Around The Web

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Australia's carbon prices fell throughout 2020, but 2021 could be a turning point for international climate policy, Reputex analysis suggest.

The post Australia’s carbon prices dip, but traders expect more pressure to strengthen emissions targets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An ambitious approach to managing thermal plant exits could deliver reliability ensuring emissions are reduced within a reasonable timeframe.

The post Energy Security Board reforms need to be ambitious to secure a low emissions future appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A male White's seahorse has been filmed giving birth to dozens of babies ... yes, a father giving birth. Seahorse females deposit their eggs into a pouch in the front of the males, where the eggs are fertilised.

More than 100 seahorse babies have been born in a Sydney aquarium as part of a captive breeding program to help save the endangered White's seahorse. The breeding program is a collaboration between Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, Fisheries NSW and the University of Technology Sydney

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WWF report finds area six times the size of Tasmania has been cleared globally since 2004

Australia remains one of the world’s hotspots for deforestation according to a new report by WWF, which finds an area six times the size of Tasmania has been cleared globally since 2004.

The analysis identifies 24 “deforestation fronts” worldwide where a total of 43 million hectares of forest was destroyed in the period from 2004 until 2017.

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A £2.5m scheme in the Skell Valley hopes to protect Fountains Abbey and the city of Ripon

Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, was originally set up by 13 Benedictine monks seeking refuge from the more extravagant, rowdy monks in York. Eight hundred years later, the abbey ruins and its gardens face another threat: the climate crisis.

The Skell Valley, where the ruins stand, has been flooded several times in recent years, raising fears that the UK’s largest monastic ruins are at risk of irreparable damage. Now a £2.5m National Trust project – aided by a £1.4m lottery grant – has been greenlit to improve the landscape’s resilience to changing weather.

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New reports from the Energy Security Board highlight priority focus areas for a grid destined for a high renewable future.

The post Energy Security Board outlines plan for fast renewable transition in two major new reports appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Two environmental groups on Tuesday asked a North Carolina commission to move forward with a rulemaking to enact a RGGI-aligned cap-and-trade regulation, aiming to extend the regional US power sector programme further into the South.

Prince Charles brings together US$10 billion sustainable investment alliance, targeting climate and biodiversity crises.

The post Prince Charles launches new natural capital Alliance to mobilise $US10 billion appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A major global energy agency has announced a focus on climate action for 2020, cautiously welcomed by climate groups

The post IEA to focus on net zero by 2050 for energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

While electricity use throughout Africa expected to surge, Oxford University researchers predict renewables may struggle to gain market share.

The post Oxford researchers predict Africa may struggle to go green this decade appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An investment firm has acquired a majority stake in a Houston-based environmental trading firm, the two parties announced Tuesday.

Washington state legislators put forth a WCI-modelled carbon market bill this week as requested by Governor Jay Inslee (D), with the proposal aiming to enforce compliance obligations on power importers and natural gas suppliers several years after other sectors.

EUAs jumped to a new all-time high above €35 on Tuesday as gas and other European energy prices spiked on a looming blast of colder weather.

Choose your favourite photo from entrants in BirdLife Australia’s annual photography awards. From a hungry fairy tern to a thirsty corella, the best images from photographers across Australia have been entered into this year’s prize. Voting will run until Friday 22 January.

• This year’s Guardian/Bird Life Australia bird of the year poll will run from 27 September

• View all categories of the 2020 BirdLife Australia Photography awards here and find out about volunteering here

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Zero emission? Carbon neutral? Carbon negative? What does it mean to achieve 'net-zero' emissions? Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer and DECRA Fellow, University of Newcastle Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

But emissions reductions came at huge cost and will likely rebound as vaccines are distributed, authors of report say

Planet-heating emissions in the US fell by more than 10% in 2020, a record drop generated by extraordinary reductions in travel and industrial activity in the teeth of the coronavirus pandemic, new figures show.

The historic jolt to American life, which has resulted in more than 375,000 deaths and a huge surge in joblessness, caused many states to impose travel restrictions and curbs on business activity. This resulted in greenhouse gas emissions dropping by 10.3% last year, according to a new estimate by Rhodium Group.

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California’s lone nuclear power plant could be offline for several months, potentially resulting in the utilisation of more carbon-emitting sources to cover electricity demand in the first half of the year, several market participants said.

US GHG output is expected to have plummeted by double digits last year due to lower fuel consumption brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and a continued decline in coal-fired power, but analysts foresee these cuts will not sustain absent a structural change in the economy.

Polyester fibres that injure marine life were found in sea water across region

The Arctic is “pervasively” polluted by microplastic fibres that most likely come from the washing of synthetic clothes by people in Europe and North America, research has found.

The most comprehensive study to date found the microplastics in 96 of 97 sea water samples taken from across the polar region. More than 92% of the microplastics were fibres, and 73% of these were made of polyester and were the same width and colours as those used in clothes. Most of the samples were taken from 3-8 metres below the surface, where much marine life feeds.

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