Environmental News

Fall in amount of carbon absored by rainforest means even greater cuts to manmade emissions are needed to combat climate change, warn scientists. The amount of carbon the Amazon’s remaining trees removed from the atmosphere fell by almost a third last decade, leading scientists to warn that manmade carbon emissions would need to be cut…

A project to create the UK’s first dedicated hedgehog conservation area is being launched, as part of efforts to reverse declines in populations of the prickly creature.

The operator of Scotland’s largest petrochemical plant at Grangemouth will run an information programme promoting shale gas. The operator of Scotland’s largest petrochemical plant at Grangemouth has started a community consultation process in a bid to gain support for fracking.

As progressive institutions, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust should commit to taking their money out of the companies that are driving global warming, says the Guardian’s editor-in-chief as he launches our climate campaign The world has much more coal, oil and gas in the ground than it can safely burn. That much is physics.

The University of Oxford will decide whether to pull out of its investments in coal and oil sands later. Students have been campaigning on the issue for over a year because scientists say burning the world’s coal will result in reckless risks to the climate. It is part of a global movement for public organisations…

Divestment campaigners disappointed as world’s richest sovereign fund had earlier dumped coal companies. The world’s richest sovereign wealth fund increased its stake in major oil and gas companies to £20bn in 2014, disappointing campaigners who argue it should continue to sell off its investments in the fossil fuels that drive climate change. Norway’s Government Pension…

Swiss researchers have discovered how chameleons accomplish their vivid colour changes: they rearrange the crystals inside specialised skin cells. It was previously suggested that the reptiles’ famous ability came from gathering or dispersing coloured pigments inside different cells. But the new results put it down to a “selective mirror” made of crystals.

As environmentalist Bill McKibben lays out the case for divesting from coal, oil and gas companies, we examine some of the popular myths around fossil fuel divestment 1. Divestment from fossil fuels will result in the end of modern civilisation It is true that most of today’s energy, and many useful things such as plastics…

Governments, including the UK, are allowing energy industry representatives to help draw up Europe’s air quality limits resulting in proposed standards on coal plant emissions that are weaker than China’s, claim the campaign group. New limits on air pollution in Europe have been watered down because governments are allowing some of the worst polluters to…

Sir David King says green technology deserves as much attention as being given to details of negotiations for Paris. Green technology should be as much a focus of tackling climate change as the United Nations negotiations leading up to a crunch conference in Paris this December, the UK’s top foreign office adviser on climate said…