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NSW takes another step towards achieving its renewable energy ambitions, formally declaring its first Renewable Energy Zone.

The post NSW formally declares Australia’s first Renewable Energy Zone appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Re-flooding coastal wetlands could provide an opportunity to 'use sea level' rise to fight climate change

The prime minister with the shortest planning horizon in living memory is a laggard, not a leader

Scott Morrison thrives in the empty space between three-year terms and 30-year plans. Whether it is climate change, nuclear submarines or budget repair – it is no accident the prime minister with the shortest planning horizon in living memory is our greatest announcer of long-run plans.

While the vacuousness of Morrison’s net-zero “plan” and his refusal to release the underpinning modelling has been widely condemned, the reality is: no matter how detailed a plan to transition the Australian economy over the next 30 years is, it will always be a work of fiction.

Today I announce the largest and most far-reaching package of measures to address climate change ever undertaken by any government in Australia … It provides a durable framework to promote Australia’s national interest towards the year 2010 and beyond. In a comprehensive manner, it replaces and far exceeds the random, disjointed projects of the previous government.

Without further action, Australia’s emissions are expected to grow by around 28 per cent from 1990 to 2010. This is based on a comprehensive approach excluding land use change. Emissions from the energy sector alone are expected to grow by around 40 per cent. The package I announce today will achieve a dramatic reduction of a third in our expected net emissions growth from 1990 to 2010. These measures will reduce our net emissions growth from 28 to 18 per cent in that period, or some 39 million tonnes of emissions … This is a realistic, even conservative, calculation of the emission benefits.

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Yu Kongjian's sponge city, based on ancient Chinese wisdom, seeks to change how we deal with floods.

Australia could modify its solar rebate mechanism to ensure that there is enough household battery storage to soak up excess solar.

The post Australia needs 10 gigawatts of home batteries by 2030 to soak up excess solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

We cannot claim that inducing others to reduce emissions gives us a moral license to emit in their place. Christian Barry, Professor of Philosophy at the ANU, Australian National University Garrett Cullity, Professor, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Despite green energy investment promises, many governments still financially back the fossil fuel industry.

Climate activists from the Philippines, the UK and Argentina take questions on climate change.

What exactly is the right mix of wind and solar as grid shift from centralised fossil fuel generators to variable renewables?

The post Efficient frontiers: Finding the right balance between wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The world's two biggest CO2 emitters pledge to co-operate in an announcement at the COP26 summit.

Commonwealth Environmental Water Office MEDIA RELEASE

Commonwealth Environmental Water Office MEDIA RELEASE

We must take significant and rapid action now, to ensure cities play their part in limiting dangerous global warming and withstand the climate challenges ahead. Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Georgia Warren-Myers, Senior Lecturer in Property, The University of Melbourne Judy Bush, Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Countries facing exposure to the EU's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) are progressively easing their opposition as they envisage laying out comparable policies to avert carbon leakage, the European Commission's climate chief Frans Timmermans said on Wednesday.

California divvied out the fewest number of compliance offsets this week since spring 2020, although the number of California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) that lost their invalidation period swelled for the second consecutive issuance, according to data from state regulator ARB published Wednesday.

Washington’s WCI-modelled cap-and-trade system will not have any linkages when it commences from 2023, and it is uncertain when or even if the jurisdiction will ever join another programme, a state government official said this week.

The US and China surprise COP26 with a rare joint statement to cooperate on climate action, bridging the ambition gap and accelerating a coal phase out.

The post Coal on the chopping block as US and China agree to cooperate on climate action appeared first on RenewEconomy.

China and the US, the world's two largest GHG emitters, made a joint statement late on Wednesday at the COP26 climate summit pledging stronger cooperation to curb emissions in the 2020s and in particular on methane.

In a surprise press conference, the two superpowers promised to cooperate more and hoped for the success of Cop26

China and the US announced a surprise plan to work together on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the crucial next decade, in a strong boost to the Cop26 summit, as negotiators wrangled over a draft outcome.

The world’s two biggest emitters had been trading insults for the first week of the conference, but on Wednesday evening unveiled a joint declaration that would see the world’s two biggest economies cooperate closely on the emissions cuts scientists say are needed in the next 10 years to stay within 1.5C.

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The launch of a Ukrainian carbon market appears uncertain as the country examines several options to put an adequate price on emissions while averting political opposition and the EU's border measures.