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Environment ministers sign off on timeline after Scott Morrison promises to tackle plastic waste in oceans

A ban on the export of waste glass, plastic, paper and tyres will be phased in from mid next year after environment ministers agreed to a timetable for changes in the way Australia deals with recyclable material.

The federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, and state and territory environment ministers signed off on the timeline, which will see the export of all of these waste materials banned by no later than 30 June 2022.

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

Thirty New Jersey CO2 Allowance Tracking System (COATS) accounts were re-opened in the Northeast US RGGI ETS ahead of the scheme’s December auction and less than two months before the state returns to the regional programme, registry data showed Friday.

This week we take a look at the battle over bottled water, and drought bites on the supermarket shelf.

Two of Europe’s biggest low-cost airlines posted a second straight month-on-month decline in their carbon emissions in October.

Police pull body from river in Derbyshire as torrential rain causes major disruption

A woman died and homes were evacuated as widespread flooding left a trail of devastation across swathes of the Midlands and northern England on Thursday evening and Friday.

Some parts of England got more rainfall in just 24 hours than they normally would in a single month, with more than 100 flood warnings issued – including six warning of a risk to life.

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Fishing industry and environmentalists teaming up to revive seagrass meadows; handcrafted guitar helping with healing after tragic accident; Irish farming couple embrace 'gap year' down under; why singing to your baby brings benefits for all.

Five Eastern EU member states have opted to increase the number of carbon allowances they are allocating to the bloc’s post-2020 Modernisation Fund, more than doubling its size.

The WCI carbon market's quarterly auctions are projected to contract significantly in 2020, as industrial true-up allocations for the third compliance period will shrink the availability of state-owned allowances, according to Carbon Pulse analysis.

Swiss-based MSC Cruises aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its marine fleet operations by Jan. 2020 through offsetting, and plans to increasingly rely on blue carbon projects to maintain the goal, it announced Friday.

Nepal will ink its GHG reduction agreement with the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in December, local media reported Friday, a move that would make it the first Asian nation to forge the REDD deal seen as a possible base for international emissions trade.

Andrew Wheeler’s top agency lawyer argues political staffers have leeway to decide what information to provide to investigation

Top political appointees at Donald Trump’s environment agency are hindering an investigation into the agency’s chief of staff, who pressured a prominent scientist to alter her congressional testimony to make it more favorable for the agency, according to an ethics watchdog.

In the latest development of the fight, the inspector general of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has forced the agency’s head, Andrew Wheeler to explain his position in a letter to Congress. Wheeler’s top agency lawyer is arguing that political staffers have leeway to decide what information to provide to the watchdog, while investigators are warning that agency leaders are trying to subvert their legally mandated independence.

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Red squirrels, a laughing kookaburra and a dehydrated koala

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German utility EnBW advanced its hedging rates over Q3 2019, it said on Friday, leaving the company more heavily hedged than in recent years to provide a somewhat bearish signal for carbon.

Operator faces choice of weakening 14km barrier or potentially devastating a biodiversity hotspot

The biggest hydroelectric project in the Amazon rainforest has a design flaw that poses a “very serious” threat to human life and globally important ecosystems, according to documents and expert testimony received by the Guardian.

The new studies suggest engineers failed to anticipate the impact of water shortages on the Pimental dam at Belo Monte, which is forcing the operators to choose between a structural weakening of the 14km-wide compacted-earth barrier and an reallocation of water in the reservoir or on the Xingu river, which is home to indigenous communities, fishing villages and some of the world’s most endangered species.

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The British supercar cuts short its latest run because of temperature concerns but still clocks 481mph.

Labour criticises tender as firm running £400m investment fund awards millions to company it part-owns

The private equity firm appointed by the government to manage as much as £400m in investment in electric car charging points has awarded millions of pounds to a company in which it holds a controlling financial interest.

Zouk Capital is the largest shareholder in charge point builder Instavolt, having made an £18m investment in the company. Now Zouk has chosen Instavolt as the charge point fund’s first beneficiary, a decision criticised by the Labour party.

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EUAs fell to a two-week low early on Friday, but then clawed back to €25 after an improved auction.

Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.

The state government in South Australia has launched a strategy to develop and pilot blue carbon projects that it intends to eventually generate offsets under the federal government’s Carbon Farming Initiative.