Blue & Green Daily: Monday 20 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 over the weekend.

Urbanisation is only evil if we forget our duty to the environment

We need to question what bankers are being rewarded for

The myth of renewable energy ‘intermittency’

Shell’s profits tumble amid pursuit for Arctic oil

Vivienne Westwood calls for ecocide law

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20 January headlines

European Greens consider challenge to UK tax breaks for shale gas

European Greens threaten legal fight under state aid rule as UK holds out against renewable energy target for the EU. Ministers have offered tax breaks to shale gas companies, and incentives to local communities to encourage them to accept drilling in their area. Guardian.

Extreme El Nino events could double over the next 100 years, climate experts warn

Extreme versions of the El Nino weather phenomenon – which can bring torrential rains and flooding to one part of the world and catastrophic drought and forest fires to another – could double in frequency in the next 100 years because of global warming, a study has found. Independent.

Tidal energy: Pentland Firth ‘could power half of Scotland’

The Pentland Firth could provide enough renewable energy to power about half of Scotland, according to research. To fully exploit the opportunity the study added turbines would need to be placed across the entire width of the channel, which has some of the fasted tidal currents in the UK. BBC.

CO2 emissions are being ‘outsourced’ by rich countries to rising economies

Greenhouse gas output of China and elsewhere is increased by making goods that are then used in the US and Europe, according to a leaked document from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It adds that carbon emission grew twice as fast in the first decade of the 21^st century as they did during the previous three decades. Guardian.

Recovery likely to widen wealth gap between London and regions

The economic chasm between London and the rest of the UK is likely to persist even as the recovery takes hold in the regions, economists have warned. They added that London’s economic performance and its appeal as a target for investment has bred resentment elsewhere in the country. Financial Times.

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Interesting picks

How the Green Deal turned into the green disaster – Guardian

A supply-side face-off in oil – Financial Times

Country diary: volunteering saves our countryside – Telegraph

Our future must be ethically invested – Herald Scotland

The fractious future of fracking – Telegraph