Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Researchers hope restoring the original song will improve breeding prospects for birds released into the wild Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Scientists have rescued the lost song of the critically endangered regent honeyeater – one of Australia’s rarest birds. Regent honeyeaters were once seen in vast flocks across south-eastern Australia, with a distribution that ranged from Queensland to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Continue reading...

Olivier De Schutter says new economic agenda needed to tackle crises of rising inequality and ecological collapse The global economy must be reordered to ensure it serves ordinary people around the world rather than the “frivolous and destructive demands of the ultra-rich”, according to a leading UN figure. Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, says politicians must stop prioritising “socially and ecologically destructive growth” that only increases the profits – and serves the consumption demands – of the world’s richest individuals and corporations. Continue reading...

Google, Microsoft and Amazon among companies using algorithms and AI to influence what crops are grown and how, say critics Tech companies and industrial agriculture are “playing with the food system” by using AI and algorithms to undermine farmers in choosing what the world eats, leading food security experts have warned. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and Alibaba are working with industrial agriculture firms to influence what crops are grown and how, according to a report by the thinktank International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Schemes worth hundreds of millions of pounds to protect biodiversity and oceans likely to be substantially reduced UK programmes to protect nature and the climate in developing countries are suffering swingeing budget cuts despite ministers’ promises, the Guardian has learned. The cuts belie the government’s claims to be fulfilling international obligations on climate finance and are veiled behind a system that experts have criticised as opaque. The cutting and partial closure of the £100m Biodiverse Landscapes Fund, intended to protect nature in vital ecosystems in poor regions overseas. Six regions were originally targeted, in Africa, South America and Asia, but this has been reduced to two. Coast – a project for Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition – and Pact (Prepare and Accelerate Climate Transitions) are having substantial cuts. The future of the £500m Blue Planet Fund has been thrown into doubt despite its successful operation. Other schemes have been reduced in scope, for instance by allowing only one year’s funding where years were expected. Requests for data under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed spending has been slashed among the departments responsible for international climate finance (ICF). Continue reading...