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Large-scale tree planting to fight climate change may backfire, two new studies have found.

A judge approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) bankruptcy plan on Saturday ahead of a deadline for the California utility to participate in a fund to ease future wildfire liabilities.

Report will look at suspected lack of welfare regulation enforcement, as growth in exports sees livestock journeys increase

The European Parliament has voted to establish an inquiry committee to investigate the transport of live animals across and out of the European Union.

The committee will address whether the European Commission has failed to act upon evidence of “serious and systematic” infringements of EU regulations for the protection of exported live animals.

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EUAs bounced back from a brief dip below €24 early on Monday to remain near their four-month high even as wider markets faltered on some signs of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections in Germany.

Highland councillors will vote on Friday on the Space Hub proposals, after receiving 457 objections.

EnergyAustralia and AGL - who both operate big batteries - come out against proposed delays to five-minute settlement period, highlighting a schism over major reform.

The post Big utilities split over delays to key reform that backs battery storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Sector faces calls for action after report reveals scale of infections among workers

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The coronavirus outbreaks that have struck workers in meat plants around the world are due to poor working conditions and living quarters in a sector that is in a “disastrous race to the bottom” in the quest for cheap meat, trade union representatives have said.

Meat plants have persistently been centres for outbreaks, with some of the biggest clusters in the US and Canada focused on slaughterhouses. According to the Food and Environment Reporting Network (Fern), which has been tracking the outbreaks, nearly 30,000 meat plant workers across the US and Europe have been infected with the virus and more than 100 have died.

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Push is inadvertently causing long-term environmental damage to the traditional hunting grounds on Inuit public lands

In a subarctic fjard estuary just a few miles from frozen tundra, Inuit hunter Karl Michelin says he owes his life to the thousands of barking ringed seals that congregate year-round in local waters.

The seals’ jet-black, heavily fatted meat is a staple for Michelin, his wife, and their toddler. With food insecurity rampant among the region’s Inuit, neighbors are similarly dependent on seals and other wild-caught food. The town’s isolation makes regular employment opportunities scarce, and food prohibitively expensive to import.

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One of China’s biggest oil companies has agreed to buy carbon credits along with two shipments of LNG from Shell, seeking to offset all the life cycle emissions associated with the shipment in the first such deal for mainland China.

The Shanghai government has released the 2019 allocation for its emissions trading scheme, keeping the number of allowances in play at the same level as before despite including more companies, while also tripling the amount of offsets emitters can use for compliance.

Climate groups’ reaction to mining body’s climate change plan ranges from qualified acceptance to ‘greenwashing’

Australia’s peak mining body representing the coal industry has released a plan to tackle climate change across the industry, endorsing a goal of reaching net-zero emissions “as fast as possible” but without setting a target date.

The Minerals Council of Australia’s chief executive, Tania Constable, claimed it was “possible and plausible for the coal industry to achieve near zero or net-zero emissions” by using carbon offsets and carbon capture and storage technologies.

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A fifth PowerBank battery installed by W.A. to help balance the state's grid, allow more customers to install solar, and offer a "community" storage option to local solar homes.

The post Tesla community battery installed in Busselton, Western Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Scientists seek to reassure public as campaigners fear battle to reduce single-use plastic waste is losing ground

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More than 100 scientists will publish a signed statement on Monday to reassure the public that reusable containers are safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amid fears that the environmental battle to reduce single-use plastic waste is losing ground over fears of virus contamination, the 119 scientists from 18 countries say reuseable containers do not increase the chance of virus transmission.

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Exclusive: Coalition asks chancellor to fund nationwide environmental projects

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, must “seize the day” and create a national nature service to restore wildlife and habitats in England, say a coalition of the country’s biggest green groups. It said the move would create thousands of jobs, a more resilient country and tackle the wildlife and climate crises.

The coalition has drawn up a list of 330 projects that are ready to go, including flower meadows, “tiny forests” in cities and hillside schemes to cut flooding. It said a service to fund the projects and train workers would create 10,000 jobs and be part of a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

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Exclusive: Sir Mark Rylance, Neil Tennant, Brian Eno and heads of Tate and BBC arts sign letter to government

The chiefs of scores of the UK’s foremost arts and culture organisations have joined the call for a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, even as their own sector faces the biggest threat to its existence in modern times.

Sir Mark Rylance, Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys, Brian Eno and the leaders of the Tate, National Youth Theatre and the director of BBC arts are among those signing a letter asking the government to adopt green and carbon-cutting targets alongside its economic rescue plans. Close to 400 arts leaders and prominent individuals have now signed the letter, which will be presented to the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, this week.

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Australian engineers' peak body join submissions calling for a technology roadmap based around cheap solar and wind and energy storage technologies.

The post Engineers say technology roadmap should focus on cheap renewables, energy storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.

With his regular haunts closed because of Covid-19, Mumbai photographer and naturalist Rizwan Mithawala turned his lens on his windowbox, capturing the life cycle of visiting red pierrots

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Amazon identifies solar farm in NSW that will support the biggest corporate PPA with a solar project to date in Australia.

The post Amazon signs biggest corporate solar PPA in Australia with Suntop project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Removing engine idling would be like removing up to 1.6 million cars from the road. Robin Smit, Adjunct associate professor, University of Technology Sydney Clare Walter, PhD Candidate, Honorary Research Fellow, Advocacy Consultant., The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Experts believe the find is more than 4,500 years old and marked a boundary near to the sacred site.