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Italy-based utility Enel aims to cut its emissions intensity by 70% under 2017 levels by 2030, it said on Wednesday, extending a company-wide target as one of a handful of firms to set an independently verified goal aligned with the 1.5C Paris Agreement global warming limit.

The German government will on Friday unveil its comprehensive new climate plan, which is said to centre around a domestic emissions trading scheme for the country’s transportation and heating sectors.

The Trump Administration revoked California’s Clean Air Act waiver to set its own more stringent vehicle GHG standards on Wednesday, likely setting up a contentious legal battle between the US federal government and the Golden State.

The addition of a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in Washington state’s Puget Sound region could slash the carbon intensity (CI) of transportation fuels by over a quarter during the next decade with little economic impact, according to analysis released Tuesday.

António Guterres cites ‘fantastic leadership’ of young activists and is counting on public pressure to compel governments to honor the 2015 Paris Agreement

The UN secretary general says that he is counting on public pressure to compel governments to take much stronger action against what he calls the climate change “emergency”.

“Governments always follow public opinion, everywhere in the world, sooner or later,” António Guterres, said Tuesday in an interview with Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets, led by Columbia Journalism Review and the Nation, in partnership with the Guardian. Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, added: “And so … we need to keep telling the truth to people and be confident that the political system, especially democratic political systems, will in the end deliver.”

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The Independent Planning Commission in Australia’s New South Wales on Wednesday rejected plans by South Korean firm KEPCO to build a new coal mine, citing environmental impact concerns and that the company had not done enough to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Rogue construction union boss John Setka is already in fights with the Labor party and the ACTU leadership. Now he faces a battle with parliament. Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick is moving to refer… Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

European carbon posted big losses for a second straight day on Wednesday, as much of the energy market declined as France's EDF said there was no need to close any of its nuclear reactors after it last week flagged the discovery of faulty components.

After crossing the Atlantic on a solar-powered boat, the climate activist Greta Thunberg visited Barack Obama in Washington. The former US president later shared a photo of the pair and praised Thunberg as 'one of our planet's greatest advocates'. The Swedish teenager is in the US to speak at the UN climate summit on 23 September

• Greta Thunberg to Congress: ‘You’re not trying hard enough. Sorry’
  

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South Korean carbon allowances hit record highs for the third consecutive session in Wednesday trade, as the few emitters yet to acquire the allowances they need before the impending compliance deadline are forced to pay higher prices.

New Zealand has issued guidelines for companies wanting to use carbon credits to voluntarily offset their GHG emissions, flagging the potential use of international units as well as some permits also eligible in the domestic emissions trading scheme.

The Uniting Church has publicly backed the School Strike for Climate — a backing which runs counter to the New South Wales Department of Education. How will the church navigate this tension — especially in Uniting Church schools?

Canterbury Museum says find overturns presumption pelagornithids evolved in northern hemisphere

The discovery of a toothed seabird fossil north of Christchurch is forcing scientists to rethink theories of the bird’s evolution.

A fossil of a protodontopteryx, believed to have lived 62 million years ago, was found at the Waipara Greensand site on New Zealand’s South Island last year.

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National maritime charity, the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, has revealed the eagerly awaited results of its seventh annual photography competition, showcasing images relating to all aspects of the UK’s historic relationship with the sea.

Having reviewed more than 800 fantastic entries, the judges decided to award Laurence Hartwell the prize for overall winner for 2019, with his entry ‘Landing Mackerel’

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The climate activist says more needs to be done ahead of a Congress hearing

Fisheries department will no longer be able to use nets and drumlines to control sharks

The Queensland government has lost its battle for the right to use nets and drumlines to catch and kill sharks in a bid to protect swimmers on the Great Barrier Reef.

The state government appeal to maintain its controversial management program was dismissed on Wednesday in the federal court in Sydney.

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BP, Shell and Chevron representatives will be at event on sidelines of UN climate summit

Oil and gas executives are holding an exclusive invitation-only forum with environmentalists and government representatives on the sidelines of the UN climate summit, in what critics have condemned as an attempt to influence negotiations in favour of fossil fuel companies.

Senior executives from leading oil companies including BP, Shell and Chevron will be at the event in New York on 22 September, which they describe as a “closed high-level discussion” with key stakeholders.

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One million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, yet governments are failing to stem the tide

The number of mammals, insects, amphibians, fish and birds is in steep decline, the world’s forests are on fire and the abundance of life is diminishing at rates unprecedented in human history. The TV screens are full of images of gorgeous wildlife but one million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction and governments appear paralysed.

Faced with stark and mounting evidence of nature’s precipitous decline, leading natural and social science researchers, philosophers, anthropologists and conservationists have come together to ask why conservation is failing, and to call for an urgent re-think of how the natural world should be protected.

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Greenland’s ice melt has been adopted by the world as a bellwether for climate crisis, but the impact on biodiversity has been overlooked. At an ice station on a remote Arctic glacier, scientists are looking to the smallest of life forms to predict the pace of species extinction

Behind the remote research huts of Sermilik ice station, a vast sheet of ice stretches north for 1,480 miles, spanning an area three times the size of France.

It is holding 10% of the world’s freshwater, water that has been frozen solid for millions of years. It’s glacier calving season in the south-eastern reaches of Greenland, and the adjacent channel is full of the thunderous roars and cracks of a flotilla of icebergs breaking apart.

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Photographers hoping to get a shot of Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg had to contend with a young boy who attempted to shield the often shy teenager from the media. The spontaneous act elicited a smile from Thunberg. Thunberg was attending an event on Capitol Hill and had opted not to speak at the event, choosing instead to listen as other teens spoke about their own environmental concerns. Thunberg attended a Senate climate crisis task force on Tuesday, and told lawmakers: 'Don’t invite us here to just tell us how inspiring we are without actually doing anything about it because it doesn’t lead to anything.' 

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