Around The Web

The Department commissioned Mr Drew Clarke AO PSM FTSE in August 2017, to undertake a review of the governance arrangements supporting the Australian Antarctic Science Program and to provide advice on a new governance model by early 2018. The...

The Department commissioned Mr Drew Clarke AO PSM FTSE in August 2017, to undertake a review of the governance arrangements supporting the Australian Antarctic Science Program and to provide advice on a new governance model by early 2018. The...

An extra $460bn per year needs to be invested on the low-carbon economy globally over the next 12 years to limit global warming to 1.5C, a new paper says.

Waste byproducts from rice and glass combined with fungus can create a construction material with the potential to save lives and the planet. Tien Huynh, Senior Lecturer in the School of Sciences, RMIT University Mitchell Jones, PhD Student, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Puppies and kittens are born without teeth, but by around two months of age they have a full set of baby teeth. Anne Fawcett, Lecturer, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The major supermarkets' bans on single-use plastic bags are looming, but will they actually help the environment? And what are our alternative options?

Genex offered $516 million loan from Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility for world-leading solar and pumped hydro storage project.

One mayor says children under 10 years old should not walk alone, in case of an attack.

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

Ontario carbon allowances held in Quebec and California will remain valid for compliance following Ontario’s departure from the WCI programme, though it remains unclear how the three jurisdictions will manage the fallout from Premier-designate Doug Ford’s decision to kill the province's carbon market.

EU lawmakers agreed on a 32.5% bloc-wide energy efficiency target late on Tuesday, which along with a scaled-up renewables goal would mean the bloc exceeding its 2030 emission goal and curbing demand in the EU ETS.

California regulator Air Resources Board (ARB) released a preliminary discussion draft on Tuesday that would give utilities more options for spending consigned allowance revenue in the state’s cap-and-trade programme, while also updating industry assistance factors and offset protocol procedures.

Meet the new residents of a cave in Santa Monica.

A sharp rise in EUA spot trading in early 2009 was initially thought to be more likely due to a natural maturing of the carbon market rather than tax fraud, according to a former trader at UK bank RBS on Tuesday during a trial over a £160 million ($212 mln) lawsuit.

Shale gas not covered in by existing water regulations in ‘glaring omission’, Labor’s environment spokesman says

Regulations on unconventional gas development across Australia would be tightened up if Labor wins the next election.

Labor’s minister for the environment Tony Burke says the party, if elected, will keep the commitment it took to the 2016 election to broaden the “water trigger” to include other forms of unconventional gas extraction. The current water trigger, introduced by the Gillard government in 2013, assesses water resources as a matter of national significance only in relation to coal seam gas and coal mining.

Continue reading...

European carbon prices fell to a new one-month low on Tuesday as late selling wiped out earlier gains prompted by the day’s bullish auction.

The Bulgarian unit of US-based power company ContourGlobal has inked a €78.6 mln deal to buy EU carbon allowances from Germany’s Statkraft Markets.

European engineers shake their Mars rover to see that it can survive the violence of a rocket launch.

Antibiotic use on farms is a major cause of human drug resistance. Yet slick social media campaigns – funded by the multi-billion-dollar industry – aim to muddy the waters

• How much does big pharma make from animal antibiotics?
  
• Can China’s farmers kick their antibiotic habit?
  

A Facebook ad entitled “How to survive as a working mom” depicts a stressed woman with a baby on her lap and a phone under one ear. “Breathe,” the advert says. “Pour a glass of wine (if that’s your thing). Prepare your family the chicken. Whether the label says ‘no antibiotics’ or not, the meat and milk you buy is free of harmful residues from antibiotics.”

The Enough Movement – the “global community” behind this advert – promises to tell you the truth about food. But it’s a PR campaign funded by Elanco, a multinational animal drugs company that sells antibiotics for use on livestock. Elanco operates in more than 70 countries and in 2015 accounted for 13% of the veterinary pharmaceuticals market. A subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, last year it was valued at $14bn-$16bn (£10.5bn-£12bn).

Continue reading...

It could be a struggle, but the world’s largest consumer of antibiotics is trying to convince its farmers to change their ways

• How much do pharmaceutical companies make from animal antibiotics?
  

High in the hills of Fuzhou, surrounded by acres of rustling bamboo, is a small farm that is pioneering something genuinely unusual in China. Here in the Fujian province, they have turned their backs on industrial farming in favour of natural methods.

After years of working in the industrial farming sector Mr Sun (not his real name – he asked to remain anonymous) wanted to create a space to raise animals with “respect for nature, respect for life”.

Continue reading...