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US biofuel credit (RIN) credits surged back toward record prices on Monday on reported strong refiner demand, while stakeholders readied for Supreme Court oral arguments in a lawsuit regarding the EPA’s compliance waiver programme under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Four RGGI states have exceeded Q1 2020 carbon output levels for the first quarter of this year, while two large-emitting members are on pace to do the same, according to preliminary CO2 Allowance Tracking System (COATS) data.

Policy debates about global warming have long been dominated by an elite more concerned about financial returns than cooling the planet

“We will not,” Scott Morrison told us last week, “achieve net zero in the cafes, dinner parties and wine bars of our inner cities.”

Actually, he might – and that’s the problem.

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EUAs resumed their record-breaking rally on Monday, climbing towards €48 as some experts expected further gains this week before a correction upon the passing of the annual compliance deadline.

Rich countries urged to stump up to help developing nations cut greenhouse gas emissions

Boris Johnson must push rich countries meeting in Cornwall in June to come up with tens of billions of dollars more in aid for poor countries to deal with climate breakdown, or face the failure of vital UN climate talks to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow in November, according to leading climate experts.

The UK holds the presidency this year both of the annual meeting of the G7 group of the world’s economic superpowers, and of the Cop26 climate summit.

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Washington state lawmakers this weekend approved a climate policy package that will see the state implement a WCI-modelled carbon market and low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), but both programmes are still are contingent on the passage of a transportation funding package in the next year.

EU heads of state and government will on May 25 lay the groundwork on the bloc’s climate policy reform and debate key legislative proposals including the expansion of the carbon market to buildings and vehicles.

Data confirms what many suspected - that nature and green spaces have provided solace during lockdown.

As the family lawyers at Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s inquest, we join her mother and the coroner in calling for changes to the environment bill

The inquest last December into the death of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah made waves around the world. The photograph of Ella, which was displayed in the coroner’s court and which the coroner described as showing Ella with a smile “as wide as the photograph”, beamed out from screens and newspapers internationally. As the family’s lawyers, we watched the evidence unfold over nine days. The culmination of years of tireless campaigning by Ella’s mother, Rosamund, had led to a landmark moment – the first time that air pollution had been officially recognised as a cause of death.

Last week, in his follow-up report, Phillip Barlow expressed concern that further action was needed to prevent future similar deaths. The coroner identified three areas of concern: the discrepancy between current national targets for particulate matter and those recommended by the World Health Organization; the lack of public awareness; and the insufficiency of communication by clinicians to patients of the risks of air pollution.

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Veolia’s Australian subsidiary has delivered over 320,000 credits to the government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) in recent weeks, while NSW regulators declined to impose carbon offset requirements on a new coal mine despite the miner offering to accept such a measure.

Objectors say relief road contradicts council’s net zero target and will damage local wildlife sites

A 550-year-old tree known as “Darwin’s oak”, 4km of hedgerows and an internationally-renowned wetland are threatened by a new road around Shrewsbury, which has gathered more than 1,000 formal objections.

The £84.3m Shrewsbury north-west relief road planned by Shropshire council is becoming a local election issue, with the Conservative-controlled council arguing that the scheme, which completes a ring-road around the medieval town, will alleviate traffic and unlock land for housing.

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Industry’s congressional allies defeated nearly all PFAS legislation while the Trump EPA killed, watered down or slowalked new rules

The nation’s top PFAS manufacturers executed a lobbying and campaign donation blitz in recent years as the federal government attempted to regulate the toxic compounds.

A Guardian analysis of campaign finance records found spending on PFAS issues jumped as lawmakers introduced over 100 new pieces of legislation in 2019 and 2020, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed strong new restrictions. Observers say the results are clear: industry’s congressional allies defeated nearly all PFAS legislation while the Trump EPA killed, watered down or slowalked new rules that never went into effect.

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CarbonCo is seeking an experienced Forestry Advisor to oversee the provision of carbon forestry advice to its customers, drive engagement with the forestry sector, and provide domain expertise in support of the ongoing development of our automated solutions.

Companies that rush to make net zero pledges without examining the firm's ability to meet the goals could be guilty of "misleading or deceptive conduct".

The post Companies warned that ‘greenwashing’ could have legal consequences appeared first on RenewEconomy.

One of the oft-sung laments about wind and solar is that they are not, will not and can not replace fossil fuel generation at the speed needed to meet the world’s climate targets, or even match the speed of the transitions to coal, nuclear or gas that have preceded them. We are still at the […]

The post “Battery of the world”: Australia’s key role in fast transition to wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Germany announces three-fold lift in solar auction capacity, and an increase in onshore wind tenders, but critics say it is only the bare minimum needed.

The post Germany sets bigger wind and solar auctions for next few years appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Federal and state governments are spending more than $10 billion a year subsidising the fossil fuel industry, mostly through fuel tax credits.

The post Australia spends more propping up fossil fuels than it does on the Army appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Alinta plans to build a 100MW big battery next to its Wagerup peaking gas and diesel plant, the second big battery to be built in Western Australia's main grid.

The post Alinta to build second big battery in WA grid, next to Alcoa alumina plant appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Japan’s plans to discharge radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean is a callous act that would do catastrophic harm

Earlier this month, the Japanese government announced plans to discharge 1m tonnes of radioactive wastewater accruing since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 into the Pacific Ocean.

To Pacific peoples, who have carried the disproportionate human cost of nuclearism in our region, this is yet another act of catastrophic and irreversible trans-boundary harm that our region has not consented to.

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Large defunct rocket bodies have the potential to break into thousands of pieces, threatening functioning satellites that provide vital services like GPS.