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Government’s failure to match EU measures to improve condition of rivers, lakes and oceans called ‘deeply concerning’

England’s rivers are likely to remain in a poor state for years to come because the government is failing to put in place EU clean water laws post-Brexit, the watchdog has found.

When Britain was a member of the EU, the government was required to follow the water framework directive (WFD), standards for waterways that have been credited with cleaning up Europe’s dirty water.

Under their worst-case assessment, just 21% of surface waters will be in a good ecological state by 2027, representing only a 5% improvement on the current situation. This would break the Environment Act, which aims to improve air and water quality, protect wildlife, increase recycling and reduce plastic waste.

There is insufficient funding to meet the targets, meaning that under the WFD ministers are being compelled by the OEP to write a new, properly funded plan to protect the country’s waters. The Environment Agency has calculated a cost of £51bn to clean up England’s waters, which would provide £64bn in monetisable benefits. However, confirmed funding of only £6.2bn is just 12% of that required.

There is not enough monitoring taking place to find out the state of England’s waterways, making it nigh on impossible to clean them up.

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The policy comes despite global calls to drastically phase out fossil fuels to reach climate targets.

Earth’s greatest living structure is dying. But the humanity of reef scientists is as beautiful as any coral I’ve ever seen

From the dry lab on One Tree Island research station – about 100km off the coast from Gladstone and in the southern region of the Great Barrier Reef – I watch a steady procession of scientists walk to their next encounter with what has become the biggest palliative care unit on the planet.

These scientists head out to the reef like doctors heading to a hospital with no control over saving their patients. They head to a hospital where there is no medicine they can administer to alleviate the pain or to make death easier.

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The Australian government has asked the EU to delay regulation that would prevent commodities linked to deforestation from being imported into the bloc.

California must significantly ramp up the proposed carbon intensity (CI) target under its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to rid the market of its surplus, according to submissions to the market regulator's ongoing stakeholder consultation process.

Malawi’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change has authorised a private firm to auction the country’s carbon credits on the international market, according to local media reports.

Why have we seen so many extreme floods in recent years? Climate change is supercharging thunderstorms, adding moisture and heat. Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Conrad Wasko, ARC DECRA Fellow in Hydrology, University of Sydney Jennifer Catto, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Exeter Seth Westra, Hydrologist, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The mining company insists the storage hub is safe but many are unconvinced about injecting carbon dioxide into a major Australian water resource

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Swiss mining company Glencore has been on the offensive over its controversial plans to try to inject carbon dioxide into a section of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) – one of the world’s biggest underground water sources and a lifeblood for farmers and regional towns.

Later this month, the Queensland government is expected to decide if it will allow Glencore’s pilot carbon storage project to go ahead.

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Washington’s Department of Ecology (ECY) staff received pushback from stakeholders for choosing not to make changes to its GREET model during the latest round of Clean Fuels Standard (CFS) rulemaking, after the federal government recently updated their carbon intensity (CI) standard calculations for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) tax credits.

Targets to improve England's rivers, lakes and coastal water will fall well short, a key watchdog finds.

John McFall is studying whether it's possible for someone with a physical disability to go to space.

John McFall is studying whether it's possible for someone with a physical disability to go to space.

John McFall is studying whether it's possible for someone with a physical disability to go to space.

Wollongong-based Hysata attracts big global players to its ground-breaking electrolyser tech in biggest fund raising of its type in Australia.

The post Australian electrolyser start-up gets huge global backing in country’s biggest ever clean tech fund raising appeared first on RenewEconomy.

European and North American companies are not keen to invest in biodiversity credit initiatives in Africa, as the continent strives for innovative funding solutions alongside carbon credits to preserve its nature, a conservation finance expert has told Carbon Pulse.

Queensland quadruples storage capacity of Stanwell battery to make it the biggest in the state as it seeks to lock in renewable transition.

The post Queensland quadruples size of Stanwell Tesla battery to make it biggest in the state appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A third of the countries responsible for the vast majority of global emissions could face some of the harshest climate change impacts, especially from heat, according to a new report by a risk intelligence company.

Expanding the UK carbon market to cover heating and road transport fuels could help to reduce emissions significantly, but further measures are needed to offset the cost to lower-income households and reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to research published Thursday.

California regulator ARB issued the highest number of compliance-grade offsets thus far this year but none with direct environmental benefits (DEBs) to the state, holding DEBs-tagged premiums above $20, data published Wednesday showed.

The enhanced eligibility of REDD+ credits in partially-approved ETS legislation in Brazil, alongside increased investment in oil production, could contradict the country's climate policy ambitions, according to a report published Wednesday.