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Rivers overall are getting cleaner, but water firms still need to do better, the Environment Agency says.

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

Victoria Gill joins scientists trying to find out how wildfires affect the air we breathe.

An omnibus clean energy bill introduced by a Washington DC councilmember on Tuesday calls for the US capital to achieve a 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) by 2032, but fails to include a carbon tax pushed for by campaigners this year.

The UNFCCC’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has enjoyed great success in deploying more than $300 billion of investment into clean technology in developing countries around the world. But recent decisions by the UNFCCC risk alienating may of the companies whose activities support this mechanism and discriminate against smaller enterprises.

Ontario lawmakers have been recalled for a summer session to introduce "urgent legislation" to repeal the law that underpins the province's now-cancelled cap-and-trade scheme, the new Progressive Conservative government announced Tuesday.

It’s mid-summer yet the cuckoo’s adieu and spotted redshank’s dark plumage hint at autumn

It may be the hottest, driest, summer since 1976 but on the first day of July I said goodbye to spring and greeted the coming of autumn, within a few short hours.

The farewell to spring came in the form of a calling cuckoo at the RSPB’s flagship Ham Wall reserve in Somerset.

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An audit of Sydney's drinking water has found worryingly high salinity. If the biggest water catchment in the country has problems, what about regional and rural Australia? Ian Wright, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

EU carbon prices extended its one-month high on Tuesday as a heatwave-induced rally in European power prices continued to lend support.

Number of extinct species on EPBC fauna list will rise by almost 20% if species added to list

Ten species could soon be added to Australia’s list of extinct fauna, including a Queensland frog that was last seen in 1990.

The federal government’s scientific advisory body is assessing whether to add nine mammals and the mountain mistfrog to its list of native animal species considered extinct under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

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California grasslands offer a better chance of sequestering carbon than forests under higher temperatures and more intense drought, which researchers say is critical for offset project developers and regulators to consider in meeting the state’s emission target.

The European Commission will launch a 12-week consultation early next week on revising its long-term low-carbon development strategy - a plan that might take as long as two years to finalise, the EU’s climate chief said Tuesday.

MPs debating the ivory bill must distinguish between the illegal market and the legitimate sale of significant works of art, says Martin Levy. Cecilia Grayson draws parallels between the ivory trade and the food industry

Fiona Harvey reports that, despite restrictions in place since 1989, illegal ivory is being sold across Europe (Report, 10 July). Nothing more clearly demonstrates the significance of the widely welcomed ivory bill currently passing though parliament.  

However, the impression given in the pages of Hansard suggests that many MPs cannot distinguish between culturally significant works of art created over the millennia, and the knick-knacks sold online (which they often cite)and other popular outlets. The elimination of the market for trinkets is unequivocally supported by campaigners for bona fide, pre-1947 works of art. It is hoped that when the bill becomes law, appropriate consideration will be given to the regulations required to ensure its fair operation.

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A UK court has dismissed an appeal filed by a dolime company over having to return almost 185,000 EU carbon allowances after it mothballed a plant in 2016.

The third RGGI auction of the year will take place on Sep. 5, the scheme's operators announced Tuesday, with the sale following June’s sold-out auction that surprised many by clearing several cents above market.

Study shows poor air quality leads to health problems and ‘should serve as a warning’

Air pollution leads to spikes in health problems and drives up hospital admissions and visits to the GP, according to a new study.

The report proves an “absolutely clear” link between poor air quality and health problems and researchers said it should serve as a warning to politicians about the serious impacts of toxic air on public health.

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It will be the first privately-funded unmanned spacecraft to land on the lunar surface.

The UK's new £200m polar research ship is on the slipway ready to go in the River Mersey.

Fewer people believe China’s national carbon market will be fully operational this decade, a new survey has revealed, as policy risks and expectations of lower allowance prices fuel pessimism and hold back industry from making low-carbon investment.

New Zealand carbon permits rose to all-time highs for the third time this year in Tuesday trade as a dearth in available supply keeps pushing prices up.