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India is expected to overtake China this decade as the world’s most populous nation. That puts it at the heart of the global challenge to beat climate change. Vigya Sharma, Senior Research Fellow, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

US Senate Democrats on Wednesday announced they will include a clean electricity standard in an upcoming budget resolution, though it is uncertain if the proposal can pass muster in the reconciliation process or gain the support of conservative members of the caucus.

Brazilian academics and activists issue warning amid fresh assault on environmental protections

The collapse of the Amazon rainforest is inevitable if Jair Bolsonaro remains president of Brazil, academics and environmental activists have warned amid a fresh government assault on protections for the forest.

Despite evidence that fire, drought and land clearance are pushing the Amazon towards a point of no return, they say the far-right leader is more interested in placating the powerful agribusiness lobby and tapping global markets that reward destructive behaviour.

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Setting ambitious goals and relying on future technical innovation is not enough

Last month, the Climate Change Committee delivered a withering verdict on the government’s failure to come up with a proper plan to deliver on its admirably ambitious net zero targets. As the committee released two dismal progress reports, which showed Britain behind on its goal of a 78% cut to greenhouse gases by 2035, its chairman, Lord Deben, observed: “The policy is just not there. It’s clear we need to step up very rapidly.”

On Wednesday, ministers were at it again. As they contemplate a societal transition on an epochal scale, affecting all aspects of people’s everyday lives, Boris Johnson and his ministers appear to believe they can get by through a combination of setting dates and making heroic technological assumptions. This time it was the turn of the transport minister, Grant Shapps, to unveil eye-catching net zero pledges. According to the government’s delayed transport decarbonisation plan, polluting diesel and petrol lorries are to be banned in Britain by 2040 at the latest, and all types of transport will be decarbonised by 2050. Yet as the Road Haulage Association pointed out, zero-emissions heavy goods vehicles are still an aspiration rather than a reality, and Mr Shapps has delivered no detail on how the bill for this hypothetical transition will be met. In aviation, where the government has pledged net zero internal UK flights by 2040, there is a similar gap between rhetoric and reality. The notion that hydrogen aircraft and sustainable aviation fuels can obviate the need to fly less, at least in the medium term, is fanciful.

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The EU will force importers of electricity and a number of foreign industrial sectors to pay for emissions covered under a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) from 2026, according to a proposal released by the European Commission on Wednesday, which came as a UN agency urged caution over the divisive policy.

The largest US wildfire so far in 2021 is in the proximity of a California Carbon Offset (CCO) forestry project, with tech giant Microsoft having procured credits from the Oregon undertaking.

EU member states will face tougher targets and goals to increase renewable energy

In 2019 the European parliament declared a “climate and environmental emergency”. In 2020 EU leaders pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the end of this decade. Now comes the hard part: turning promises into policies to curb dangerous global heating.

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Rising heat and deforestation cause eastern parts of the Amazon to become carbon sources, not sinks.

Cutting emissions is more urgent than ever with forest producing more than a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year

The Amazon rainforest is emitting a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to a study. The giant forest had been absorbing the emissions driving the climate crisis but is now causing its acceleration, researchers said.

Most of the emissions are caused by fires, many deliberately set to clear land for beef and soy production. But even without fires, hotter temperatures and droughts mean the south-eastern Amazon has become a source of CO2, rather than a sink.

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AEMC unveils new simplified rules for distributed energy resources, and a new 'fast frequency response' to reward batteries for keeping the lights on.

The post New rules to reward batteries for keeping the lights on, and make hybrids a reality appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Network investor Spark unveils major push into renewables, with a 2.5GW wind, solar and storage hub in NSW and another 1GW of projects.

The post Network giant proposes 2.5GW wind, solar and battery hub in south west NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Reflective surfaces, green roofs can lower temperatures in sweltering cities

The sweltering heat endured by major American cities is being fueled by vast swaths of concrete and a lack of greenery that can ratchet up temperatures by nearly 9F (5C) compared with surrounding rural areas, new research has found.

In the past month, Phoenix experienced a string of four days above 115F (46C) for the first time and Boston hit 100F for the first time in a decade. A deadly heatwave in the US north-west, which scientists say would have been “virtually impossible” without human-induced climate change, baked Seattle at a record 108F, while Portland, where roads buckled and power cables melted in the heat, reached an incredible new high of 116F.

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It proposes taxing jet fuel and effectively banning the sale of petrol cars within 20 years.

The European Commission on Wednesday kicked off the reform of the EU’s carbon market by proposing an increase of the EU ETS’ linear reduction factor (LRF) and a one-off cut of the emissions cap that could tighten supply from 2023.

Carbon continued its see-sawing motions on Wednesday, giving up Tuesday’s gains as traders prepared for the European Commission to publish its long-awaited EU ETS reform proposals.

Rejection of planned scheme on outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne said to confirm industry’s demise

Campaigners are hailing the end of opencast coal mining in Britain after a long battle to see off the final applications for new mines in former coal heartlands.

The Banks Group’s decision not to appeal against the rejection of a proposed scheme on the outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne means England now joins Scotland in apparently reaching the end of the road for surface coal mining.

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The European Commission is today publishing its long-awaited 'Fit for 55' climate legislative package, seeking to recalibrate the bloc’s climate policies towards a tougher 2030 emissions target. Here's a rolling timeline of today's major developments and expert and stakeholder insight to complement Carbon Pulse's other coverage.

More than 80% of companies in New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme paid the NZ$35 fixed price option (FPO) instead of surrendering allowances for 2020 compliance, according to EPA data, saddling the government with another 30 million surplus NZUs to digest.

Trent Zimmerman and Bridget Archer said net zero was not only the right thing to do but would create opportunities for Australia

Two Liberal backbenchers have called on Scott Morrison to set the long-mooted climate target of net zero emissions by 2050 before a major UNconference in November, and to restore funding and advisory powers to the Climate Change Authority.

Trent Zimmerman, the member for North Sydney, and Bridget Archer, the member for Bass in northern Tasmania, made the call in a joint response to an inquiry into climate change legislation proposed by the independent MP Zali Steggall.

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The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have released guidelines for so-called carbon neutral corporate bonds in an attempt to root out abuse by companies seeking to profit from the new and trendy product.