Around The Web

European hornets have moved north with climate change, but are generally less aggressive than common wasps

In a drought, all sorts of wildlife gets attracted to a garden pond since there are few other sources of water nearby. Regular visitors are wasps, the largest of which is the European hornet, Vespa crabro, which dwarfs common wasps because it is twice the size, at 25mm long.

According to the experts it is less aggressive than the common wasp, but carries a substantial sting – so requires respect. Although once confined to the extreme south of Britain because it was too cold further north, climate change has allowed hornets to extend their range as far north as Scotland, and they are now common in the Midlands and central England.

Continue reading...

The Trump administration’s reported plan to downgrade US vehicle fuel economy standards and revoke California’s authority to set more stringent targets would lead to higher transport sector emissions and greater economic and health losses, according to a policy brief issued Tuesday.

The latest ESB document includes some strange results. We hate to say it but there seems to be an agenda at work.  

You might know expanded polystyrene as packing foam, but it's a nightmare to recycle. Why not just turn it into something useful (or beautiful) instead? Tom Lee, Lecturer, Faculty of Design and Architecture Building, University of Technology Sydney Berto Pandolfo, Senior Lecturer Product Design, University of Technology Sydney Nick Florin, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Rachael Wakefield-Rann, Research Consultant and PhD Candidate, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Victoria expected to reach 40% renewables five years earlier than targeted, South Australia could tip 85% by 2030, while NSW will trail other states and have less than 20% renewables by 2020.

Marcus Nield of the UN’s Climate Change Adaptation Unit says blaming China for is a case of ‘yellow peril’ hysteria, while Robin Maynard highlights the key role of population in depleting resources

Blaming China for climate change is a clearcut case of “yellow peril” hysteria (Letters, 12 July). On average, a person in China consumes less than half of the emissions of a person in the US (7.2 tonnes per capita annually compared with 16.5 tonnes). So why all the finger-wagging at China? There’s a blatant mistake recurring in carbon politics. Yes, as a nation, China emits the most carbon dioxide, but an astronomical volume of these emissions are to manufacture our goods in the west. Is it fair to maintain a voracious level of consumption in the US and UK while blaming China for producing the goods that we’re consuming? Don’t look at emissions in isolation. Look at them in tandem with consumption, and then we’ll see where to place the burden of blame. Also, China’s investments in renewables have caused the costs to plummet, from which the entire world can now benefit. China invests more than $100bn in domestic renewables every year – more than twice the level of the US, and more than the US and the EU combined.
Marcus Nield
Climate Change Adaptation Unit, UN Environment, Nairobi, Kenya

• Your article (23 July) accurately sums up the excellent work done by the Global Footprint Network regarding our depletion of the planet’s ability to support us. What, unlike GFN themselves, the article did not acknowledge is that the number of people consuming those resources is a critical, if not the critical, driver of the unfolding crisis. In 1970, our global population was less than half of the 7.6 billion we have presently. In 1970, Earth Overshoot Day fell on the 29 December: in 2018, on 1 August. Can anyone credibly claim that those two changes are not linked?

Continue reading...

European carbon prices ended their five-day rally on Tuesday, easing back towards €17 after hitting a fresh seven-year high.

UK utility Drax produced 24% less coal-fired power in the first half of 2018, reducing its demand for EU carbon allowances as outages at the firm’s biomass units affected earnings.

Energy minister issues first permit since new regulatory regime introduced

Shale gas firm Cuadrilla has been given the green light by the government to start fracking at a well in Lancashire, after the energy minister issued the first fracking permit since a new regulatory regime was introduced.

Fracking is expected to begin in late August or early September at the Preston New Road site, between Blackpool and Preston, which has been the focus of 18 months of protests since work on the site started.

Continue reading...

DTE Energy Trading is expanding its West power capabilities and seeks an experienced individual who knows how to track regulations and policy affecting west power trading.

The Brokerage team at Karbone is recruiting to expand its fast growing business. We are seeking experienced and highly motivated candidates to join our platform.

Scientists have uncovered a new dinosaur in China... and it's older than expected.

The role will assist all team members within our small organisation but will be managed and report directly to one of our Programme and Communication Managers

Ahead of the 2019 Climate Summit, the consultant will work with UNDP’s Climate Change and External Engagement Teams to support communications, advocacy and partnership efforts on global climate change policy and advocacy.

Hope is that pair of beavers build dams that help hold back water and improve biodiversity

Four hundred years after the beaver was hunted to extinction in the UK, two of the mammals are being reintroduced on to government land in an English forest as part of a scheme to assess whether they could be a solution to flooding.

Two Eurasian beavers were being released on Tuesday into their new lodge within a large penned-off section of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.

Continue reading...

Nexus seeks a Executive Director (ED) to be based in our office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia! The ED leads the Nexus team and is responsible for driving overall growth and organisational management. This role is central to both defining and implementing the membership strategy, identifying new opportunities for Nexus’ growth and ensuring that the organization stays true to its core mission and values.

The Bank seeks a Climate Change Specialist to provide technical leadership in the design, implementation, management and monitoring of activities in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) sector that are financed by climate-related funds in accordance to (a) the Bank’s rules, regulations, policies and procedures (including those in respect to the procurement of goods and services, financial management, reporting arrangements and its framework to combat corruption); (b) the purpose for which the allocation of funds was approved; and c) any additional requirements of the funding sources.

The world's oceans are under threat from plastic pollution and climate change.

The Bank seeks a Climate Change Consultant to work in partnership with stakeholders across the IDB-Group and Latin America and the Caribbean to provide technical leadership in climate finance, project structuring, and management of the climate finance project pipeline with major climate change funds.

We are currently seeking a Team Leader for our multidisciplinary Climate Policy and Energy Transformation Team of 10-15 experts, mostly based in Berlin, with some based in other countries/CA offices.