,” the Samoa head coach, Jerry Wallwork, told the ABC. Dr Kieren Keke, the chief de mission for the Nauru team, said the team had not discussed lodging any protest, but he objected in principle. “I think our view is that it’s a little bit unfair given that she began weightlifting as a man and has that experience in weightlifting as a male, then to carry on as a woman we think is a little bit unfair and gives her an unfair advantage,” Keke said. Australia’s weightlifting association tried unsuccessfully to have her selection overturned, but on Monday a spokesman for the team said they were just concentrating on the Australian competitor, Deb Lovely-Acason “doing the best she can” at the peak of a successful career. “Laurel Hubbard has been given the opportunity to represent her country because it was cleared by the Weightlifting Federation, also the Commonwealth Games Association, that she has abided the rules and New Zealand has abided the rules, and her testosterone levels are correct,” he said. A spokesman for the Cameroon team, Simon Molombe, said they also objected “in principle”. Being transgender, like being gay, is illegal in Cameroon. “I’m of the opinion that her past has an influence on her present output, and gives her an edge over others,” he said. “I therefore see it as playing without a level ground.” Hubbard led at the halfway stage of the finals, achieving her first lift of 120kg – 7kg more than Stowers – but then hurt her elbow in her shot at 132kg. After the break it was announced she had declined her lifts and was out. “At this stage we don’t know the exact details,” Hubbard said afterwards. “It seems likely I have ruptured a ligament. Until they do a scan we won’t know the details.” She said the support inside the arena spurred her on, even if her afternoon ended in disappointment. “The Australian crowd was magnificent,” she said. “It felt like just a big embrace. They really made me try to lift my best. I gave it everything and I regret I wasn’t able to make the lift today. “The Commonwealth Games here are a model for what sport can, and should, be. It’s an incredible environment and an amazing atmosphere. Without any doubt, they have lived up to the mantra of humanity, equality and decency.” Hubbard passed all requirements to make it into the games and compete in the women’s competition. Kirsti Miller, a transgender activist, dual-international athlete and educator, said the problem is those requirements can “harm the health of transitioned athletes like myself, and harm the health of XX transition males”. Miller said the International Olympic Committee guidelines are without proper scientific basis, particularly around testosterone limits. According to Miller the requirement that athletes show levels below a particular limit for 12 months prior to competition is beyond problematic, particularly with older people and those transitioning from a male gender. “We all transition at a different rate, and a big factor that plays a part in that is your age,” she said. “Twelve months as a policy for everyone is just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive, David Grevemberg, also noted Hubbard had passed requirements, but said there needed to be further discussion within the weightlifting community about the eligibility of transgender competitors. “This is something that members have expressed various opinions on and it’s something that the weightlifting community needs to come together and have some robust debate, discussion, on,” Grevemberg said. “I hope all New Zealanders ... would get behind one of their athletes that has gone through the pathway to achieve greatness, and within the rules of the sport,” he said. Miller watched Hubbard compete with tears in her eyes, and said she came through “an absolute winner”. “I just wish I could take some of the pressure off her ... She did everything she had to do to compete today. She gave it her all,” she said. “I was so pleased with the crowd’s reaction, they were cheering and clapping as loud as for anyone else ... Hopefully Laurel’s given some hope to some young trans kid sitting around the world.” • Additional reporting by Australian Associated Press | ['sport/weightlifting', 'sport/commonwealth-games-2018', 'world/newzealand', 'sport/commonwealth-games', 'sport/sport', 'society/transgender', 'world/asia-pacific', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helen-davidson', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | sport/commonwealth-games-2018 | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2018-04-09T08:41:02Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2022/jul/18/court-orders-uk-government-to-explain-how-net-zero-policies-will-reach-targets | Court orders UK government to explain how net zero policies will reach targets | The high court has ordered the government to outline exactly how its net zero policies will achieve emissions targets, after a legal challenge from environmental groups. Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and the Good Law Project had all taken legal action over the government’s flagship climate change strategy, arguing it had illegally failed to include the policies it needed to deliver the promised emissions cuts. In a judgment handed down late on Monday, Mr Justice Holgate said the strategy lacked any explanation or quantification of how the government’s plans would achieve the emissions target, and as such had failed to meet its obligations under Climate Change Act (CCA) 2008. Environmental campaigners called the ruling, which came as the UK faced record-breaking temperatures, a “landmark” and “a breakthrough moment”, claiming it showed the net zero strategy was in breach of the CCA. “We’re proud to have worked on this historic case,” said Katie de Kauwe, a lawyer with Friends of the Earth. “This landmark ruling is a huge victory for climate justice and government transparency. “It shows that the Climate Change Act is a piece of legislation which has teeth, and can, if necessary, be enforced through our court system if the government does not comply with its legal duties.” Sam Hunter Jones, senior lawyer at ClientEarth, said: “This decision is a breakthrough moment in the fight against climate delay and inaction. It forces the government to put in place climate plans that will actually address the crisis.” Holgate’s judgment did not find for the claimants on all grounds. But he ordered the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) to prepare a report explaining how the policies outlined in the net zero strategy would contribute towards emissions reductions, and to present it to parliament by April 2023. “The NZS did not go below national and sector levels to look at the contributions to emissions reductions made by individual policies (or by interacting policies) where assessed as being quantifiable,” Holgate said. “In my judgment it ought to have done so in order to comply with the language and statutory purposes of s.14 of the CCA 2008.” Holgate also found that Greg Hands, the energy minister, signed off the net zero strategy despite not having the legally required information on how carbon budgets would be met. The net zero strategy, published in October, included commitments to end the sales of new fossil fuel cars by 2030 and gas boilers by 2035. But it did not spell out how the strategy would be delivered or specify the cuts in emissions to be achieved in each sector. A Beis spokesperson said: “The net zero strategy remains government policy and has not been quashed. The judge made no criticism about the substance of our plans which are well on track and, in fact, the claimants themselves described them as ‘laudable’ during the proceedings.” | ['environment/activism', 'uk/uk', 'law/law', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damien-gayle', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2022-07-18T18:06:13Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
The Guardian Climate News Corpus
A multi-class classification dataset of climate-related (and climate unrelated) articles scraped from The Guardian.
This dataset is used in ClimateEval.
Categories
Each category is mutually exclusive. Articles scraped for this corpus must contain at least one tag from the category it belongs to and no tags from any other catergory.
Category-to-tags mapping:
| category | tags |
|---|---|
| CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | environment/activism, climate-academy/climate-academy, a-different-christmas/series/on-the-climate-frontline, environment/fossil-fuel-divestment, environment/school-climate-strikes, environment/greta-thunberg, environment/extinction-rebellion, environment/climate-camp, environment/series/climate-crimes, environment/just-stop-oil, environment/greenpeace |
| CLIMATE_DENIAL | environment/climate-change-scepticism, global-development-professionals-network/series/climate-change-debates, environment/series/climate-wars-hacked-emails, environment/series/climate-consensus-the-97-percent, australia-news/series/weight-of-the-world-the-climate-scientists-burden |
| EMISSIONS | environment/carbon-emissions, environment/fossil-fuels, carbonreduction/carbonreduction, environment/carbon-capture-and-storage, environment/carbon-offset-projects, environment/carbonfootprints, environment/series/carbon-bombs, environment/series/carbon-bombs-2022, environment/series/the-carbon-footprint-of-everything, environment/series/the-great-carbon-divide, theguardian/carbon-challenge, theguardian/carbon-challenge/carbon-challenge, theguardian/carbonquestion, sustainable-business/series/in-focus-mandatory-carbon-reporting, sustainable-business/carbon-trust-supporter, sustainable-business/low-carbon, sustainable-business/series/carbon-case-studies, campaign/callout/callout-low-carbon-homes, sustainable-business/series/awards-2011-carbon, australia-news/series/the-top-end-carbon-bomb, sustainable-business/series/in-focus-carbon-finance-for-development |
| BIODIVERSITY | environment/farming, environment/amazon-rainforest, environment/un-biodiversity-summit-2020, environment/wildlife, environment/marine-life, environment/endangered-habitats, environment/great-barrier-reef, environment/biodiversity, environment/deforestation, environment/series/the-age-of-extinction, environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans, environment/forests, environment/logging-and-land-clearing, environment/conservationenvironment/series/great-barrier-reef-in-crisis, science/extinct-wildlife, environment/cetaceans |
| POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | environment/plastic, environment/plastic-waste, environment/recycling, environment/pollution, environment/air-pollution, environment/waste, environment/oil-sands |
| ENERGY | environment/oil, environment/energy, environment/renewable-energy, environment/renewableenergy, environment/solarpower, environment/nuclearpower, environment/windpower, environment/fracking, environment/mining, environment/coal |
| GLOBAL_CRISIS | environment/series/overtourism-and-the-climate-crisis, us-news/climate-crisis-in-the-american-west, us-news/series/climate-countdown, world/series/an-impossible-choice-the-pacific-climate-crisis, environment/the-forgotten-climate-change-crises, news/series/australia-v-the-climate, environment/series/the-last-chance, global-development-professionals-network/series/climate-change-defining-moments, campaign/callout/us-callout-west-coast-diy-climate-crisis-solutions, combating-the-climate-crisis/combating-the-climate-crisis, environment/series/climate-change-too-hot-to-handle, environment/series/climate-changed, us-news/series/climate-change-in-the-us--the-dangers-and-the-solutions, us-news/series/the-climate-report-trump-tried-to-bury |
| EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | environment/flooding, environment/sea-ice, environment/sea-level, environment/sea-level-rise, environment/extreme-heat, environment/extreme-weather, australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2021, australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022, australia-news/north-queensland-floods-2023, australia-news/series/fire-flood-and-plague-essays-about-2020, campaign/callout/callout-canada-wildfires, campaign/callout/callout-corfu-wildfires, campaign/callout/callout-europe-wildfires, campaign/callout/callout-flooding-aftermath, campaign/callout/callout-flooding-uk-2024, campaign/callout/callout-flooding-uk-2024campaign/callout/callout-libya-flooding, campaign/callout/callout-greece-wildfires, campaign/callout/callout-hawaii-wildfires, campaign/callout/callout-libya-flooding, campaign/callout/callout-rhodes-and-corfu-wildfires, campaign/callout/callout-spain-flooding-october-2024, campaign/callout/callout-storm-and-flooding-california-feb-2024, campaign/callout/callout-storm-gerrit, floodalert/floodalert, uk-news/uk-floods-2014, us-news/california-drought, us-news/california-wildfires, us-news/colorado-wildfires, us-news/hurricane-harvey, us-news/hurricane-helene, us-news/hurricane-ian, us-news/hurricane-idalia, us-news/hurricane-irene, us-news/hurricane-isaac, us-news/hurricane-katrina, us-news/hurricane-laura, us-news/hurricane-michael, us-news/hurricane-milton, us-news/hurricane-sandy, us-news/hurricanegustav, world/hurricanes, world/indonesia-tsunami, world/indonesia-tsunami-december-2018, world/libya-flood-2023, world/pakistan-flood, world/series/after-the-tsunami, world/series/indus-river-journey-pakistan-after-the-floods, world/tornadoes, world/tsunami2004, world/tsunamis, world/wildfires, world/canada-wildfires, world/hurricane-dorian, world/hurricane-fiona, world/hurricane-florence, world/hurricane-irma, world/hurricane-jose, world/hurricane-maria, world/hurricane-matthew, world/hurricane-otto, us-news/us-wildfires, us-news/series/hurricane-katrina-10-years-on, us-news/oklahoma-city-tornado, campaign/callout/uk-callout-flooding-sept-2024, campaign/callout/uk-callout-living-in-a-flood-prone-area, campaign/callout/uk-callout-storm-darragh, campaign/callout/uk-callout-storm-eowyn, campaign/callout/us-callout-california-wildfires, campaign/callout/us-callout-hurricane-helene, campaign/callout/us-callout-hurricane-milton, campaign/callout/us-callout-winter-storm-blair, campaign/callout/callout-what-we-lost-to-the-flood, campaign/callout/callout-uk-farmers-and-flooding, campaign/callout/callout-storm-isha, environment/drought, environment/series/the-floods, global-development/series/2004-indian-ocean-tsunami-10-years-on, environment/poles, environment/series/the-rising-ocean, news/series/weatherwatch |
| CLIMATE_POLICY | australia-news/australia-cop-21-climate-conference-paris, environment/global-climate-talks, environment/cop-20-un-climate-change-conference-lima, environment/cop-21-un-climate-change-conference-paris, environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021, environment/cop27, environment/cop28, environment/green-politics, environment/ipcc, climate-summit/climate-summit, environment/climate-aid, environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent, environment/committee-on-climate-change, environment/sustainable-development, environment/carbon-tax, environment/corporatesocialresponsibility, greendeal/greendeal |
| UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | artanddesign/once-upon-a-forest, campaign/callout/callout-bird-of-the-year-poll, campaign/callout/callout-new-zealand-birds-and-cats, environment/series/birdwatch, environment/series/nature-heroes, environment/series/the-truth-about-sharks, environment/series/top-10-uk-bird-songs, environment/series/urban-wildlife, environment/series/view-from-the-amazon, environment/series/weekinwildlife, environment/series/wildlife-on-your-doorstep, environment/wild-flowers, film/nocturnal-animals, lifeandstyle/series/discover-nature, lifeandstyle/series/houseplant-of-the-week, lifeandstyle/series/how-does-your-garden-grow, science/series/mystery-bird, science/series/new-to-nature, theguardian/naturespotting, theguardian/naturespotting/animals, theguardian/urban-wildlife/urban-wildlife-a-spotter-s-guide, theobserver/naturespotting, travel/top-100-wildlife-holidays, travel/wildlifeholidays, tv-and-radio/nature-documentaries, tv-and-radio/science-and-nature-tv, world/animals, world/series/the-amazing-world-of-animals, world/series/the-amazing-world-of-animalsenvironment/nature-up, lifeandstyle/series/plant-of-the-week, technology/big-data, technology/data-visualisation, technology/digitalvideo, technology/e-government, technology/facial-recognition, technology/gadgets, technology/garmin, technology/hacking, technology/internet-safety, technology/xiaomi, technology/y2k, technology/yahoo-takeover, media-network/series/global-tech, media-network/series/next-gen-tech, media-network/series/open-data-economy, media-network/series/shop-talk, media-network/series/technology-in-retail, media-network/series/the-power-of-privacy, media-network/video-advertising, sport/australia-women-s-rugby-league-team, sport/australia-women-s-rugby-union-team, sport/australian-ball-tampering, sport/austria-womens-football-team, sport/bbc-sports-personality-of-the-year, sport/commonwealth-games-2018, sport/concussion-in-sport, sport/cricket-england-west-indies-2009, sport/diversity-in-cricket, sport/drugs-in-sport, sport/ecb, sport/england-netball-team, sport/wales-rugby-league-team, sport/wales-rugby-union-team, sport/wales-womens-rugby-union-team, sport/washington-nationals, sport/winter-paralympics-2014, sport/winter-paralympics-2022, sport/women-s-t20-world-cup, sport/women-s-t20-world-cup-2023, sport/womens-t20-world-cup-2024, sport/womens-world-t20-2020, business/series/eurozone-crisis-live, football/clubs-in-crisis, society/series/girls--mental-health-crisis, politics/series/a-crisis-of-democracy, australia-news/series/the-youth-gambling-crisis, campaign/callout/callout-marking-boycott-impact, sustainable-business/series/impact-digital-technology-on-children, campaign/callout/callout-impact-of-return-to-the-office, education/series/schoolgate, stage/cloud-gate-dance-theatre, fashion/new-york-fashion-week-autumn-winter-2011, film/a-history-of-violence, lifeandstyle/series/empire-of-drinks, money/series/thinking-about-money, music/series/best-music-of-2016, theguardian/quick-and-healthy-desserts, global-development/series/the-politics-of-gender, lifeandstyle/series/family-under-the-microscope-serieslifeandstyle/series/sleep--a-user-s-guide, science/susan-greenfield, travel/taiwan, world/series/french-elections-your-stories, media/sunday-world, media/world-press-photo-contest, media/worldcupthemedia, film/team-america-world-police, music/series/a-history-of-folk-and-world-music, music/series/new-music-from-around-the-world, theguardian/second-world-war/aftermath, theguardian/second-world-war/global-war, theguardian/second-world-war/liberation, theguardian/second-world-war/origins, world/bird-flu, us-news/opioids, travel/nashville, travel/netjetters2000sam, travel/new-south-wales, travel/newzealand, travel/offers/srilanka, travel/offers/zambia, travel/onyourbikeeasyrider, travel/onyourbikepedalpower, travel/pakistan, travel/palau, world/series/youngeamerica, world/southpacific, world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack, world/srilanka, world/the-war-logs, world/toronto-van-incident, world/trans-pacific-partnership, uk-news/series/brexit-one-year-to-go, travel/series/rail-journey-of-the-month, travel/series/readers-coronavirus-travel-questions, travel/series/road-trips-usa-east-coast, travel/series/road-trips-usa-pacific-coast, education/series/degree-apprenticeships-in-focus, education/series/degrees-that-make-a-difference, education/series/donyourway, education/series/early-career-researchers, education/series/edgeless-university, education/series/fitting-in, education/series/g2-student-special, campaign/email/fighting-back, campaign/email/green-light, campaign/email/house-to-home, campaign/email/morning-briefing, campaign/email/morning-mail, campaign/email/observed, campaign/email/observer-food, campaign/email/patriarchy, campaign/email/reclaim-your-brain, campaign/email/saturday-edition, campaign/email/the-fiver, business/goldmansachs, business/hewlettpackard, business/hospitality-industry, business/house-fraser, business/ian-livingston, business/iggroupholdings, business/infrastructure, business/institute-of-directors, business/j-sainsbury, business/jackson-hole-central-bank-summit, books/series/the-book-i-got-for-christmas, books/series/the-books-of-my-life, books/series/the-doorbells-of-florence, books/series/the-last-word, books/series/theweekinbooks, books/series/this-months-best-paperbacks, books/series/thrillers-of-the-month, books/series/voicesofprotest, books/series/what-i-m-thinking-about, books/series/whyiwrite, books/series/your-weekend-reading |
Notice: the link to each article is included in the id column. Simply prefix it with https://www.theguardian.com/ to get the full URL.
Citation
@inproceedings{ kurfali2025climateeval, title={ClimateEval: A Comprehensive Benchmark for {NLP} Tasks Related to Climate Change}, author={Murathan Kurfali and Shorouq Zahra and Joakim Nivre and Gabriele Messori}, booktitle={The 2nd Workshop of Natural Language Processing meets Climate Change}, year={2025}, url={https://openreview.net/forum?id=183GtY94tB} }
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