-
Consultation proposes reducing pollutants, including particulates from wood burners and ammonia from farms – but does little to tackle diesel emissions
A new clean air strategy published by the UK government has been criticised as “hugely disappointing” by the Labour party. Other groups said it did little to tackle the dirty diesel vehicles that are the main source of toxic air in urban areas.
The new strategy, announced on Tuesday by environment secretary, Michael Gove, aims to crack down on a wide range of pollutants. These include particulates from wet wood and coal burning in homes, ammonia emissions from farms and dust from vehicle tyres and brakes.
Continue reading...
-
Groundbreaking assessment of all life on Earth reveals humanity’s surprisingly tiny part in it as well as our disproportionate impact
Humankind is revealed as simultaneously insignificant and utterly dominant in the grand scheme of life on Earth by a groundbreaking new assessment of all life on the planet.
The world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things, according to the study. Yet since the dawn of civilisation, humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants, while livestock kept by humans abounds.
Continue reading...
-
Exclusive: UK capital has the most expensive public transport, second-worst air quality and is one of most dangerous to walk and cycle, study of 13 EU cities reveals
London is trailing behind other major European capitals in its effort to create a clean, affordable and safe transport system, according to a new report.
The study of 13 EU cities found London has the second worst air quality after Moscow, as well as the most expensive public transport and the highest number of cycling accidents.
Continue reading...
-
Scores of retailer’s own-brand items will have no date label in drive to reduce food waste
Tesco will scrap “confusing” best before dates on nearly 70 fresh fruit and vegetable products in its latest move to reduce food waste.
Shoppers will no longer find date labels on some of the retailer’s own-brand apples, potatoes, tomatoes, lemons and onions, which it hopes will prevent them from being thrown away while still edible.
Continue reading...
-
They are fluttering down catwalks and even appeared at the royal wedding, but for some activists all feathers are stolen property – whether or not they involve cruelty
The red carpet has been a hotbed of sartorial protest this year, with influential people opting to express their politics through their wardrobe. But as many celebrities scramble for the moral high ground, some controversial guests have slipped under the radar. They go by a few names – marabou, ostrich, peacock – and accompanied Angelina Jolie to the Critics’ Choice awards, Lupita Nyong’o to the Cannes film festival and Katy Perry to the Met Gala.
Yes, feathers are suddenly everywhere again – not only in the wardrobes of glossy style icons, but also on embellished fascinators (as worn by the Duchess of Cornwall at the royal wedding) and in a sizeable proportion of the nation’s pillows, parkas and duvets. Yet, in some quarters, there is a growing discomfort with them.
Continue reading...
-
Government urged to take steps to reduce the impact of toxic air on vulnerable children
Clean-air campaigners have written to the government calling for a ban on parents driving their children to school in an attempt to cut down on toxic levels of air pollution.
Environmental groups and medics warn that pollution from the school run is having a serious impact on young people’s health.
Continue reading...
-
Biomass-burning unit to use pioneering technology that aims to cut emissions
Drax Group will lead a £400,000 trial to capture and store carbon at its north Yorkshire power station in an attempt to kickstart a technology that has repeatedly failed to get off the ground in the UK.
The company was part of earlier efforts to build a £1bn prototype carbon capture coal plant, but pulled out in 2015 after it missed out on renewable energy subsidies. Now the firm will try again with a pioneering form of the technology, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), to cut emissions from one of its four biomass-burning units. Experts believe the project is a world first.
Continue reading...
-
Tanzanian government accused of putting indigenous people at risk in order to grant foreign tourists access to Serengeti wildlife
The Tanzanian government is putting foreign safari companies ahead of Maasai herding communities as environmental tensions grow on the fringes of the Serengeti national park, according to a new investigation.
Hundreds of homes have been burned and tens of thousands of people driven from ancestral land in Loliondo in the Ngorongoro district in recent years to benefit high-end tourists and a Middle Eastern royal family, says the report by the California-based thinktank the Oakland Institute.
Continue reading...
-
The ‘Jilamito Five’ are the latest to be caught up in battles over land and natural resources, that have seen more than 130 defenders killed since 2009
The suspects pray together on a concrete podium opposite the courthouse where they face criminal charges. Their alleged misdemeanour: “land invasion” during a protest against the construction of a dam. A guilty verdict could bring a jail term of up to four years.
If that seems harsh, then it’s because this is Honduras, where hundreds have been jailed and scores killed for environmental activism over the past decade. The accused – a teacher, hardware-store owner, farmers and the newly elected municipal mayor – are opposed to a dam on the Jilamito river in the tropical region of Atlántida. The authorities are hoping a prosecution will enable them to clear a makeshift community blockade in the remote hilly pastures so construction can begin.
Continue reading...
-
Latest ambush worst attack to date at home to world’s largest population of mountain gorillas
Five rangers and a driver have been killed in an ambush in Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
A sixth ranger was injured in the attack on Monday that took place in the central section of the vast reserve, known globally for its population of rare mountain gorillas.
Continue reading...
