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US owners of lands smaller than 2,000 hectares are struggling both to maintain forests and generate credits under existing voluntary carbon offset (VCM) standards, but experts are divided on whether lower monitoring obligations can help alleviate the situation, panelists at the North American Carbon World (NACW) conference said Thursday.

EUAs ended their run of five consecutive record-breaking sessions on Friday, but the futures only slipped slightly as traders expected a few more days of tightness up to the annual compliance deadline.

Six activists cleared of causing criminal damage to Shell’s London headquarters in 2019

Six Extinction Rebellion protesters have been cleared of causing criminal damage to Shell’s London headquarters despite the judge directing jurors that they had no defence in law.

Two of the group’s co-founders, Simon Bramwell, 49, and Ian Bray, 53, were acquitted on Friday alongside Jane Augsburger, 55, Senan Clifford, 60, David Lambert, 62, and James “Sid” Saunders, 41, after a trial at Southwark crown court.

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World leaders will be unable to halt climate breakdown without strong action from biggest emitter

The US, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is now committed to halving emissions this decade.

Joe Biden’s announcement, at a White House virtual climate summit, has thrown the spotlight clearly on the world’s biggest emitter: China.

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The UK has fined seven companies a total of more than £600,000 for not complying with their obligations under the EU carbon market.

From flooding the streets with thousands of activists to mass Zoom calls, Twitter storms and isolation, young protesters have had to adapt to a global pandemic and find new ways to push forward their calls for action on the climate crisis.

We spoke to six ‘school strikers’, all members of Fridays for Future, about the impact the pandemic and social distancing have had on their movement, and what the future could hold for their protests after more than a year of Covid-19

• Climate protesters gather in person and online for Fridays for Future
  

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Government officials on Friday pushed for the public and private sectors to increase climate ambition ahead of the UN COP26 summit this fall, as the US and other countries announced a pair of initiatives to drive future reductions.

Offset standard manager and developer Verra on Thursday said it will not require corresponding adjustments for Paris Agreement-era voluntary carbon market (VCM) transactions, arguing such a move could hinder climate finance to developing countries and create needlessly complex accounting systems.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including preening rabbits and fighting egrets

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Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pledge at the Leaders’ Climate Summit to strictly control coal projects in the current five-year period and phase them down from 2026 will likely benefit the national emissions trading scheme, prompting a cut in excess allowances earlier than presumed, according to experts.

Climate activist updates her social media biography following Boris Johnson comments at climate summit.

New Zealand carbon allowances have ticked up to their highest level since last month’s inaugural NZU auction, though the market remains thin ahead of next month’s 2020 compliance deadline which still has the NZ$35 fixed price option.

Four astronauts leave Florida in a Dragon capsule bound for the International Space Station.

Fighting climate change may be the most important task we face today – and the US’s renewed commitment to it is welcome

Nearly three decades ago, during the Earth Summit held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the international community acknowledged the need to address the growing challenges posed by the state of the environment. Several resolutions and agreements emerged from that historic conference, among them the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The ultimate goal of this multilateral initiative has been to prevent unchecked, runaway climate change from harming natural ecosystems, threatening food production or hindering sustainable development. In short, to preserve the world as we know it.

For three decades, countries – or parties, as they are known under the convention – have debated and deliberated on the mounting threat posed by human activities to the stability of the climate system and, consequently, to the future of our planet. Progress has been slow, often disappointingly so. But there have been major achievements, such as the Kyoto protocol in 1992 and, most significantly, the 2016 Paris agreement, which constitute landmarks in the development of an international regime that protects the climate.

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Australia will develop a carbon offset programme across parts of the Indo-Pacific region that can generate “high-integrity” units eligible under the Paris Agreement, Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor announced Friday.

The US, EU and UK are leading the race to cut emissions targets among the world’s biggest economies

Well, it’s complicated. The UK has committed to cut emissions at a faster rate than other developed nations, with a target of 68% cuts by 2030. That’s measured against its emissions in 1990; over the last few years emissions have been reduced, so measured against the 2018 baseline, for example, the cut needed is smaller.

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Massive melting of glaciers has tilted the planet’s rotation, showing the impact of human activities

The massive melting of glaciers as a result of global heating has caused marked shifts in the Earth’s axis of rotation since the 1990s, research has shown. It demonstrates the profound impact humans are having on the planet, scientists said.

The planet’s geographic north and south poles are the point where its axis of rotation intersects the surface, but they are not fixed. Changes in how the Earth’s mass is distributed around the planet cause the axis, and therefore the poles, to move.

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Victoria government puts out call for aggregators to expand the state's offerings of virtual power plants harnessing resources of rooftop solar and household batteries.

The post Victoria puts out call for virtual power plants with rooftop solar and batteries appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Researchers at Glasgow University identified two cases where they believe cats developed Covid-19 after their owners.

Ausgrid deploys second community energy battery in Sydney suburb of Bankstown as part of two year trial.

The post Ausgrid unveils new community battery project in Sydney’s Bankstown appeared first on RenewEconomy.