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EU carbon prices reached their highest in almost three weeks on Wednesday as a strong auction stirred hopes that EUAs could climb back above €16.

Ruth Chalmers of Greener UK supports George Monbiot’s call for better environmental protection

George Monbiot is right to argue that much of our wildlife is in peril and that independent environmental bodies need enough money to do their job (As the state is dismantled, who will save Britain’s wildlife?, 4 July). Declines in wildlife have coincided with significant funding cuts to organisations such as Natural England. The government has recently pledged to set up a new environmental body, a green watchdog, to “hold the powerful to account” on maintaining protections and standards. While this is welcome, there remain questions over its independence and funding. The watchdog will fall at the first hurdle if its budget is not protected from ministerial meddling, especially as much of the new body’s focus will be on holding the government to account. A ring-fenced budget, provided and held by parliament and not government, will help, as well as ensuring operational independence. Only then can we be assured that government is truly committed to enforcing green laws after Brexit.
Ruth Chambers
Senior parliamentary adviser, Greener UK

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The loss of the endangered northern white rhino could be reversed by IVF, say scientists.

The northern white rhino is essentially extinct – just two females remain – but new research paves the way for its resurrection

The first rhino embryos have been created in a test tube and could help save the northern white rhino, which is essentially extinct.

There are just two northern white rhino (NWR) females left alive. The last male, called Sudan, died in March in Kenya, meaning the subspecies is doomed to die out unless the new IVF techniques bear fruit.

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‘Striking association’ found between nine-year-old’s hospital admissions and local spikes in air pollution

A report into the death of a nine-year-old girl following a fatal asthma attack shows a “striking association” between her repeated hospital admissions and spikes in illegal levels of air pollution around her home in London.

Ella Kissi-Debrah, from Hither Green, near the capital’s busy South Circular Road, experienced seizures for three years prior to her death in February 2013. Her family have been calling for an investigation after a narrative conclusion by the original coroner, Phillip Barlow, ruled that Ella had suffered a severe asthma attack followed by a seizure.

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Two former Barclays trading colleagues called upon as market experts have effectively been pitted against each other in a £160 million ($210 mln) lawsuit over RBS’s alleged 2009 role in EU carbon trading tax fraud.

A new method using existing communications cables could make earthquakes easier to detect.

A four-day meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) board broke without taking any major decisions on Wednesday as rich and poor nations rowed and failed to tackle how to replenish the GCF’s rapidly depleting funds currently lacking a US contribution.

Scientists used radio tags to track Asian hornets, allowing their nests to be detected quickly.

Delaware’s Superior Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state’s participation in RGGI after the plaintiffs were unable to demonstrate that the regional US cap-and-trade scheme harmed them financially.

Australia’s carbon price could more than double by 2030 as the weak CO2 target for electricity generation will force higher costs on other sectors, analysts said Wednesday.

A carbon tax and dividend system could usher in an era of clean energy independence

Taking action on climate is about a lot more than our energy economy. Climate disruption is the leading threat to our built environment, an accelerant of armed conflict, and a leading cause of mass migration. Its effects intensify and prolong storms, droughts, wildfires, and floods — resulting in the US spending as much on disaster management in 2017 as in the three decades from 1980 to 2010.

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New data suggests worst cars are now 32 times more polluting than the best – risking all diesels being banned from cities, say experts

Ultra-dirty new diesel engines are being sold alongside ultra-clean models in the UK, according to new data, leaving car buyers facing what experts call a “nightmare”.

On-the-road tests by testing firm Emissions Analytics found that new models of Mercedes-Benz CLS, Seat Arona and Citroen DS 7 produced tiny amounts of pollution, up to 75% below the official EU limit.

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From fearsome predator to teddy bear: tracing the hidden history of brown bears in Britain.

Reporting to the Board of Carbon Market Watch, the Executive Director will have the opportunity to lead an agile and fast moving team to implement political campaigns on a variety of issues related to carbon pricing, climate finance, human rights and public participation. He/She will be responsible for the smooth running of the organisation, ensure stable financial resources and implement a forward looking development and expansion plan.

New Zealand carbon allowances rose to an all-time high on Wednesday as sellers were reluctant to satisfy demand amid expectations of higher prices in future.

A fight is looming in the Coalition partyroom over the National Energy Guarantee, and this fight threatens to open up old divisions.

Conservationists criticise environment minister for pushing strategy that affects threatened species

Josh Frydenberg has challenged Western Australia over its management of sharks, proposing the state pay for a network of satellite-linked baited drumlines to protect high-traffic beaches.

Frydenberg said 176 of the Smart (shark management alert in real time) drumlines could be deployed along 260km of WA’s 12,000km coastline, covering both Perth beaches and popular surf beaches in the southwest.

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A cafe is trying to cut its plastic waste by using donated mugs and cups to serve takeaway hot drinks.

Tidal power is the only renewable source derived from the moon. Now an extraordinary array of devices promise to unlock this vital energy potential

Using giant kites, blades and paddles, and mimicking pogo sticks, blowholes and even the human heart, groups around the world are on the cusp of harnessing the colossal power of the oceans.

The challenge is huge - seas have been battering coasts and sweeping sailors to their doom for millennia - but so is the prize: huge amounts of clean, reliable and renewable electricity for an energy-hungry world.

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