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Group defies court order against Arctic Sunrise supporting occupation of North Sea rig

Police have arrested two Greenpeace activists who had boarded a North Sea oil rig as the environmental group said it was sending its ship Arctic Sunrise to join the protest in defiance of court orders obtained by BP.

The oil firm has taken out injunctions against the ship and the Greenpeace ice-breaker, the Esperanza, forbidding them from supporting a protest on a rig in Scotland’s Cromarty Firth that is now in its sixth day.

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Addressing energy leaders, pope warns of ‘catastrophic’ effects of global heating

Pope Francis has declared a global “climate emergency”, warning of the dangers of global heating and that a failure to act urgently to reduce greenhouse gases would be “a brutal act of injustice toward the poor and future generations”.

He also endorsed the 1.5C limit on temperature rises that some countries are now aiming for, referring to warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of “catastrophic” effects if we crossed such a threshold. He said a “radical energy transition” would be needed to stay within that limit, and urged young people and businesses to take a leading role.

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European carbon prices were flat on Friday, receiving little direction from fundamental or non-market influences ahead of an upcoming full auction week.

Scientists destroy final UK laboratory samples of rinderpest, the disease that wiped out most of the cattle in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A cattle egret, a roving monkey and a curious chipmunk

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A California Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC) member has resigned his post with the ETS monitor after taking a new position at the state’s Independent System Operator (CAISO), the chair of the committee said Friday.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level taken this week, including a New Jersey plan to get to 100% carbon-free energy, Nevada finalising legislation to coordinate GHG reduction policies, and Maine passing a state-level 'Green New Deal' and rejecting proposals related to a cross-border hydro line.

New Jersey will complete its cap-and-trade amendments for the northeast US RGGI programme this month, setting up Garden State entities to participate in the Mar. 2020 auction, according to the state's Energy Master Plan (EMP).

Oil company bosses have been rapped by the Pope for seeking more of the fossil fuels that are damaging the climate.

Natural England chair bemoans budget cuts that have left conservation body ‘massively depleted’

The reserves and protected places that are the “jewels in the crown” of English nature cannot be managed properly because of budget cuts, Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, has said.

The budget for the government’s conservation watchdog has been slashed in half over five years, leaving it “massively depleted”, according to Juniper, the influential former Friends of the Earth campaigner whom the environment secretary, Michael Gove, appointed earlier this year.

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There remains more than 860 million unused CERs – a massive supply of offsets that could potentially be tapped by airlines to comply with aviation's CORSIA scheme or which could find its way into the Paris Agreement era.

Environmentalists say opening up Queensland’s Galilee Basin ignores global climate goals

Environmentalists have described as reckless the decision by the Australian government to grant the Indian mining company Adani the final approvals it needs to start work on a huge coalmine in Queensland.

The project, which received the green light on Thursday to commence initial construction, would open up the Galilee Basin, one of the last known untapped coal reserves on earth.

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The ‘sunshine tax’ is dead, and Barcelona and Cádiz are mounting a renewables revival

After a close fight, Barcelona’s radical mayor, Ada Colau, is expected to take office for a second term on Saturday, vindicating her often-criticised policies, which have included making sure all the city’s municipal buildings and services run on renewable energy.

On the other side of the country in Andalucía, José María González was re-elected as mayor of Cádiz last month having swept to power in 2015 on the same tide that brought Colau to office, with energy as a central issue in his campaign.

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

Lewisham campaigners block three roads into city centre to highlight ‘air pollution crisis’

Environmental protesters stopped traffic on three main roads into central London from the south-east on Friday morning in protest over the “air pollution crisis” in the area.

The protesters, organised by a local chapter of the Extinction Rebellion group, blocked traffic on the A20 near Lewisham station, A205 South Circular in Catford and the A2 in Deptford during the morning rush hour.

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Tianjin will auction 2 million carbon permits on June 27 to help struggling emitters acquire sufficient allowances to be in compliance for 2018, the municipal government said Friday.

Analysis says DRS would stop thousands of tonnes of waste entering English rivers and sea

A comprehensive deposit return scheme in England could prevent 6,600 tonnes of plastic waste entering rivers and the sea by 2030, according to an analysis of the government’s proposed waste strategy.

Of the measures being considered by the government to tackle plastic pollution, the assessment by the charity Common Seas reveals that a DRS on all drinks containers, not just small bottles, would have the most dramatic impact.

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New Zealand carbon allowances on Friday halted their recent price slide as the spot contract climbed back above NZ$23 ($15), though experts said a lack of fundamental drivers suggests a serious comeback is unlikely for now.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has awarded over 770,000 carbon credits in the past three days as a growing number of project owners seek to get their issuances before the June 30 end of the financial year.

The leaves, when boiled, can be eaten like spinach. The seeds can be roasted for a coffee substitute, and the pulp can be fermented to make beer. Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.