Around The Web

National government-backed initiative will replace ‘use by’ with ‘best before’ and urge people to judge for themselves

Worried about whether the yoghurt, milk and cheese sitting in your fridge is still safe to eat? Rather than rely on the misleading “best by” date stamped on the side, perhaps its time to “sniff and taste” your staple foods.

That’s the aim behind a new initiative to fight the UK food-waste mountain, by reducing the amount thrown away in the home.

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Critics say the costs could have been avoided if ministers had agreed to bring in low-carbon standards sooner

Householders buying brand new homes in the next four years are likely to find an unpleasant surprise awaiting them in the future: homes built today will have to be retrofitted with energy efficiency measures and low-carbon technology, at an average cost of more than £20,000.

The extra costs will amount to more than £20bn for the whole of the UK, if the government’s targets of building 300,000 new homes a year are met. Critics say the costs could have been avoided if ministers had agreed to bring in low-carbon standards sooner.

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

Green groups are calling on the PM to cancel the project - but how was the decision reached?

Historical documents are uncovered that provide clues to a puzzle that haunted Charles Darwin.

Speculators increased their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) holdings as compliance entities cut their position for the sixth consecutive week, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing, clean fuel standards, and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in New Mexico, Washington, and Montana.

The coronavirus pandemic will continue to limit WCI cap-and-trade emissions throughout 2021, while the Northeast US RGGI scheme could see prior GHG trends return by mid-year, analysts said Friday.

EU foreign ministers could next week back Denmark's call for the creation of a global alliance to phase out coal-fired power and fossil fuel subsidies, diplomats told Carbon Pulse on Friday, while the US gets set to announce a climate leaders' summit in April.

EUAs inched higher above €34 on Friday as gas prices again provided a boost, with traders questioning whether more gains are possible ahead of next week's resumption of daily auctions.

Critics ask if some appointees to the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee have a potential conflict of interest

The Morrison government has quietly appointed fossil fuel industry leaders and a controversial economist to a committee responsible for ensuring the integrity of projects that get climate funding.

Critics have raised concerns about whether some appointees to the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee may have a potential conflict of interest that could leave its decisions open to legal challenge.

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In April of last year, Australians stopped spending – but where some label current highs in consumption as ‘recovery’, Sarah Wilson sees a cult

This week I found myself thinking back to early-Covid. The globe had been suspended in an eerie pause and many of us were given the most unique of opportunities: time and space to have a good, hard look at ourselves and what mattered.

Do you remember what we did? We stopped consuming. And we really rather loved it.

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These positions are exciting roles in a growing team. While the evolving nature of the team’s work means that exact allocations may change, the individual can expect to lead on key policy issues like decarbonising buildings, businesses and industry, including energy efficiency, heat pumps, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

Technological advances combined with tough emissions targets are bringing the end of petrol and diesel traffic into view

The prospect of a cleaner motor vehicle fleet is drawing closer. In November, the UK government announced that a ban on new petrol and diesel car sales would be brought forward to 2030. Advances in battery technology mean the tipping point at which electric vehicles become cheaper than other types, without subsidies, could come within five years. Fast-charging electric car batteries are on the horizon, with five-minute “fill up” times in sight.

This is good news for the climate, with transport emissions one of the biggest obstacles to meeting reductions targets, nationally and globally. Also welcome for the UK is the announcement by Nissan that in future it will source 62 kilowatt-hour batteries for its popular Leaf model from the factory next door to its Sunderland car plant, instead of importing them from the US.

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The Energy Community (EnC) has released a roadmap for how the EU’s Western Balkans and Eastern neighbours can implement carbon pricing schemes, with the intergovernmental organisation flagging the potential for market integration and an eventual link with the EU ETS.

Global study finds that species numbers reported in the wild fell sharply between 1990 and 2015

The number of wild bee species recorded by an international database of life on Earth has declined by a quarter since 1990, according to a global analysis of bee declines.

Researchers analysed bee records from museums, universities and citizen scientists collated by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, (GBIF) a global, government-funded network providing open-access data on biodiversity.

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Global study calls on governments to step up maintenance efforts to prevent failures, overtopping or leaks

By 2050 most people will live downstream of a large dam built in the 20th century, many of which are approaching the limits of the useful lifetime they were designed for, according to global research.

To avoid the potential for dam failures, overtopping or leaks, the dams will require increasing maintenance, and some may have to be taken out of service. Many governments have not prepared for these needs, warn the authors of a study by the United Nations University.

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Consultation comes after the birds have been successfully rewilded in other parts of the UK

A consultation has been launched to reintroduce Britain’s biggest bird of prey to Norfolk in an unprecedented rewilding move led by farmers.

Supported by other landowners in the region, a west Norfolk farm wants to release white-tailed eagles on to its coastal land, after the successful reintroduction of the birds in western Scotland and the Isle of Wight.

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Nubian ibex have been roaming the empty streets of Mitzpe Ramon as Israel’s coronavirus lockdown extends to the end of the month

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Sales increase 43% globally in 2020 as plunging battery costs mean the cars will soon be the cheapest vehicles to buy

Electric vehicles are close to the “tipping point” of rapid mass adoption thanks to the plummeting cost of batteries, experts say.

Global sales rose 43% in 2020, but even faster growth is anticipated when continuing falls in battery prices bring the price of electric cars dipping below that of equivalent petrol and diesel models, even without subsidies. The latest analyses forecast that to happen some time between 2023 and 2025.

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