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Exclusive: Defra issues new cull licences despite government adviser saying there is ‘no justification’

Badger cull licences have been issued by the government despite its own scientific adviser saying there is “no justification” for doing so.

Leaked documents seen by the Guardian show the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs this month issued 17 new licences to continue culling badgers, overruling Dr Peter Brotherton, the director of science at Natural England, the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England.

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Analysis released this week has found Australian Indigenous peoples hold legal right or consent to develop carbon projects along 66% of Australia’s coastline, but are unable to do so due to a lack of applicable methods.

Chang'e-6 will bring home rock samples that could help scientists study how planets are formed.

Metis Energy breaks ground on construction of 111MW Gunsynd solar project in southern Queensland, kicking off its big plans for Australia.

The post Singapore firm kicks off Australian plans by breaking ground on new Gunsynd solar project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New Zealand carbon allowances climbed 10% in Tuesday trade amid continued speculator demand and as the market digests what little there was for it in last week's budget.

The Australian government is looking at its Guarantee of Origin scheme (GO) as a potential demand-side driver of green metals development in the country alongside a raft of other measures, according to a consultation paper released Tuesday.

IEA report finds that if countries included existing energy policies in their new climate pledges they would reflect 70% of what's needed to reach the 2030 tripling renewables goal.

The post World on track to triple renewables based on government policies, but not according to climate pledges appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Barnaby Joyce has a new company to boycott, with Octopus Australia unveiling plans to build a massive 1GW wind farm in south-west New South Wales.

The post Octopus adds 1GW wind farm to its massive renewable and storage plans in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Analysis of policies of nearly 150 countries shows shortfall to hit target viewed as vital for transition from fossil fuels

The world is off track to meet the goal of tripling renewable electricity generation by 2030, a target viewed as vital to enable a swift global transition away from fossil fuels, but there are promising signs that the pace of progress may be picking up.

Countries agreed last December on a tripling of renewable power by the end of this decade. But few have yet taken concrete steps to meet this requirement and on current policies and trends global renewable generation capacity would only roughly double in developed countries, and slightly more than double globally by 2030, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency.

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Figures show breaches have rarely led to prosecution by Drinking Water Inspectorate since 2021

The drinking water regulator for England and Wales has brought only three prosecutions against water companies for providing poor quality water since 2021, despite 362 instances in which water was flagged as being unfit for human consumption.

Periodically, members of the public or companies have informed the Drinking Water Inspectorate about water that has not been not safe for human consumption. In those instances, the DWI can issue legal instruments that require companies to put in place a package of measures.

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Rio Tinto to invest $215 million in development facility in Australia to assess a new ironmaking process using biomass called BioIron.

The post Mining giant Rio Tinto to build “green iron” facility that uses biomass to cut emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

MPower to sell Lakeland project to free up funds as it embarks on program to build another 30 solar and storage projects on main grid.

The post First solar and storage project on Australia’s main grid to be sold appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australian mining giant Rio Tinto announced Tuesday it will spend $143 million on an R&D facility to assess the effectiveness of its novel low-carbon ironmaking process, dubbed BioIron, that it says could cut up to 95% of the emissions associated with steelmaking.

The Australian government has a challenge. Having gone big on renewable energy and clean economy announcements, how does it now deliver meaningful outcomes for the regional communities.

The post Capacity Investment Scheme must be about filling gaps in social licence, too appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The collecting module is coming back with the first samples ever taken from that side of the moon.

New state access regime aims to "substantially reduce" the risk new projects will be subject to curtailment and improve certainty for investors and developers.

The post Victoria caps access for solar and wind in new renewable zones, to avoid curtailment and buoy investors appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Insistence on investment purity misses the point and will only lead to a decline in arts sponsorship

In a ranking of climate villains in the fund management industry, Baillie Gifford would surely come a long way down most people’s list. The Edinburgh-based firm preaches long-termism and its specialism is backing technology companies, especially those with kit to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy and transport. It was early into Tesla on the thesis that polluting internal combustion engines are on the way out and Elon Musk had a winning electric design. Another high-profile bet was Northvolt, the Swedish pacesetter in batteries that is now the net zero envy of the rest of Europe.

Few portfolios in the mainstream asset management world are entirely free of fossil fuel assets but Baillie Gifford’s are definitely at the less oily end. As the firm has pointed out repeatedly in recent weeks, only 1% of the £225bn of the assets it manages is invested directly in fossil fuel companies, and the figure is still only 2% if one includes stocks such as supermarkets that sell petrol. That’s versus an industry average of 11%.

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No, it’s not a problem that some renewable power doesn’t make it to the grid. Here’s why Dylan McConnell, Senior Research Associate, Renewable Energy & Energy Systems Analyst, UNSW Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

UBS Asset Management has launched an exchange-traded commodity (ETC) that gives investors exposure to the EU carbon market.

Major flaws in the design of the newly announced NSW home battery rebate are already taking a toll on industry in the state, as sales dry up in the long wait until November.

The post “It’s going to be devastating:” Crisis talks as battery rebate design threatens to kill sales appeared first on RenewEconomy.