PLANET IN PERIL

Manitoba Co-Operator PinP photo Efficiencies in cattle production and feeding have allowed Canada’s beef industry to produce the same weight in beef as 30 years ago with smaller breeding herds, less land — and smaller greenhouse gas (GHG) output. More hear.

National Observer Pipe stored on a railway siding in Manitoba. PinP photo. British Columbia has put its foot down on Kinder Morgan’s controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion . More here.

BloombergBusiness Canada plans to formally ban oil tanker traffic on the northern coast of British Columbia, adding another hurdle to Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline proposal. Story here.

Report from WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division highlights progress  GENEVA/NEW YORK, 12 November 2015  – Maternal mortality has fallen by 44% since 1990, United Nations agencies and the World Bank Group reported today. Maternal deaths around the world dropped from about 532 000 in 1990 to an estimated 303 000 this year, according to the report, the last in a series that has looked at progress under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  This equates to an estimated global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 216 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births, down from 385 in 1990.

theguardian In a country where only 40% of people have access to grid electricity, the government is looking to sunshine to power health centres and homes. Story here.

treehugger The material will soon be used by Boeing in airplanes and rockets to cut down on their weight, create more room within the fuselage and increase fuel efficiency. Story here.

CLIMATE PROGRESS The California Assembly has passed a bill that prompts the state’s public employee pension funds to divest from coal. Story here.

Manitoba Co-Operator Monsanto's MON810 is only GM crop grown in EU. Story here.

Wall Street Journal CALGARY—An oil industry consortium including Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC has suspended its Canadian arctic exploration program in the Beaufort Sea, citing insufficient time to begin test drilling before its lease expires in 2020.  Story here.

BBC News One of the UK's most threatened birds - the bittern - is returning to England and Wales, according to conservationists. Story here.

INTER PRESS SERVICE Renewable energy is at the forefront of the changes sweeping Africa, and a “triple win” is within the region’s grasp to increase agricultural productivity, improve resilience to climate change, and contribute to long-term reductions in dangerous carbon emissions. Story here. 

Winnipeg Free Press GREENVILLE, N.C. - Duke Energy has pleaded guilty in federal court to environmental crimes and agreed to pay $102 million in fines and restitution for illegally discharging pollution from coal-ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants. Story here.

CBC News Restrictions on beekeeping getting in the way of Fort Garry Hotel's plans for 5 rooftop hives, hotel says. Story here.

The Guardian  It is the largest fund globally to make such a commitment. Story here. 

Flood Control, Water Quality, Carbon Storage,  Wildlife to Benefit:  Minister Mackintosh Photo credit - Town of Gladstone.  A Lake Manitoba wetland about five times the size of Birds Hill Park called Big Grass Marsh has been donated by the municipalities of Lakeview and Westbourne for conservation, making this the largest such land donation in the province’s history, Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today.  This is the largest conservation agreement of its kind in Canada.

Canadian Press CALGARY - Southern Alberta ranchers have banded together to preserve a huge swath of almost untouched native grassland that some call a prairie Serengeti. Story here.

Manitoba Co-Operator Bee mortality in Manitoba varied greatly from region to region last winter, but most honey producers saw improvements. Story here. P in P photo.

The Boston Globe WASHINGTON (AP) — Earth’s protective but fragile ozone layer is beginning to recover, largely because of the phase-out since the 1980s of certain chemicals used in refrigerants and aerosol cans, a U.N. scientific panel reported Wednesday in a rare piece of good news about the health of the planet. Story here.

People for Glyphosate Testing A "crop-duster" sprays chemical on a GMO crop in Manitoba, CA. (PinP photo) The Séralini study on the long-term effects of GMOs and glyphosate has been republished in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe. Story here.

While talk of jobs and economy have reverberated through the media coverage of our Premiere’s recent throne speech, the province’s significant protected areas announcement has yet to draw the attention it deserves. With the recent discovery of hugely significant polar bear denning areas near Manitoba’s Hudson Bay coast, the province announced a plan to begin consultation on the creation of a provincial park to protect these iconic animals.