Around The Web

European carbon prices were little changed by midday on Thursday despite trading in a nearly €2 range during the morning, as energy markets appeared to adopt a fairly cautious tone.

Trade flows of affected products under the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) could be redirected to markets outside the EU to avoid compliance with the scheme, leading to uneven competitive landscapes and a need for international coordination on carbon pricing, said a commodities price reporting agency.

Millions of Americans are sweltering as experts warn early heat could herald next record-smashing summer

With the official start of summer still weeks away, a potentially record-setting heatwave is cooking the south-western US, causing dangerous conditions far earlier than normal.

Excessive-heat warnings have been issued from the southern tip of Texas across Arizona and Nevada, and up through the center of California to the northern part of the state, as more than 36 million people across the country brace for days of potentially life-threatening temperatures. Affected areas of California could see conditions of 30F higher than normal for this time of year, as south-west cities, including Phoenix and Las Vegas, prepare to hit peaks above 110F.

Continue reading...

A government-appointed working group this week began grappling with legal issues flagged by economy ministry officials as potentially challenging, as Japan begins designing its mandatory emissions trading scheme slated to launch in 2026.

Investor Mirova and non-profit Rainforest Alliance have announced a partnership to scale up nature-based solutions focused on regenerative agriculture around the world.

Ocean-based CO2 removal techniques, which are attracting greater interest due to the constraints on land-based methods, may have significant knowledge gaps that could in turn affect the credibility of carbon offset schemes, according to a paper published this week.

Investments in clean energy are surging globally to reach almost double the amount going to fossil fuels in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA's) latest annual investment report, with solar PV surpassing all other energy sources combined.

Leading politicians have stepped forward to ask for the inclusion of carbon removals in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), with Poland’s climate minister and the chief ETS lawmaker in the European Parliament joining calls to address a looming liquidity crunch to avoid “market manipulation”.

A France-headquartered nature-based project developer is piloting biodiversity credits in a large area in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest to boost funding towards conservation efforts, as it expects the first transactions to happen by the end of the year.

The high-integrity Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) label may now be used for an estimated 27 million credits, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) announced Thursday, although with a warning the science behind some of the quantification needs to improve.

Addiction, anxiety and sex reversal have been reported in species by researchers as a range of substances contaminates ecosystems

From brown trout becoming “addicted” to methamphetamine to European perch losing their fear of predators due to depression medication, scientists warn that modern pharmaceutical and illegal drug pollution is becoming a growing threat to wildlife.

Drug exposure is causing significant, unexpected changes to some animals’ behaviour and anatomy. Female starlings dosed with antidepressants such as Prozac at concentrations found in sewage waterways become less attractive to potential mates, with male birds behaving more aggressively and singing less to entice them than undosed counterparts.

Continue reading...

A voluntary carbon credit services firm has added a substantial number of soil carbon removal credits to the US marketplace, issued under a regenerative agriculture programme run by a major pharmaceutical.

A Sydney-based fund manager has been ordered wound up by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) over unpaid debts after recently going into administration, leaving a litany of bad carbon project development deals in its wake.

Australia is likely to have a new environmental data agency. Here’s what it’s for – and why we need it. Hugh Possingham, Professor of Conservation Biology, The University of Queensland Jaana Dielenberg, University Fellow in Biodiversity, Charles Darwin University Michelle Ward, Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A massive investment in renewable energy in the Sunshine State will fund green power, storage and transmission projects and aim to save regional jobs.

The post Queensland promises $26 billion renewables splurge in state budget appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The decision to extend life of Australia's biggest coal plant adds to the uncertainties that will complicate bidding in the country's largest ever renewable tender.

The post Eraring extension may burn a big hole in Australia’s biggest renewable energy tender appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Do solar farms cause cancer? Will wind turbines send me deaf? A handy list of articles to help you sort fact from renewables fiction.

The post Sorting fact from renewable fiction: Handy resources for debunking solar and wind myths  appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New study models the economic and environmental benefits of making it mandatory for new-build homes and businesses to be all-electric – and finds no down-sides.

The post “High rewards, no regrets:” Council gas bans could save new-build home owners $600 a year on energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Trees are supposed to grow faster as a result of increased CO₂ in the atmosphere - but this research suggests there are many exceptions to the rule. Kristine Crous, Senior Lecturer, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University Belinda Medlyn, Distinguished Professor, Ecosystem Function and Integration, Western Sydney University David S Ellsworth, Professor of Plant Eco-physiology, Western Sydney University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The world’s first insurance solution was launched Thursday to protect against the risk of an ITMO credit losing its Article 6 authorization due to the corresponding adjustment (CA) not being made by the host country.