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World’s biggest fund urged to invest in clean energy for good of the climate and its investors

BlackRock, the world’s biggest investor, has lost an estimated $90bn over the last decade by ignoring the serious financial risk of investing in fossil fuel companies, according to economists.

A report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has found that BlackRock has eroded the value of the $6.5tn fund by betting on oil companies that were falling in value and by missing out on growth in clean energy investments.

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Deficit generation exceeded credits under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) during the first quarter of 2019, as renewable diesel and electric vehicle credit growth could not outpace the year’s more ambitious carbon intensity target.

Market participants anticipate the California Carbon Allowance (CCA) spread to rise in the coming weeks as speculators and compliance entities look to shift delivery to the following year to maintain holding limit space, but it remains to be seen whether the rate will eclipse this year's previous high.

Verra seeks a manager to oversee operation of its new registry (Registry), and to build its base of users. The ideal candidate will possess an ability to build and lead a team responsible for the smooth day-to-day administration of the Registry, and an ability to work with key market stakeholders to drive greater uptake of Verra programs.

A global leader in helping to tackle the world’s most intractable environmental challenges, Verra seeks two Registry Administrators to join its Registry team. The ideal candidates will possess excellent customer service skills, a strong work ethic, an ability to work in a fast-paced environment, and a high attention to detail.

Australia's recycling woes belong to everyone, from households to government to business. It's time to stop pointing fingers and get to work on a solution. Trevor Thornton, Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

New Zealand has proposed new fuel standards, along with a consumer rebates for cleaner cars – paid for by higher costs for high-polluting cars – to cut its rising transport emissions. Robert McLachlan, Professor in Applied Mathematics, Massey University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Bank of England governor says firms that ignore crisis ‘will go bankrupt without question’

Capitalism is “very much part of the solution” to tackling the climate crisis, according to the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney.

Challenged in an interview by the Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow over whether capitalism itself was fuelling the climate emergency, Carney gave a strident defence of the economic system predicated on private ownership and growth but said companies that ignored climate change would “go bankrupt without question”.

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Godfrey Boyle, who has died aged 74, was founder-editor in 1972 of Undercurrents, a magazine of “radical science and people’s technology”, which inspired a variety of sustainable energy, housing, transport and community projects. In its founding year he led the editorial team of Undercurrents (known affectionately as Undies) to the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, where they distributed a special issue on energy and organised an exhibition on alternative technologies. The publication lasted 10 years before merging with Resurgence magazine.

In 1975 Godfrey co-edited (with Peter Harper) Radical Technology, a book with contributions from many of the Undies stable that was perhaps best known for the series of Visions drawings by the anarchist artist Clifford Harper. In the same year Godfrey published his influential book Living on the Sun, which advanced the then novel idea that industrial countries could make a transition to renewable power.

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The British-based land speed record team is heading to Northern Cape to conduct high-speed trials.

The Czech government has established a commission to consider coal’s future role in the country’s energy mix and to make recommendations to manage its reduced production and use.

Sales of single-use bags by big supermarkets have fallen 90% since 5p charge introduced

Shoppers’ use of plastic carrier bags in England has continued to fall following the introduction of the 5p charge, according to new figures. Sales of single-use bags by all large retailers in 2018/2019 slumped by 37% to 1.11bn compared with the previous year.

Sales of plastic bags by the seven biggest supermarkets – Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, The Co-operative Group, Tesco and Waitrose – have plummeted by 90% since the levy was introduced in October 2015.

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Conservation and climate change policy ‘should be two sides of same coin’, says chair of Natural England

A new generation of national nature reserves are being created to help improve people’s health and mitigate the effects of climatic extremes, according to the chair of the government’s conservation watchdog.

The South London Downs reserve is the first in a series of landscapes that will be designated a national nature reserve this year, said Tony Juniper of Natural England. Several more will follow this autumn, including what he described as one “very significant” newly protected area.

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European carbon prices climbed back above €28 on Wednesday, withstanding Poland's large fortnightly auction to usher in a month of curbed supply.

Usage changes from describing outdoors to depicting digital life in just one generation

Tweet, web, stream and cloud may once have evoked the wild outdoors, but they are now predominantly used to describe technology, according to new linguistic research.

A study of datasets of informal conversations from different decades has found that the implied meaning of some common nature words in Britain has almost completely changed in a single generation.

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New Zealand will begin phasing-out free allocation of carbon permits to emissions-intensive industrials in 2021, but only at a rate of 1% a year initially, the government announced Wednesday along with decisions on access to averaging for forest-owners and Kyoto unit cancellations.

Using advanced analytics, RepuTex has classified different synoptic scale weather systems and measured variation in the market value of wind production. Here are the key findings.

The post How do different weather patterns impact wind market value? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Jemena acquires electrolyser for NSW "green gas" trial as industry talks up importance of domestic hydrogen market and export opportunities.

The post Jemena buys electrolyser for NSW as industry eyes mammoth hydrogen opportunities appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Origin Energy reports electricity business volumes down by 10% compared to March quarter and 9% on June 2018 levels, “due to the loss of higher volume customers.”

The post Corporate PPAs take chunk out of Origin electricity sales appeared first on RenewEconomy.

‘Insidious’ health-related impacts in Australia and Pacific include lowered cognitive capacity and spread of diseases

Climate change is “absolutely” already causing deaths, according to a new report on the health impacts of the climate crisis, which also predicts climate-related stunting, malnutrition and lower IQ in children within the coming decades.

The report, From Townsville to Tuvalu, produced by Monash University in Melbourne, pulled together scientific research from roughly 120 peer-reviewed journal articles to paint a picture of the health-related impacts of the climate emergency in Australia and the Pacific region.

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