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Survey shows bird species that vanished from UK in 17th century is making a successful comeback

Cranes, which became extinct in the UK 400 years ago, have continued their recent comeback with a new high of 64 pairs recorded in a survey.

The common crane, which stands about 120cm (4ft) tall and is famous for its dancing courtship displays, vanished from Britain in the 1600s as a result of hunting and a decline in their wetland habitat.

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Landmark report says GDP should be ditched as measure of wealth and nature valued to protect wildlife and humans

“Our economies, livelihoods and wellbeing all depend on our most precious asset: nature. We are part of nature, not separate from it.” These are the opening lines of a newly published landmark review of the economics of biodiversity.

Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history and the review aims to create a new economic framework, grounded in ecology, that enables humanity to live on Earth sustainably. “Our demands far exceed nature’s capacity to supply us with the goods and services we all rely on. We would require 1.6 Earths to maintain the world’s current living standards,” says Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta in the review, which was commissioned by the UK Treasury.

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New measures of success needed to avoid catastrophic breakdown, landmark review finds

• What does the UK’s biodiversity review recommend?

The world is being put at “extreme risk” by the failure of economics to take account of the rapid depletion of the natural world and needs to find new measures of success to avoid a catastrophic breakdown, a landmark review has concluded.

Prosperity was coming at a “devastating cost” to the ecosystems that provide humanity with food, water and clean air, said Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta, the Cambridge University economist who conducted the review. Radical global changes to production, consumption, finance and education were urgently needed, he said.

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More rapidly deployable standalone power systems are set to be rolled out across Western Australia, as part of a new joint venture aiming to slash network maintenance costs.

The post Horizon’s new solar and battery standalone power systems can be deployed in just 90 minutes appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia gets poor rating on climate policies from BNEF scoreboard, and even worse rating on clean transport.

The post Australia’s climate policies rated worst of major developed economies appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Queensland secures deal with Japanese firm to investigate the production of solar-fuelled green hydrogen at the Kogan Creek power station.

The post Queensland considers solar-fuelled green hydrogen plant at Kogan Creek coal plant appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Emissions from road transport in New Zealand have doubled since 1990, and the Climate Change Commission recommends sweeping changes to switch to electric transport options. Robert McLachlan, Professor in Applied Mathematics, Massey University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Two-thirds of Victorians want to see electric vehicles supported, not taxed, according to a new EVC survey.

The post Most Victorians want support for electric vehicles, not taxes appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Andrews Labor Government is reducing the cost of energy for Victorians doing it tough, with a one-off $250 payment to help with their energy bills.

The post Cutting the cost of energy bills for struggling Victorians appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Gas generation slumped to new lows in 2020, as high prices and the continued surge of wind and solar power squeeze the fossil fuel out of the market.

The post Transition fuel? Gas generation slumped sharply in 2020 as wind and solar surged appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Fully operational wind and solar in Australia's main grid will almost double from today’s level in three years, adding an average of more than 500MW a month.

The post Next three years will be huge for big wind and solar projects in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Germany and Austria have changed their advice about which face covering to wear in public spaces.

Two solar farms listed for sale in NSW experience production shortfalls as a result of inverter problems and a lightning strike.

The post Inverter issues hit NSW solar farms, just as owner seeks buyer offers appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EU carbon’s correlation to European power and gas prices has strengthened in recent weeks as temperatures have dropped, analysis by Carbon Pulse shows, while EUAs' relationship to coal has slackened as demand for the fuel has diminished.

Gina Rinerhart's Roy Hill iron ore mine to build a 30MW solar farm to cut emissions and reduce costs from burning fossil fuels.

The post Gina Rinehart’s iron ore mine to build 30MW solar farm to cut emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

World-first research finds human disturbances, on average, restrict an animal's movements by 37%, or increases it by 70%. That’s like needing to travel an extra 11 km to get to work each day. Tim Doherty, ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Sydney Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University Graeme Hays, Professor of Marine Science, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The UK’s main political opposition has urged the British government to impose tougher regulations on offshore gas flaring following campaigners’ showcasing of the phenomenon's climate impact.

The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) programme began a public consultation period on Monday for the new version of its deforestation reduction standard, which will now aim to also issue carbon credits from planting or restoring forests and change the method for rewarding high-forest, low-deforestation (HFLD) jurisdictions.

Voluntary carbon market (VCM) credit prices largely stagnated over the week as an influential taskforce backed a drastic scaling up in offset use and Microsoft’s disclosure of its buying activities emphasised a shift towards removal-based projects.