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Energy secretary seeks to reestablish UK as a global leader on the climate crisis with meeting of Cop presidents
Labour will honour a pledge of £11.6bn in overseas aid for the climate crisis, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told an unusual meeting of Cop presidents past and present on Friday, as he sought to re-establish the UK at the heart of international climate discussions.
As the Labour government prepares for this year’s climate-emergency summit in November, Miliband hosted Mukhtar Babayev, the Azerbaijan government minister who will lead Cop29, and Ana Toni, the top official on the climate for Brazil, which will host Cop30 in the Amazonian city of Belem in 2025 in a meeting to discuss what steps are needed to make a success of the next two UN climate Cops, as the “conferences of the parties” under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change are known.
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Farne Islands, Northumberland: A school trip across the waves made me feel seasick, but it was worth it
A gust of wind flew at me and the water soaked me, leaving a strong taste of salt on my tongue. The day was only beginning, but I was starting to feel seasick, and I was regretting my desire to be standing on a ship’s bow with the waves beneath me.
No one really expected to see puffins or seals when my school announced we would be going on a boat tour, but I decided to make it my mission to see both. Once on the ship, as promised we saw a lot of birds on the rocky coasts around us – guillemot, razorbill and kittiwake.
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National Whale and Dolphin Watch organisers say data collected will help with research into marine mammals
Hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts are expected to gather along UK coastlines over the next 10 days to count and record whales and dolphins.
The National Whale and Dolphin Watch, taking place from 26 July to 4 August, is hosted by the Sea Watch Foundation and aims to get volunteers to observe and record sightings of the UK’s most impressive marine mammals.
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Communities affected by construction of renewable energy infrastructure ‘have the right to see the benefits’
Labour will seek to persuade people living near proposed pylon routes and other renewable energy infrastructure that the developments are critical to bring down bills and tackle carbon emissions, the energy secretary said.
Ed Miliband promised to consider new benefits for communities affected by the construction of renewable energy infrastructure, and community ownership of the assets, which could include onshore windfarms and solar farms.
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Connection found between early exposure and bronchitic symptoms in adults without previous lung problems
Air pollution breathed in during childhood is one of the factors in adult lung health, according to a new study.
The origins of the study date back to 1992 when researchers began investigating the effects of air pollution on groups of children in California. Some of these children are now in their 40s.
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Organisers hope dogs will mimic behaviour of wolves that in past would have helped disperse wildflower seeds
Backpack-wearing dogs are being enlisted to “act like wolves” to help rewild an urban nature reserve in the East Sussex town of Lewes.
Before wolves were persecuted to extinction in the UK in about 1760, they were known to roam large areas, typically covering 12 miles (20km) or more each night.
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Defining nature as separate from people perpetuates troubled relationship with the natural world, say campaigners
It was last year, during a conference at the Eden Project, the botanic garden and conservation centre in Cornwall, that Frieda Gormley first heard the dictionary definition of nature.
The businesswoman and environmental activist was answering questions about her plans to appoint a representative of nature to the board of her company, House of Hackney, when a member of the audience read it out.
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Changes include converting Bentleys to run on biofuels but helicopter use shows difficulties in balancing priorities
A pair of gas-guzzling Bentleys are not the most obvious candidates to burnish the monarch’s green credentials. But news that King Charles is converting his chauffeur-driven luxury vehicles to run on biofuels was this week billed as a small step in a bigger plan to reduce emissions – perhaps the equivalent of lesser mortals separating paper from plastic in the weekly rubbish.
“The two existing state Bentleys will undergo refurbishment in the coming year to enable them to run on biofuel,” said Sir Michael Stevens, the keeper of the privy purse, adding that it was an interim measure in advance of “the next generation of state vehicles being fully electrified” and part of a “wider plan to make a significant impact on our carbon emissions in the years ahead”.
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Andy McCarthy went from town pariah – being spat on and having his shop vandalised – to employing hundreds of people
When Andy McCarthy moved to the heart of Victoria’s coal country in 2010 to start selling rooftop solar panels he was greeted with “open ridicule”.
But as his Gippsland Solar firm began “having a few wins and making a bit of a splash”, the response on the streets in the Latrobe Valley towns of Morwell and Traralgon, and especially the local footy field, took on a more menacing tone.
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Many companies such as Chipotle and McDonald’s are seeing profits jump as they continue raising prices, an analysis finds
As inflation shot to its peak around mid-2022, Chipotle’s prices also rose, pushing up what customers paid for burritos and bowls by as much as several dollars. Since then, the fast casual restaurant’s costs have broadly fallen. Prices have not.
Chipotle’s decision to maintain high prices helped boost profits 110% in recent years, while its executives boasted to investors that they raised prices higher than inflationary costs.
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