Around The Web

The robotic Chang'e-5 mission aims to return the first lunar rocks to Earth in more than 40 years.

EUA prices shot above €27 on Monday as wider markets lifted on virus vaccine news, with observers eyeing a looming carbon allowance auction drought as a trigger for further gains.

Silky oaks, or Grevillea robusta, are in bloom. These hardy, attractive trees light up the sky in late spring – but handle with care. Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

US President-elect Joe Biden (D) named former Secretary of State John Kerry (D) to a chief climate position in his administration on Monday, selecting a Paris Agreement veteran as the Democratic nominee seeks to immediately rejoin the pact next year.

Organization: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Position: Director - Division for Sustainable Development Goals Duty Station: New York City, US Deadline for Application: 7 January 2021

Organization: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Position: Director - Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Duty Station: New York City, US Deadline for Application: 24 December 2020

Organization: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Position: Program Officer (Senior Advisor for Policy) Duty Station: Washington D.C., US Deadline for Application: 25 November 2020

Organization: Climate Analytics Inc. Position: Australia-Asia/Pacific Head of Office Duty Station: Perth, Western Australia, Australia Deadline for Application: 25 November 2020

Organization: CAN Europe Position: Climate Policy Coordinator Duty Station: Europe Deadline for Application: 4 December 2020

Global survey finds spending expected to double in five years in response to climate fears

Global investors managing nearly $7tn (£5.2bn) of assets plan to almost double their spending on renewable energy infrastructure over the next five years amid deepening concerns over the fossil fuel industry’s climate plans, according to a report.

A survey of institutional investors found that they are planning to increase their renewable energy investments from 4.2% of their overall portfolio to 8.3% in the next five years and 10.8% within the next decade to about $742.5bn.

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Surveillance of farmed mink for coronavirus should be mandatory, says a top scientist.

The European Commission is considering the introduction of a minimum carbon price as part of a wider consultation on the revision of the ETS, a senior official said Monday, although he added that the EU’s executive is “hesitant” about the policy.

Swedish state-owned miner LKAB on Monday set out a $46.5 billion plan to shift to emissions free production of iron ore for steelmaking, aiming to secure its future well beyond the country’s 2045 net zero emissions target.

California gasoline consumption dropped in September from the prior month, but the year-on-year trend inched closer to 2019 levels, according to federal data released this week.

The EU’s post-2020 Modernisation Fund will monetise 643.2 million carbon allowances over the next decade to help 10 lower-income member states decarbonise their economies, the European Commission announced Monday.

New York’s draft RGGI regulation to install post-2020 CO2 allowance budgets aligns with climate goals established under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), state officials said, rebuking comments from legislators and environmental groups who criticised the proposed cap levels.

Pollutants from farming, heating and vehicles beyond levels needed to ensure breathable air

Governments across Europe are failing to protect their citizens from toxic air pollution, with most Europeans still breathing filthy air in their cities, according to data.

Pollutants from farming, domestic heating and vehicles are beyond the levels needed to ensure breathable air within World Health Organization guidelines, despite EU legislation, government pledges and years of campaigning.

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Group stages debt and tax strikes to expose ‘political economy’s complicity’ in ecological crisis

Extinction Rebellion is launching a campaign of financial civil disobedience aimed at exposing the “political economy’s complicity” in the unfolding ecological crisis.

The group – which has staged some of the UK’s biggest civil disobedience protests over the past two years – is turning its attention to what it says will be a sustained campaign of debt and tax strikes. It is also asking people to “redirect” loans from banks that finance fossil fuel projects to frontline organisations fighting for climate justice.

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Despite the global lockdowns, overall greenhouse gas concentrations have continued to rise.

Drop in emissions this year is a ‘tiny blip’ in buildup of greenhouse gases, UN agency says

Climate-heating gases have reached record levels in the atmosphere despite the global lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization has said.

There is estimated to have been a cut in emissions of between 4.2% and 7.5% in 2020 due to the shutdown of travel and other activities. But the WMO said this was a “tiny blip” in the continuous buildup of greenhouse gases in the air caused by human activities, and less than the natural variation seen year to year.

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