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Letter says bioenergy is wrongly deemed ‘carbon neutral’ and contributes to wildlife loss
More than 650 scientists are urging world leaders to stop burning trees to make energy because it destroys valuable habitats for wildlife.
In the buildup to Cop15, the UN biodiversity summit, they say countries urgently need to stop using forest bioenergy to create heat and electricity as it undermines international climate and nature targets. Instead, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar should be used, they say.
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Also under fire for sewage discharges and executive pay, company makes first-half profits of almost £500m
Thames Water has reported a boom in first-half profits to almost £500m, despite a surge in the number of burst pipes during the drought across the UK over the summer.
The company, which instituted a hosepipe ban from August to September amid the summer heatwave, said the rise in leakage and supply interruptions due to mains bursting was the result of “hot weather and dry ground”.
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A million animal and plant species are perilously close to extinction. Their fate and ours are intimately connected
In an essay entitled The Sense of Wonder, the American conservationist Rachel Carson suggested two questions to make us think more deeply about our natural environment. “What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?”
Published in 1955, Carson’s call to mindfulness was influential in the burgeoning postwar environmental movement. But despite campaigners’ best efforts, the sense of jeopardy lurking within her second question is now acute. Wild animal populations are declining annually by about 2.5% as a result of habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, climate change, overfishing and overhunting. Since 1970, overall numbers are down by 69%. Livestock and the human beings who farm them now account for 96% of all the mammals on Earth. The Sumatran tiger, the Bornean orangutan and the hellbender salamander are among the million animal and plant species judged perilously close to extinction.
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Young birdwatchers Mya and Arjun feel the pressure of climate breakdown and the biodiversity crisis. As two reserved teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, they find comfort in birdwatching while being distant from their peers. Fascinated by migratory patterns, Mya spends her time searching for rare bird species, while Arjun is captivated by the beauty of birdsong. As their passion for nature inspires them to raise awareness of conservation and the climate emergency in their communities, they find themselves and their voices, emerging as local leaders among a new generation of conservationists
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Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire: The pavements here are slick with rain, and wood smoke drifts from chimneys as the cold begins to bite
Little remains above ground of the castle which gave the town its name, but the roots run deeply across the northern end of the settlement. Around a community garden, a few low lines of masonry mark where the ramparts once stood. In the streets below, the story is preserved in the alignment of lanes and steep, cobbled passages.
The pavements are still slick from the earlier rain, and wood smoke drifts from chimneys as the cold of late afternoon begins to bite. The narrow High Street morphs into Church Street as the road makes long, sinuous curves between the mix of small shops and houses – leading down to the squat Norman tower of St John’s church.
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The unloved waterway that winds its way to the Thames has a staunch defender. Paul Powlesland has spent five years calling out polluters and keeping footpaths open – sometimes with the law, mostly with his bare hands
The last yellow sycamore leaves spin downwards as vast beds of reeds whisper in the wind. An ancient oak stretches huge branches across the glinting water and, for a moment, London’s third biggest river looks as graceful as it did two centuries ago.
Then my walk with Paul Powlesland on the banks of the River Roding collides with contemporary Britain. There is a tributary, sending a steady trickle of sewage into the main channel. A flashy new block of riverside flats, failing to provide residents with any greenery or way to access the river. Further along, heaps of fly-tipped rubbish and the recent relics of camps created by desperate people without homes: mouldering mattresses, discarded needles and excrement.
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President’s predecessor Bolsonaro unleashed record destruction and emboldened loggers, land grabbers and illegal miners
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s narrow victory over President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s October elections was hailed as the potential salvation of the Amazon, after four years of unbridled destruction which have brought the rainforest close to a tipping point, threatening the very survival of the Indigenous populations whose lives depend upon it.
Lula has vowed to reverse the environmental destructionwreaked under his far-right predecessor and work towards zero deforestation by tackling crime in the Amazon and guaranteeing the protection of Indigenous rights. But the president-elect, who takes office on 1 January 2023, faces an uphill battle to meet these big promises he has made to the Brazilian people and the international community.
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Exclusive: Dave Lewis, chair of startup hoping to provide 8% of Britain’s energy, tells how political turmoil has delayed undersea cable project
An £18bn project to connect Britain with a huge wind and solar farm in the Sahara through an undersea cable has been delayed by at least a year because of political ructions in Westminster.
The energy startup Xlinks hopes to provide 8% of Britain’s electricity supplies through a 3,800km (2,360-mile) cable linking Morocco with the UK, powering 7m homes by 2030.
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The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
We have a well-stocked bird feeder in the garden like many other people, and this makes me think: what do birds do with their spare time if they don’t have to spend so much time looking for wild food any more? Lily Pauls
Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them tonq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday.
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Business bosses ‘confused and disappointed’ by PM’s lack of growth plan in face of recession
Rishi Sunak’s government is “going backwards” on building a greener economy and lacks a growth plan to soften the blow from recession, the head of the UK’s leading business lobby group has said.
Tony Danker, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said the prime minister’s lack of ambition for the low-carbon economy was leaving business bosses “confused and disappointed” after the progress made under Boris Johnson.
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