Around The Web

Most countries are overlooking the potential for pro-climate behavioural changes from consumers as a strategy to help reduce global emissions by up to 70% by 2050, according to research published on Wednesday.

Expanding the donor base of international climate finance is a "prerequisite" for an "ambitious" goal due to be agreed at November's COP29 climate summit, according to the latest draft conclusions by EU climate and environment ministers, seen by Carbon Pulse.

The food products industry has the largest biodiversity footprint, followed by oil, gas, and chemicals, said a study of the impacts of 2,369 companies published on Wednesday.

Market participants see the UN international aviation offsetting scheme as the first step in a voluntary credit demand recovery, and hope that other sectors will be inspired to establish similar carbon-buying clubs in the future.

The emissions impact is obvious but with full employment in construction, approving three mine extensions is saying you want workers there rather than building homes

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

When the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, approved three new coalmine expansions last week, she not only failed abjectly to act on climate change, but by diverting scarce workers from constructing homes to expanding fossil-fuel projects, she also made it harder for the government to improve housing affordability through its aim of building 1.2m new homes in five years.

Last week Plibersek posted photos of her releasing a cute little bilby into a wild training zone. Oddly there was no such cute photo, nor mention on her list of “some of the things I’m most proud of”, of her approving those three coalmine expansions, which will generate about 1.3bn tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime.

Continue reading...

Camera installed inside a tree hollow in NSW forest to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered possum

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Conservationists call them “ridiculously cute” and “captivating” – and now a live stream offers a global audience the chance to view life inside the hollow for a family of eastern Australia’s largest gliding possums.

The hollow-cam broadcasting live from a tree in south-east NSW offered unlimited greater glider viewing for animal lovers and reality TV tragics.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

A new map showing 50 million neural connections is a 'huge leap' to understanding our own brains.

Ireland will increase its carbon tax on fuels by €7.50 per tonne every year from now until 2029 and hit €100 per tonne in 2030, the government announced Wednesday in a budget that also allocates money towards delivering "secure, stable, and green" energy infrastructure.

A German asset manager's fund has made its first renewable energy investment in the Baltics with the purchase of a wind farm project in Lithuania, bringing its portfolio to 3 GW.

A carbon registry and platform has announced a partnership on Wednesday with an insurer to integrate their services, profiling project risks and advising on risk management techniques.

The European Commission is preparing to put forward its legislative proposal for a 2040 climate target “very early” in 2025, an official has said, suggesting the EU could be ready to submit its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in time for the UN's February deadline. 

The European Commission is moving to postpone its regulation against deforestation by one year, in an attempt to please international partners who repeatedly expressed worries about the impacts of the law on supply chains, it announced on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe plans to soon boost its carbon market by opening the door to international trade of ITMO credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

An expected supply squeeze in Australia’s carbon credit market is set to create challenges for gas producers in its westernmost state whose major LNG ambitions have few options for meeting Safeguard Mechanism requirements beyond buying offsets or investing in CCS, according to a report released Wednesday.

Flaws in baseline assumptions and inadequate long-term monitoring could lead to overestimated carbon credits under the EU’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation, previously known as the Carbon Removal Certification Framework, according to new research.

Global forest investor and management firm New Forests is preparing to expand its biodiversity credit baselining work in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to an company executive.

Expectations of a low-emission hydrogen boom by the end of the decade could be dashed because a “significant part of the project pipeline” faces delays and cancellations, warns the International Energy Agency (IEA).

EU carbon prices endured a fourth day of losses as buying activity was little in evidence amid weakness across the energy complex, while weekly position data showed investment funds cutting their bearish bets by around a third, and UK Allowances extended their decline for an eighth day.

Existing gaps in compensation for lost or downgraded protected areas (PAs) threaten to hamper the achievement of global biodiversity targets, according to a recent paper.

A US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering firm has secured $50 million to launch a foundation with the aim of driving innovation in species protection, it announced Tuesday.