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The prime minister’s ‘build, build, build’ strategy could harm habitats and reduce wildlife protection, critics warn

The British countryside and its wildlife are at serious risk because of Boris Johnson’s pledge to revolutionise the planning system, leading green groups warn today.

In a joint letter to theObserver, the organisations, which include the National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Wildlife Trusts, say wide-scale deregulation leading to lower environmental standards and less protection would be a betrayal of promises by Johnson and Michael Gove to deliver a “green Brexit”.

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Attack happened about 2pm on Saturday afternoon while man was diving off Indian Head

A man has died after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing off Queensland’s Fraser Island.

The attack happened about 2pm on Saturday while the Sunshine Coast man, 36, was diving off Indian Head on the eastern side of the island.

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Restoration work and wet winter have led to an explosion of colour and an increase in birds

A well known piece of the British landscape that had become depleted of flora and fauna because of years of intensive farming is alive with wildflowers, butterflies and birds this summer.

Since the National Trust acquired fields on top of the white cliffs of Dover two and half years ago after a £1m national appeal championed by Dame Vera Lynn, it has worked to restore the area to rich grassland.

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The American environment and energy commentator’s piece in the Australian has found praise in conservative media

Few things engage a particular subset of conservative media more than an environmentalist having an apparent change of heart and dumping all over the “climate scare”.

Earlier this week, the Australian newspaper ran an opinion piece that fitted this narrative so perfectly that room was found on its front page.

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Former reality TV contestants promise ‘instant and long lasting hot water’ in campaign by gas company Jemena

The natural gas giant Jemena has defended paying Instagram influencers, including former contestants of The Block, Married at First Sight and other reality TV shows, to promote the fossil fuel in social media posts.

The #GoNaturalGas campaign from the Chinese and Singaporean-owned Jemena, which manages key natural gas pipelines around and out of Australia, appears to have been running for two years online, and comes amid concern liquified natural gas could be as bad for the environment as coal.

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Independent advice body says minister should be given emergency powers to protect habitat after natural disasters

Australia has not updated a register of habitat critical for the protection of threatened species for 15 years, prompting experts to call for it to be strengthened to protect more types of land.

An independent scientific body that advises the government on threatened species also says the environment minister should be given emergency powers to protect habitat after natural disasters.

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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

EUAs recovered from an early drop on Friday for the second straight day, moving back towards this week's 11-month high above €28 as buying remained incessant and largely unexplainable by traders despite more bearish news.

The EU must start paying attention to research and development for CO2 removal methods if it wants to reach its climate neutrality target, a study presented on Thursday found.

In the latest edition of our Carbon Pulse Conversations podcast, we chat with Eduardo Piquero, general director of Mexico City-based environmental consultancy MexiCO2, regarding carbon pricing developments at the national and subnational level in Mexico.

Switzerland has proposed introducing a reverse charge mechanism for VAT on more types of emissions trading in an effort to prevent tax fraud.

The PM is accused of inventing an allegation that wildlife rules are holding back house-building.

The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including a hatching crocodile and Mexican grey wolf cubs

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The European Commission on Friday launched the first call for projects under the Innovation Fund, after the timeline for auctioning the initial 50 million EUAs to finance the scheme was released this week.

Company convicted of trying to export used nappies and other contaminated materials illegally

One of the UK’s biggest waste firms has lost a case in the court of appeal to overturn a criminal conviction for exporting dirty waste to China.

The Environment Agency, which brought a successful criminal prosecution a year ago against Biffa Waste Services Ltd, which was convicted of trying to send used nappies and other contaminated materials illegally to China, welcomed Friday’s ruling and said exports of this kind of illegal waste “blighted the lives and environment of people overseas”.

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The UK helps rescue company from bankruptcy as part of a plan to replace the EU's Galileo sat-nav system.

The German Parliament’s lower chamber voted on Friday to pass a sweeping act signalling the end of coal power in the country by 2038 and teeing up the cancellation of EUAs to offset the impact.

Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.

Scottish court rules that environmental group defied court order banning the protest

Greenpeace has been fined £80,000 after a Scottish court found it guilty of the “wilful defiance” of a court order banning it from occupying a North Sea oil rig.

Lady Wolffe, sitting in the court of session in Edinburgh, said Greenpeace UK had deliberately broken an interdict, or injunction, against occupying a platform owned by the US contractor Transocean in June 2019.

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Frequency of heatwaves and cumulative intensity has risen through the decades, research finds

Heatwaves have increased in both length and frequency in nearly every part of the world since the 1950s, according to what is described as the first study to look at the issue at a regional level.

The study found the escalation in heatwaves varied around the planet, with the Amazon, north-eastern Brazil, west Asia (including parts of the subcontinent and central Asia) and the Mediterranean all experiencing more rapid change than, for example, southern Australia and north Asia. The only inhabited region where there was not a trend was in the central United States.

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