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Pagham Harbour, West Sussex: Among the detritus, towers of red valerian shake in the wind and sea kale plants explode in a flurry of wavy green leaves

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Victoria says its renewables auction on track, but there is still concern that the NEG could scorch the earth around it.

NSW coal closures, China's solar bombshell, and falling lithium shares. Just another week in energy markets.

On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA is providing $2 million in funding to MSM Milling Pty Ltd to help switch its LPG gas fired boilers to a biomass fuelled boiler.

GreenSync is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Woodall as Chairman of the board, effective immediately.

Victoria's newest wind farm - Salt Creek - has begun exporting to the grid.

Sonnen says it is using combined capacity of 2,500 residential batteries it has installed in Australia to play in wholesale markets.

A new provision from California regulator ARB to provide Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits for two types of fuelling infrastructure for zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) may raise concerns about the programme’s commitment to technology neutrality and environmental integrity, according to stakeholders at the agency’s public workshop on Monday.

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

The US has more captive tigers than the rest of the world has wild ones. Why?

As Researcher in Climate Protection & Urban Governance, you will support our team in working on projects on national and European climate policy and urban governance. In particular, you will work at the interface between traditional emission reduction approaches and adaptation – especially in cities – to climate change. In addition, you will support the acquisition of new projects in these fields.

Carp that soak up the sun are fitter, and bold fish benefit more by sunbathing for longer

One magic late afternoon in summer, sitting on the bank of a clear, still lake in Hertfordshire, it was possible to see lines of motionless carp on the surface that appeared to be sunbathing. The idea that fish, like snakes and other ectotherms (“cold-blooded” creatures), might enjoy or benefit from sunbathing was dismissed as a childish fancy at the time, but many decades later has been vindicated.

A scientific paper shows that carp not only sunbathe, but also gain body heat, grow faster and are fitter as a result. These fish were warmer than their surroundings despite the fact that scientists thought this was impossible because the fish were immersed in cold water. Another key finding is that not all fish gained equally. The darker fish absorbed more warmth than their paler companions and grew faster.

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New Australia Institute paper finds neither Coalition nor Labor’s pollution reduction targets would see us doing our fair share

Pollution reduction targets for 2030 proposed by the Coalition and Labor will not see Australia contributing its fair share to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate agreement, according to new research.

A paper from the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute finds the Turnbull government’s target of a 26-28% reduction on 2005 levels is “inadequate according to any recognised principle-based approach” and the Labor target of a 45% reduction is “the bare minimum necessary for Australia to be considered to be making an equitable contribution to the achievement of the Paris agreement’s two degree target”.

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EU carbon prices lost ground for a second day on Monday, sinking to a one-week low as traders grew preoccupied by coming weeks of high auction supply and a looming option expiry date.

Many of the oldest and largest specimens of Africa's baobab tree have died over the past 12 years.

Champion of wildlife conservation in towns and cities

George Barker, who has died aged 77, was a champion of wildlife conservation in towns and cities. During his long service in the government wildlife service, the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), and its successor bodies, he became the acknowledged expert on urban nature conservation, a field that had been largely neglected. His openness to new ideas, unusual in a public servant, and gentle advocacy over four decades, helped to make a success of urban wildlife conservation both at home and abroad.

Acting almost alone at first, Barker set about destroying the myth of the “urban wildlife desert”. Long before ecosystem services became a crucial part of urban planning and design, Barker realised that city landscapes can be surprisingly rich in wildlife, especially in post-industrial “brownfield” sites such as quarries and spoil-heaps. These places were seen as derelict land and were completely unprotected. Barker also understood that urban parks and even gardens can become reservoirs for wildlife if managed in the right way.

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China’s environmental regulators on Monday started a one-year long campaign to ensure the enforcement of anti-emission measures across the nation’s most polluted cities as part of efforts to reduce its reliance on coal, according to an official statement.

European commission’s inaction is putting people’s health at risk, law firm says

People’s health is being put at risk by Brussels’ slow response to the use of dangerous chemicals, according to a report.

A study by ClientEarth, an environmental law organisation, found that in nine out of 10 cases the European commission’s decision to ban a toxic chemical after it had been identified was “excessively delayed”, sometimes for up to four years.

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South Korea’s June 1 CO2 permit auction sold 85% of the allowances on offer, settling at a 2% discount to the secondary market, according to a government official on Monday.

Danish-Canadian urban designer Mikael Colville-Andersen busts some common myths and shows how the bicycle has the potential to transform cities around the world

• Copenhagenize is published by Island Press

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