Blue & Green Daily: Friday 31 January 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.

Major philanthropic foundations add backing to fossil fuel divestment drive

Treasury looks to extend ISA reach to peer-to-peer finance and crowdfunding

Government has ‘two-faced attitude to fracking’, say campaigners

Lobbying bill will not increase transparency, say experts

In defence of the bench: why walkable cities are important

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January 31 headlines

Iran dismisses Barack Obama’s claims that sanctions prompted nuclear talks

Iran has said comments in Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech about how sanctions linked to its nuclear programme had forced Tehran to the negotiating table were “unrealistic and unconstructive”. Guardian.

Drug trafficking is speeding deforestation in Central America

A new report says that drug smuggling in Central America is rapidly increasing rates of deforestation. Remote forests in Honduras and Guatemala and being cut down to facilitate landing strips for the transportation of narcotics. BBC.

Britain needs more nuclear not fracking, says IEA

The UK should consider building more nuclear power plants and should not expect cheap energy prices to come from a US-style “revolution” in shale oil and gas, the world’s top energy forecaster has warned. Telegraph.

Royal Dutch Shell suspends Arctic drilling plans

Royal Dutch Shell is to suspend its controversial drilling in Arctic waters off Alaska as part of a multibillion-dollar scaling back of spending on new projects under Ben van Beurden, chief executive. A recent US appeals court decision led to the firm suspending plan for further exploration in the Chukchi Sea. Financial Times.

Penguins suffering from climate change, scientists say

Penguins are in peril because of extreme environmental conditions linked to climate change, research has shown. Two new studies highlight the plight of penguin colonies trying to cope with the effects of global warming in Argentina and Antarctica. Guardian.

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Interesting picks

Renewables could make farms financially viable – Green Futures

Taiji – Japan’s dolphin slaughter continues – Ecologist

Global warming continues and won’t be stropped by wishful thinking – Guardian

City Diary: Church of England sees light over fracking – Telegraph

While politicians argue, the Big Six are harming the UK’s energy future – Telegraph