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Australia hasn’t done much planning to prepare for the shift away from coal. But it’s not too late to learn from international experiences. Chris Briggs, Research Principal, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Elsa Dominish, Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Franziska Mey, Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Scalloped hammerheads were at the Nausicaá aquarium in the French port of Boulogne, near Calais

Thirty hammerhead sharks captured on the Great Barrier Reef and exported to a French aquarium over an eight-year period have all died in captivity and the federal government says it knows nothing about it.

The deaths, which are the subject of legal action by Sea Shepherd France, could put a spotlight on the trade of threatened sharks caught in Australian waters because of a federal law that allows them to continue to be commercially fished.

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EUAs surged by more than a euro in the final three hours of trade on Tuesday, reversing the previous day’s rapid afternoon loss as a stronger auction and supportive energy prices muted any selling.

California Carbon Allowances (CCA) are expected to clear underneath secondary market levels at Tuesday's WCI auction despite the recent price surge, as compliance entities seek out discounts at the quarterly sale.

Albert Beale says Britain needn’t be in the EU to make environmental progress, Darian McBain says seafood companies are helping to establish regulations, Michael Williams outlines the progress made by fisheries and conservation authorities, and Ursula Holden highlights the Mothers Rise Up climate march

Jonathan Freedland (The secret to stopping Brexit: keep it simple, 11 May) refers to the urgency of climate change and points out, correctly, that this situation “cries out for cooperation with our neighbours”. But his logic is adrift when he links this with his wish for continued British membership of the EU.

Firstly, such cooperation could happen via one of the other Europe-wide bodies of which the UK is a member, or via an intergovernmental group specific to that problem; there is no need for it to happen through the EU specifically or any such top-down supranational body.

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MPs should take inspiration from President Kennedy’s call in 1961 to put a man on the moon within a decade, says Colin Hines. Plus letters from John Stone and Paul Atkin

Your editorial (13 May) correctly states that Britain needs a Green New Deal now, and indeed in your letters page last autumn (10 September) our report detailing what form such a “jobs in every constituency” Green New Deal could take, and how to pay for it, was supported by a cross-party group of MPs, NGO leaders and academics. Since then the idea has gained international traction thanks to the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the support of grassroots movements. The US approach also includes the need to improve economic security for the majority, which has widened its support base. Finally, the scientific data underscoring the need to act in the next 10 years to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss has resulted in unprecedented activist pressure on politicians to respond.

As a result, all opposition parties are calling for the declaration of a climate emergency, but the government’s actual policies – from fracking to the rollback of support for renewables and energy efficiency – are making things worse. Yet all is not lost. At the end of last year more than 60 Tory MPs signed an all-party letter calling on the prime minister to back a net zero-emissions target ahead of 2050. Clearly the disconnect here is the lack of necessary political will. MPs should take inspiration from President Kennedy’s call in 1961 to put a man on the moon within a decade, but this time the priority must be to save the planet, rather than leave it.
Colin Hines
Convener, UK Green New Deal Group

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The boss of Skanska tells 5 Live that companies only calculate carbon emissions.

Listen to the audio book version of the Australian Children's book 'When Water Lost Her Way' by Meg Humphrys.

The German government will discuss how, rather than if, the country can achieve a 2050 net zero emissions goal, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

Soft-drink brand’s products make up nearly 12% of litter found, says Surfers Against Sewage

Coca-Cola bottles and cans are the most commonly found items of packaging pollution on British beaches, making up nearly 12% of all litter, research by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS)has found.

The results came from a series of 229 beach cleans organised by the anti-pollution campaigning group in April, which found close to 50,000 pieces of waste. About 20,000 of these carried identifiable brands, of which Coca-Cola was the leader, followed by Walkers crisps, Cadbury’s, McDonald’s and Nestlé.

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Rightwing populists to launch attack on climate science in vote drive before EU elections

Germany’s rightwing populists are embracing climate change denial as the latest topic with which to boost their electoral support, teaming up with scientists who claim hysteria is driving the global warming debate and ridiculing the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg as “mentally challenged” and a fraud.

The Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) is expected to launch its biggest attack yet on mainstream climate science at a symposium in parliament on Tuesday supported by a prominent climate change denial body linked by researchers to prominent conservative groups in the US.

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Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator on Tuesday published CO2 caps for four installations operated by the nation’s biggest cement producer, rejecting the firm's application to withhold the information and revealing that the plants have been granted the right to emit far more than they currently do.

A steady flow of supply from emitters looking to raise cash to pay the NZ$25 fixed price option ahead of this month’s compliance deadline is keeping New Zealand carbon prices in check.

Jakobshavn Isbrae - the likely originator of the Titanic iceberg - goes into an unexpected quiet mode.

Guangdong carbon allowances inched up 1% in Tuesday trade to stay near 4-year highs, as emerging power sector demand adds to speculation-driven trade in China’s biggest emissions market.

Economist Ross Garnaut says Australia could be a world leader if it makes the transition away from fossil fuels.

An all-electric liftback from Volvo's Polestar will be released in Australia in late 2020. But it won't be cheap.

The federal election campaign, already less civil than usual, is getting uglier as the finish line nears.

Conservationists hope the results will help them understand how butterflies survive in a warming climate.

International Maritime Organization aims to halve global emissions by 2050

This week is the 74th meeting of the marine environmental protection committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and it represents one of the best hopes of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a large and growing sector.

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