Blue & Green Daily: Friday 28 February headlines

Blue & Green Daily finds and summarises the top sustainability stories around the web every morning. We start with our own picks from Blue & Green Tomorrow.

Owen Paterson should get with the conservation programme

Fairtrade Fortnight and the environment: fair is the new green

Report welcomes progress as nearly 500 climate change laws pass globally

Scotland ‘on the cusp’ of establishing world’s first ethical finance hub

HS2: government assessment has ‘inaccuracies and omissions’, say conservationists

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28 February headlines

RBS shares fall after biggest loss since financial crisis

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have fallen sharply after the troubled company reported its biggest annual loss since being rescued by the UK government during the financial crisis. Its shares closed down 7.7%, the biggest fall in 18 months. BBC.

Now the two most famous scientific institutions in Britain and the US agree: ‘Climate change is more certain than ever’

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time and the indisputable warming of the world over the past century is largely the result of human activities, according to the two most famous science bodies in Britain and the United States. Independent.

Scotland could ‘go it alone’: Standard & Poor’s

The Scottish economy would face “significant, but not unsurpassable” challenges, if it were to separate from the rest of the UK, according to analysis by Standard and Poor’s. The ratings agency said it would expect Scotland to “benefit from all the attributes of an investment-grade sovereign credit“ due to its “wealthy economy”. Telegraph.

Social cost of carbon figure too low to reflect harms

The Obama administration relied on outdated science that produced a social cost of carbon figure that is too conservative, environmental groups have said. The figures, which are used to calculate the climate impact of proposed actions, have yet include the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change data. Bloomberg.

England and Wales hit by wettest winter in nearly 250 years

England and Wales have experience their wettest winter since records began in 1776, the Met Office has said. Parts of southern England, which has been hit by severe flooding affecting homes, farmland and critical rail links, experience 83% more rain than average. Guardian.

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Interesting picks

Is the BBC becoming the UK version of Fox News on global warming? – Guardian

Fairtrade bananas: Why we need to think green about our favourite fruit – Metro

Millennials use finance to challenge universities’ fossil fuel addiction – Guardian