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Rotting Red Sea oil tanker could leave 8m people without water
FSO Safer has been abandoned since 2017 and loss of its 1.1m barrels would destroy Yemen’s fishing stocks
The impact of an oil spill in the Red Sea from a tanker that is rotting in the water could be far wider than anticipated, with 8 million people losing access to running water and Yemen’s Red Sea fishing stock destroyed within three weeks.
Negotiations are under way to offload the estimated 1.1m barrels of crude oil that remains onboard the FSO Safer, which has been deteriorating by the month since it was abandoned in 2017. The vessel contains four times the amount of oil released by the Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Alaska in 1989, and a spill is considered increasingly probable.
Continue reading...World leaders urged to consider health benefits of climate action
Hundreds of international health organisations and professionals sign open letter to politicians ahead of Cop26
More than 400 international health organisations and professionals, representing two-thirds of global healthcare workers, have signed an open letter calling on politicians to consider the health benefits of climate action ahead of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.
“We know that climate change is impacting people’s health, this is increasingly visible around the world. We also know that many solutions to address climate change offer tremendous health co-benefits,” said Dr Jeni Miller of Global Climate and Health Alliance, the organisation which drafted the letter. “The health community is really seeing that if we don’t step up and call for action on climate change, we’re failing the patients and the communities that we care for.”
Continue reading...‘Overwhelming’ backing for strong climate action, UK study shows
Biggest ever analysis shows public backs carbon tax on industry, flight levies and grants for heat pumps
The UK public backs a carbon tax on polluting industries, higher levies on flying and grants for heat pumps in order to tackle the climate crisis, according to the biggest analysis of policy preferences ever published.
Almost 22,000 people chose their favoured mix of policies to hit the government’s 2030 target for emissions cuts. A speed limit of 60mph on motorways and a campaign to reduce meat eating by 10% were also among the most popular measures, all of which had between 77% and 94% public support.
A carbon tax of £75 per tonne on polluting manufacturing and construction businesses, with some funding to invest in new technologies, supported by 94% of people.
Better-integrated public transport coordinated by local government (93%).
Food campaigns and support from government, supermarkets and food companies promoting plant-based diets and cutting meat and dairy consumption by 10% (93%).
A comprehensive UK-wide electric vehicle charging network by 2028 (91%).
Raising flying costs, particularly on frequent fliers (89%).
Some restrictions on cars entering city centres and a 60mph speed limit on motorways (82%).
Support for less intensive farming and paying farmers to improve nature, including woodlands (79%).
Grants for heat pumps and home insulation for low-income households and low-interest loans for others, reaching 1.4m heat pump installations a year by 2030 (77%).
Continue reading...The advertising industry is fuelling climate disaster, and it’s getting away with it | Andrew Simms
Overconsumption is inevitable when adverts are so ubiquitous and sophisticated. There must be a pushback
To confront the climate emergency, the amount we consume needs to drop dramatically. Yet every day we’re told to consume more. We all know about air pollution – but there’s a kind of “brain pollution” produced by advertising that, uncontrolled, fuels overconsumption. And the problem is getting worse.
Advertising is everywhere, so prevalent as to be invisible but with an effect no less insidious than air pollution. A few years ago, an individual in the US was estimated to be exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 adverts daily.
Continue reading...Cop26: world poised for big leap forward on climate crisis, says John Kerry
Exclusive: upbeat US climate envoy anticipates big announcements from key players at Glasgow talks
The world is poised to make a big leap forward at the UN Cop26 climate summit, with world leaders “sharpening their pencils” to make fresh commitments that could put the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement within reach, John Kerry has said.
Kerry, special envoy for climate to Joe Biden, gave an upbeat assessment of the prospects for Cop26, which begins in Glasgow at the end of this month, saying he anticipated “surprising announcements” from key countries.
Continue reading...Euro Markets: Midday Update
NDCs, climate finance and 1.5C: your Cop26 jargon buster
As world leaders gather for the environmental conference, here is our summary of the key terminology
- The complete guide to Cop26
- Who’s who at the climate summit
- John Kerry says Cop26 is ‘starting line for rest of decade’
Cop26 will be the 26th conference of the parties to the UN framework convention on climate change, the parent treaty to the 2015 Paris agreement. More than 120 world leaders are expected to attend, with more than 25,000 delegates from 197 countries, in the biggest diplomatic event on British soil since the second world war.
Continue reading...Offset requirements could render Australian basin development unprofitable -analysts
China to hammer out standards for carbon neutral claims, seen to limit offset supply
Cop26 must not overshadow Kunming: we need joint climate and biodiversity goals | Ma Jun
Ecosystem collapse is as much a threat as the climate crisis, but valuing nature will help us meet both these challenges
All eyes are on Cop26 in Glasgow since the climate crisis aroused worldwide attention and compelled more than 120 countries to join the unprecedented global Race to Zero carbon-emissions campaign. But the UN biodiversity conference in Kunming, or Cop15, should not be overshadowed, as biodiversity loss is an equally grave threat to humanity.
Cop15, delayed repeatedly by the Covid-19 pandemic, will take place in two parts, online from 11 October, with more detailed discussions left for April’s meeting in Kunming, China. The conference will convene governments from around the world to agree new goals for nature for the next decade, as global biodiversity losses pose a threat to human wellbeing, affecting food, health and security, and increasing the likelihood of pandemics.
Continue reading...Johnson’s backing for the Cambo oilfield is unscientific and potentially disastrous | Peter Capaldi
The government should be supporting green jobs for fossil fuel workers, not deepening our dependency on oil and gas
In three weeks’ time world leaders will gather in my hometown of Glasgow to talk about the biggest threat to our future: the climate crisis. We’ve seen an unrecognisable summer of flooding and extreme heat, and as a result people have lost their lives in Europe and around the world. The crisis is very much upon us.
And yet, incredibly, our prime minister, Boris Johnson, is preparing to sign off on a new drilling permit at Cambo oilfield, west of Shetland. If approved, Cambo would produce 170m barrels of oil and would deepen the climate crisis for decades to come. It would be a staggeringly backward move, going against the science and denying us all the green recovery we’ve been promised.
Peter Capaldi is an actor and campaigner
Continue reading...Queensland to host giant new electroloyser and green energy manufacturing hub
Climate change: Prince Charles sympathetic to protesters' anger
Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn
Exclusive: executives demand meaningful action to protect ecosystems as UN biodiversity summit opens
World leaders must do more to prevent the destruction of nature, business leaders have warned before a summit in China that aims to draw up a draft UN agreement for biodiversity.
In an open letter, the chief executives of Unilever, H&M and nine other companies have called on governments to take meaningful action on mass extinctions of wildlife and the collapse of ecosystems or risk “a dead planet”.
Continue reading...Not even the BCA or Murdoch papers can divert Taylor from his love of gas
The Business Council and the Murdoch media come out in support of the green transition, but they can't sway the ideological monster they created.
The post Not even the BCA or Murdoch papers can divert Taylor from his love of gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Huawei Global Digital Power Summit 2021 set to open on October 16 in Dubai
Huawei to announce joint actions across the energy and ICT industry chain to unlock green energy potential for a low-carbon smart society.
The post Huawei Global Digital Power Summit 2021 set to open on October 16 in Dubai appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Victoria Big Battery sets Australian output record as it ramps up testing
Victoria Big Battery sets new benchmark for a battery charge and discharge as it continues to ramp up testing.
The post Victoria Big Battery sets Australian output record as it ramps up testing appeared first on RenewEconomy.
In pilot project, Japan to earn offsets from Australia-generated hydrogen utilised in Indonesia
Fortescue plans Australia’s first major green ammonia plant near Brisbane
FFI and Incitec Pivot plan biggest green ammonia facility in Australia, replacing gas with product fuelled by wind and solar.
The post Fortescue plans Australia’s first major green ammonia plant near Brisbane appeared first on RenewEconomy.