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With two missions to land on Mars in 2021, Laura Foster looks back at the previous 17 attempts.

Environmental audit committee says chancellor must use budget to spur low-carbon growth

Ministers should cut VAT on repairs for electrical goods and green home improvements, to help people reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their everyday lives, an influential committee of MPs has urged.

Funding for green home grants to install insulation and low-carbon heating, should also be restored to kickstart a “green recovery” in the UK, said the environmental audit committee in a report on how to “grow back better” from the coronavirus crisis.

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

The California government will not make any alterations to the state’s WCI-linked carbon market before it completes the 2022 Scoping Plan revision setting out the state’s future climate strategy, officials from two agencies said Tuesday.

Another viral, inaccurate meme about wind turbines that's got the attention of Matt Canavan has links to the fossil fuel industry.

The post Matt Canavan’s false wind meme is linked to the fossil fuel industry appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EUAs slipped back below €39 on Tuesday after a failed bid to set another all-time high stirred doubts over whether carbon's recent rally had ended.

First Nations people have almost no say in how water is used in Australia. The Productivity Commission's latest report does little to address that. Sue Jackson, Professor, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University Francis Markham, Research Fellow, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University Fred Hooper, Indigenous knowledge holder, Indigenous Knowledge Grant Rigney, Indigenous knowledge holder, Indigenous Knowledge Lana D. Hartwig, Research Fellow, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University Rene Woods, Indigenous Knowledge Holder, Indigenous Knowledge Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Election year could deliver the best result in the party’s 40-year history, and send a message on climate targets from Europe’s most powerful state

Pre-pandemic, Europe’s green parties were on a roll. In France last summer, supporters hailed a “green wave” after regional polls handed the Europe Ecology party control of showcase cities such as Lyon, Strasbourg and Bordeaux. Austria’s Greens are the surprise junior partners in a conservative-led coalition government, delivering pioneering measures to curtail short-haul air travel. In the 27 EU member states, five governments now have Green members sitting at the cabinet table.

If ambitious net zero targets are to amount to more than earnest virtue signalling, this infiltration of the political mainstream is both overdue and necessary. And now comes the biggest test – and the greatest opportunity – of all. Consistently running a comfortable second in the polls to Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and already governing in coalition in 11 states, Germany’s Greens are well-placed to form part of the country’s first “black-green” coalition after September’s federal elections. The CDU’s recent endorsement of the centrist Armin Laschet as its new leader suggests it sees such an alliance as a likely route to staying in power, as Ms Merkel steps down after 16 years in office. The Greens will decide this spring which of its two co-leaders should be its candidate for the top job: the media-savvy and charismatic Annalena Baerbock, or the equally ambitious moderniser Robert Habeck, talked up in some quarters as Germany’s Emmanuel Macron.

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Increasing plastic pollution in southern hemisphere oceans adds a deadly threat to albatrosses, already among the world's most imperiled seabirds with 73% of species threatened with extinction. Richelle Butcher, Veterinary Resident at Wildbase, Massey University Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Lauren Roman, Postdoctoral Researcher, Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Foundation Food Group allegedly asked workers to sign blank sheets of paper, and impeded compensation and healthcare claims

Meat plant workers who were injured and displaced after a fatal accident in the US last month are alleged to have been intimidated and offered limited medical care.

A liquid nitrogen leak at a Foundation Food Group poultry plant in Gainesville, Georgia, killed six people in January and hospitalised at least 11 others.

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The site chosen to offset the massive Badgerys Creek project was already earmarked for protection. Experts accuse the government of ‘double-dipping’

There are serious flaws in the environmental offsets being used to compensate for the new western Sydney airport now under construction in Badgerys Creek, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.

All up, 1,780ha of bushland will be razed to make way for the new travel hub – an area bigger than the Adelaide CBD.

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Scientists use AI to tackle the puzzle of where a new coronavirus could emerge.

Environmental and sustainability services company The Heritage Group (THG) has invested in North American carbon offset developer and trading firm ClimeCo, the entities announced Tuesday.

Carbon offset project developer ecosecurities will focus on nature-based activities after years of pursuing varied approaches, and is considering teaming up with major producers to develop initiatives at scale.

Finland is setting up a working group to consider implementing a domestic carbon market to tackle transportation emissions, the government announced Tuesday.

Fires used by just 8% of population but cause triple the particle pollution of traffic, data shows

Domestic wood burning has become the single biggest source of small particle air pollution in the UK, producing three times more than road traffic, government data shows.

Just 8% of the population cause this pollution by burning wood indoors, according to a separate government-commissioned report. It found almost half of those burning indoors were affluent and many chose a fire for aesthetic reasons, rather than heat.

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New research shows that electric cars reduce emissions, in a coal-dominated grid, and Australia should embrace them.

The post Video: Don’t be afraid, it’s just an electric vehicle appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Even before a child is born in the US, their race plays a huge part in how they'll experience heat and pollution. 

It starts with America's history of racist housing policies that segregated families of color into undesirable neighborhoods – and we can actually see the effects of those policies today: lots of pavement, little green space, and ultimately more heat. Meanwhile, in areas where white families live, the neighborhoods tend to have a lot more trees and shade, which leads to less heat. And as the climate warms, it's black families who are most likely to be stuck in extremely hot areas.

Recent research is showing us that this isn't just about being uncomfortable. Heat has an effect on everything – from pregnancies to our long-term health to our ability to learn.

As part of our environmental justice series, the Guardian's Alvin Chang and Oliver Milman explain how the climate criss and race have become inextricably linked in the US

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Would-be participants in New Zealand’s first emissions unit auction next month can now begin the registration process, NZX said.

COVID-19 has pushed gas prices down, but lack of competition and opacity of price-setting means it won't last long, says the ACCC.

The post COVID offered some relief to gas prices, but cartel will ensure it won’t last long appeared first on RenewEconomy.