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Young activists and our columnist answer your questions as pupils around the world stage climate strikes

On Friday 15 March young people around the world will be walking out of their classrooms to strike for action to save the planet from climate change.

Related: Young climate strikers can win their fight. We must all help | George Monbiot

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When it comes to environmental activism, optimism is key. Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Sean Connell, Professor, Ecology, University of Adelaide Zoe Doubleday, Research Fellow, University of South Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The variety of pig bones found suggest people travelled a long way for the feasts, researchers say.

Temperatures likely to rise by 3-5C above pre-industrial levels even if Paris goals met

Sharp and potentially devastating temperature rises of 3C to 5C in the Arctic are now inevitable even if the world succeeds in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris agreement, research has found.

Winter temperatures at the north pole are likely to rise by at least 3C above pre-industrial levels by mid-century, and there could be further rises to between 5C and 9C above the recent average for the region, according to the UN.

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Environmental groups say chancellor’s climate change pledges do not go far enough

Gas boilers will be replaced by low-carbon heating systems in all new homes built after 2025 in an attempt to tackle the escalating climate crisis, Philip Hammond has said.

In his spring statement, the chancellor said new properties would use alternative systems, such as heat pumps, to help the UK reduce its carbon emissions.

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Labor has promised to introduce strong environment laws and a national EPA if elected but policy details have been scarce

Three months on from Bill Shorten’s promise to introduce strong environment laws if elected, campaigners are calling on Labor to release the policy detail behind the pledge, with one accusing the ALP environment spokesman, Tony Burke, of going missing on the issue.

For activists who have spent decades fighting to strengthen protection of Australia’s natural heritage, Shorten’s commitment at the ALP conference in December to bring in a new environment act and a national environment protection authority (EPA) was an extraordinary breakthrough. In the months since, they say, the issue has evolved into a question mark.

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Climate change: fossil fuel burning will become a thing of the past for new homes

Environment groups, councils and London mayor challenge airport expansion in high court

The decision to expand Heathrow airport with a third runway was unlawful because it failed to consider the full impacts of climate change and the need for more stringent targets to avoid catastrophic global warming, the high court has been told.

Friends of the Earth on Wednesday accused the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, of acting unlawfully when he agreed to the expansion, which is contained in the government’s airports national policy statement.

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The UK is considering forcing all transportation providers to offer “genuinely additional” carbon offsets to give passengers more opportunity to achieve carbon neutral travel, the government announced Wednesday.

Traders anticipate the quarterly RGGI auction to settle below current price levels, bucking the recent trend of above-secondary market results.

The Policy Advisor, International Climate Policy supports TNC’s international policy advocacy and thought leadership efforts to support our goal of keeping global warming well below 2°C and building the resilience of people and places in the face of a changing climate.

The Policy Specialist, Climate Change based in New York is responsible for contributing substantive advice and technical expertise, advocacy, relationship building and knowledge to the thematic area of Climate Change within both the GPN and UNDP as a whole.

New Zealand carbon permits gained another 0.4% in Wednesday trade to hit a 4-month high, just 5 cents below the market’s all-time record level.

Over a quarter of the allowances on offer at Wednesday’s South Korean CO2 auction went unsold due to the tighter bid limits introduced last week.

Air quality has become a key political issue after record pollution levels hit the country last week

South Korea has passed emergency measures to tackle the “social disaster” being unleashed by air pollution, after record levels of fine dust blanketed most of the country in recent weeks.

The national assembly passed a series of bills on Wednesday giving authorities access to emergency funds for measures that include the mandatory installation of high-capacity air purifiers in classrooms and encouraging sales of liquified petroleum gas vehicles, which produce lower emissions than those that run on petrol and diesel.

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Indonesia, the world’s 4th most populous nation, wants to deliver electricity to all of its 260 million. Here's how it can do a lot of this through renewables.

The post How renewables can help electrify Indonesia’s sprawling island nation appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Wind and solar farms warned their output could be cut to zero for up to 100 days over next year due to grid upgrades.

The post Wind, solar farms to be blacked out for up to 100 days due to grid upgrade appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A legal stoush that has been unfolding in Europe and the US between some of the world’s biggest solar PV manufacturers has reached Australian shores.

The post Solar patent battle spreads to Australia, as Hanwha files complaint in Federal Court appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NSW commission approves 165MW solar farm to be built near Gunnedah.

The post NSW approves new 165MW solar farm
 near Gunnedah appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Hydro Tasmania has revealed the three sites selected for further investigation into their pumped hydro potential.

The post Pumped to announce three most promising sites appeared first on RenewEconomy.