Green Light: fracking curbs, monarch butterflies and beavers

Green news roundup: fracking curbs, monarch butterflies and beavers The week's top environment news stories and green events Environment editor theguardian.com, Wednesday 28 January 2015 11.10 EST Beavers living on the River Otter in Devon will be allowed to remain in the wild, if they prove free of disease. Photograph: Tom Buckley/Apex Environment news • Tories forced into U-turn on fast-track fracking after accepting Labour plans • Lancashire council defers Cuadrilla fracking decision • Prince Charles: global pact on climate change could be Magna Carta for Earth • Yes, we can live well and avoid climate disaster, says UK government • Monarch butterflies rebound but levels in Mexico still at near-record low • China coal production falls for first time this century • Climate change will hit Australia harder than rest of world, study shows • Relocation of animals could drive some species towards extinction – study On the blogs • Queensland election: Climate science denied and ignored • Why is so little attention paid to Madagascar's incredible wildlife? • Climate change could impact the poor much more than previously thought • Eight months' wait for UK Mail to pay up for a crushed bike Multimedia • Smog journeys: A short film about air pollution in China – video • The week in wildlife – in pictures • Snapshots from Tanzania's wildlife reserves – in pictures Features and comment • George Monbiot: With this attack on community energy the big six win out over 'big society' • Why London is rubbish at solar • Smart thermostats reviewed: Which can save you the most? • Can anything stop the rhino poaching crisis? • Why Labour opposes this fanatical faith in shale gas • 'Fifty miles out we could smell the pollution': sailing amid the ocean litter ...And finally • England's beavers allowed to stay in the wild Government rolls back on plan to trap England's first wild beavers in 300 years, saying they can be released into Devon's river Otter once they have been confirmed as disease free and of Eurasian origin