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The Guardian view on Europe’s troubled green deal: make the case, not concessions | Editorial
Leaders need to persuade others of the need for environmental measures rather than capitulate in the face of political headwinds
Last month, a survey of public opinion in Germany, France and Poland found that a majority in each country would support more ambitious policies to tackle the climate emergency. The same study also found unexpectedly widespread support for pan-European action linking green goals to other priorities such as economic security. Who knew, at a time when warnings of a popular “green backlash” are rife?
Unfortunately, Europe’s politicians are now on a very different page. Rattled by farmers’ protests – which radical-right parties have swiftly co-opted as a new front in their culture wars – Brussels and national governments have been busily sounding a disorderly, panicked retreat on environmental targets. Since the turn of the year, the U-turns and capitulations have come thick and fast.
Continue reading...After I Lost My Son, I Realized I Needed to Stop Looking for Closure
PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Pervasive in Water Worldwide, Study Finds
They Came From Outer Space. Now, They’re Going Into Hiding.
The Invasive Species Debate Is Not Always Simple
US meat lobby delighted at ‘positive’ prospects for industry after Cop28
Livestock bosses celebrate outcome at online summit, while critics condemn failure to tackle meat and dairy consumption
Lobbyists for the world’s biggest meat companies have lauded a better than expected outcome at Cop28, which they say left them “excited” and “enthusiastic” for their industry’s prospects.
US livestock bosses reflected on the conference’s implication for their sector on a virtual panel, fresh from “sharing US agriculture’s story” at the climate summit in December.
Campaigners and climate scientists had hoped the summit, which was billed as a “Food Cop” because of its focus on farming, would result in governments agreeing to ambitious action to transform food systems in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
The Challenge of Hiking Up Mount Whitney in California
Today we are getting an update on the Great Barrier Reef. No I don’t want to either | First Dog on the Moon
Slowing anthropogenic climate change is the ONLY thing that will save the reef
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World Bank’s funding of ‘hog hotel’ factory farms under fire over climate effect
Environmental and animal welfare groups call on lender to phase out support for ‘industrial’ livestock operations
The private sector arm of the World Bank is facing claims that it contributes to global heating and the undermining of animal welfare by providing financial support for factory farming, including the building of pig farming tower blocks in China.
A coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups is calling on the World Bank to phase out financial support for large-scale “industrial” livestock operations. More than $1.6bn was provided for industrial farming projects between 2017 and 2023, according to an analysis by campaigners.
Continue reading...El petróleo de Guyana: ¿bendición o maldición?
Scientists confirm record highs for three most important heat-trapping gases
Global concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide climbed to unseen levels in 2023, underlining climate crisis
The levels of the three most important heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere reached new record highs again last year, US scientists have confirmed, underlining the escalating challenge posed by the climate crisis.
The global concentration of carbon dioxide, the most important and prevalent of the greenhouse gases emitted by human activity, rose to an average of 419 parts per million in the atmosphere in 2023 while methane, a powerful if shorter-lasting greenhouse gas, rose to an average of 1922 parts per billion. Levels of nitrous oxide, the third most significant human-caused warming emission, climbed slightly to 336 parts per billion.
Continue reading...¿Por qué hay tantos envases de plástico?
‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe
An unprecedented leap of 38.5C in the coldest place on Earth is a harbinger of a disaster for humans and the local ecosystem
On 18 March, 2022, scientists at the Concordia research station on the east Antarctic plateau documented a remarkable event. They recorded the largest jump in temperature ever measured at a meteorological centre on Earth. According to their instruments, the region that day experienced a rise of 38.5C above its seasonal average: a world record.
This startling leap – in the coldest place on the planet – left polar researchers struggling for words to describe it. “It is simply mind-boggling,” said Prof Michael Meredith, science leader at the British Antarctic Survey. “In sub-zero temperatures such a massive leap is tolerable but if we had a 40C rise in the UK now that would take temperatures for a spring day to over 50C – and that would be deadly for the population.”
Continue reading...Elmer and the climate crisis: lost story by David McKee set to be published
The late illustrator’s elephant hero is to star in a new ecological fable after the discovery of a rough manuscript and drawings
From the depths of his extraordinarily vibrant imagination, he famously conjured up Mr Benn, Not Now, Bernard, King Rollo and Elmer the patchwork elephant.
Now a manuscript and rough sketches for a new illustrated story about Elmer has been in the archive of the late British children’s author and illustrator David McKee. It will be published next year by his family.
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¿Por qué hay tantos envases de plástico?
Her Art Is at Odds With Museums, and Museums Can’t Get Enough
The week around the world in 20 pictures
The ongoing war in Gaza, an earthquake in Hualien, Holy Week in Havana and a tornado in Tennessee: the last seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing
Continue reading...Edinburgh international book festival announces ‘relaunch’ as sponsor row remains unresolved
New director Jenny Niven calls controversy over lead sponsor Baillie Gifford’s fossil fuel links ‘the nature of the beast’, but activists are still calling for authors to boycott the event
Before last summer’s Edinburgh international book festival (EIBF) had even begun, it was already the subject of a high-profile boycott and petition.
In July, Scottish investigative news site the Ferret calculated that the festival’s lead sponsor, investment management firm Baillie Gifford, had up to £5bn invested in companies profiting from fossil fuels. Days later, Greta Thunberg pulled out from her scheduled talk, accusing Baillie Gifford of greenwashing. Soon, more than 50 authors and event chairs including Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and Katherine Rundell had signed a letter calling on the company to stop investing in fossil fuel-linked businesses. If that demand wasn’t met, the group said that Edinburgh should find a new sponsor – and if it didn’t, authors should boycott the 2024 festival.
Continue reading...New York is suing the world’s biggest meat company. It might be a tipping point for greenwashing
Letitia James’s lawsuit accuses JBS of deceiving customers about being climate-friendly – and the implications could be far-reaching
When the office of the New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced that it would be suing the world’s largest meat company, JBS, for misleading customers about its climate commitments, it caused a stir far beyond the world of food. That’s because the suit’s impact has the potential to influence the approach all kinds of big businesses take in their advertising about sustainability, according to experts.
It’s just one in a string of greenwashing lawsuits being brought against large airline, automobile and fashion companies of late. “It’s been 20 years of companies lying about their environmental and climate justice impacts. And it feels like all of a sudden, from Europe to the US, the crackdown is beginning to happen,” said Todd Paglia, executive director of environmental non-profit Stand.earth. “I think greenwash[ing] is actually one of the pivotal issues in the next five years.”
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