Around The Web

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

BHP this week upped the ante on climate change responsibility. Andrew Mackenzie, the company's CEO, said in a landmark speech in London that he wanted to ‘reduce the impact of BHP’s products’. This would extend to the carbon emissions of the company's customers, such as steelmakers.

Saltwater solution for drought towns battling brackish drinking water; Families leave the land after generations amid succession struggles; Torrita locals fight for just eight seconds of your time to slow traffic down through their town.

US grid operator PJM will not implement a carbon pricing mechanism in its regional wholesale power market unless jurisdictions independently decide to charge for emissions, though it will continue to explore potential design options for such a programme, officials said Friday.

A recent deal struck by California and four automakers on higher vehicle GHG standards in the next decade could operate alongside proposed weaker federal benchmarks, but the long-term outcome may still depend on a future court decision, a legal source told Carbon Pulse.

The Arctic Circle is suffering from an unprecedented number of wildfires in the latest sign of a climate crisis. With some blazes the size of 100,000 football pitches, vast areas in Siberia, Alaska and Greenland are engulfed in flames. The World Meteorological Organisation has said these fires emitted as much carbon dioxide in a month as the whole of Sweden does in a year

• The world is literally on fire – so why is it business as usual for politicians?

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A global CO2 tax of $200 per tonne would only reduce GHGs from oil production by 4% over the next century, as the price would not be high enough to make a large dent in existing and undiscovered reserves, according to new research.

EU’s lending arm financed oil, gas and coal projects in 2018 with more than €2.4bn

The European Investment Bank has vowed to end its multibillion euro financing for fossil fuel projects by the end of next year in order to align its strategy with climate targets.

The EU’s lending arm has drafted plans, seen by the Guardian, which propose cutting support for energy infrastructure projects which rely on oil, gas or coal by barring companies from applying for loans beyond the end of 2020.

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This week: a swimming adder, feeding polar bears and stranded whales

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The two-metre long femur is thought to have belonged to a sauropod from the late Jurassic era.

EU coal power output fell 19% over H1 as higher carbon prices and cheaper renewables displaced big-emitting generation in almost every country, according to a report published Thursday.

NSW poised to overtake South Australia in wind and solar output volume, and to fill in gap created by Liddell.

The post NSW set to overtake South Australia as top renewables generator appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The fires are releasing significant amounts of carbon gases, contributing further to global warming.

Chris Kraft, who founded Nasa's mission control, is honoured at the Proms after his death this week.

London art and design museum praises environmental group’s distinctive visual identity

A year ago, the climate activist movement Extinction Rebellion did not even exist. Now, just nine months after its first public action, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has acquired a number of artefacts associated with the group, saying the visual impact of its campaigns can be compared to that of the suffragettes.

A green, blue and pink flag printed with the movement’s distinctive extinction symbol, two printing blocks used by activists early in the campaign to make their own protest banners and an already rare pamphlet from the first print run produced by the group will join the V&A’s permanent collections as part of its “rapid response” programme to put contemporary and newsworthy objects on display.

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

Tim Flannery, chief councillor of Climate Council Australia, warns about the pace of climate change.

EU carbon prices fell for a third day on Friday, retreating further from this week's 13-year high as energy prices declined and Europe's heatwave receded.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has distributed nearly 300,000 carbon credits over the past two weeks, as issuance rates return to near average levels.

The company, which handles about half of the state’s recycling, is in financial crisis and has told local councils it can no longer accept material

More than half of the Victorian rubbish usually handled by stricken recycling operator SKM will be sent to the tip after the company told 30 local councils it could no longer collect material from them.

Victorian minister for the environment, Lily D’Ambrosio, said other operators had the capacity to absorb about 40% of the approximately 300,000 tonnes of recycling handled by SKM every year, leaving about 180,000 tonnes destined for landfill.

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