Recent rules that require all new building and road projects in England to address and offset their impact on nature are excellent in principle but flawed in their implementation, leading environmental economists argue. In a new study experts criticize the implementation of the Biodiversity Net Gain policy which forces the majority of off-setting to occur within or near development sites rather than where it might most benefit biodiversity. Targeting offsets to locations best for biodiversity was found to double the conservation gains.
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/31/2024 - 11:41
10/31/2024 - 10:23
Campaigners say car park extension at Manningtree station inhibits access to Dedham Vale and threatens habitats
A commuter car park in Essex is to be one of the first test cases of whether the government will enforce new legislation aimed at protecting national parks and landscapes in England.
Dedham Vale is a designated “national landscape” on the border of Essex and Suffolk, home to increasingly rare species including hazel dormice and hedgehogs. Within it is Manningtree station, where the train operator Greater Anglia built an extension to the car park to cope with increased traffic.
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10/31/2024 - 10:09
African giant pouched rats trained to alert their handlers when they find illegally trafficked wildlife products
Rats could be the latest weapon deployed in the fight against endangered wildlife trafficking, according to a study of rodents trained to sniff out pangolin scales, rhino horns, elephant tusks and hardwood.
Researchers trained eight African giant pouched rats to sniff out the contraband, even when it was hidden among items commonly used to hide trafficked goods, including peanuts, leaves, wigs and washing powder.
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10/31/2024 - 08:26
Steve Reed’s letter to campaign groups ahead of demonstration met with anger from those who say he has ignored the key issue of privatisation
The environment secretary has caused a backlash among groups demanding an end to the pollution of rivers by water companies after a direct appeal ahead of a demonstration backfired. The intervention by Steve Reed, who wrote to activists saying they could trust him with forging change within the water industry, was met with anger by campaigners who said he was avoiding the key issue – that water privatisation has failed.
In his letter to members from the 130 groups taking part in the March for Clean Water on Sunday, who include Surfers Against Sewage, the GMB union, the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB, Reed said he shared their anger about record levels of sewage pollution. He wished them a well-attended march and said he looked forward to working with them towards a shared ambition of cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas for good.
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10/31/2024 - 07:01
Levy that reduced usage by more than three-quarters in four years fell victim to rightwing culture wars, say critics
A tax that has reduced plastic bag consumption in Sweden by more than three-quarters in four years is being abolished on Friday, despite warnings that the move could lead to usage rising back towards previous levels.
Since the introduction of the 3 kroner (£0.21) tax in May 2020, plastic bag usage in the country has slumped. In 2019, before the levy was introduced, people in Sweden used an average of 74 plastic bags (15-50 micrometres thick) per person each year each. In 2023 that number had dropped to 17.
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10/31/2024 - 05:35
UK government offers undisclosed sum in compensation to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah for daughter’s untimely death
The mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate will receive an undisclosed settlement from the government in compensation for her daughter’s untimely death.
Settling a legal case, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care issued a statement expressing sincere condolences to the family of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, from south-east London, who had a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution.
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10/31/2024 - 04:29
Campaigners criticise fall in company’s investments in renewables as it reveals better than expected profits of $6bn in third quarter
Shell has called on the government to “provide certainty” over the future of the North Sea after the chancellor confirmed plans to toughen its windfall tax on oil and gas profits.
Rachel Reeves used Labour’s first budget in 14 years to raise the headline tax rate of the energy profits levy by 3 percentage points to 78% until 2030 and close the “loophole” left by the previous government that enabled fossil fuel producers to reduce their taxes through investment allowances.
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10/31/2024 - 03:00
It may be colourful but if it gets on your clothes you have to throw them away, says biologist Dr Joe Roman, who can’t get enough of the stuff, which is vital to support ocean biodiversity
I first encountered whale poop 30 years ago while I was working on a right whale research project. On one of my first days on the water, in the Bay of Fundy, in eastern Canada, we came upon a feeding male right whale with mud on its head – or bonnet – a sign that it had been feeding at the bottom of the bay. It had come up to breathe and rest.
Just before it dived in again, it released this enormous faecal plume.
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10/31/2024 - 02:55
At least 155 people have reportedly died with more rain forecast for the flood-hit region of Valencia
Death toll expected to rise amid anger over preparedness
People in Spain: have you been affected by flooding?
Experts have been giving their reaction to yesterday’s disaster - sounding a warning about our preparedness and ability to cope.
Extreme weather events are becoming more intense, are lasting longer and are occurring more frequently as a result of human-induced climate change, scientists say.
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10/31/2024 - 01:00
Fears raised that biodiversity summit not addressing countries’ failure to meet a single target to stem destruction of natural world
Governments risk another decade of failure on biodiversity loss, due to the slow implementation of an international agreement to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems, experts have warned.
Less than two years ago, the world reached a historic agreement at the Cop15 summit in Montreal to stop the human-caused destruction of life on our planet. The deal included targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade (30x30), reform $500bn (then £410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies, and begin restoring 30% of the planet’s degraded ecosystems.
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