Feed aggregator

The artificial oasis 50m beneath London aims to reflect a healthier future for the River Thames once the new sewer opens.

Venture capital funding in the carbon industry slumped in the first half of the year amid a general retrenchment in the climate tech sector, but largely because of a boom in 2022, according to research published on Friday.

A new nature-based voluntary carbon market standard on Friday said it will revise its focus following a consultation towards the assessment of ecosystem and habitat indicators as it looks to make an official launch in early September.

The prime minister’s pledges to transform the country look about as rock steady as Thames Water’s balance sheets

Another busy week for Britain’s Ministry of Metaphor, as the country’s largest supplier of that luxury product “water” teeters on the brink of collapse. Thames Water has become the latest object lesson in the predictable and predicted folly of privatised monopolies, aided by a regulator that’s an even bigger wet wipe than the fatbergs bunging up the sewers. If you thought leveraged debt was bad when the Glazers did it with Manchester United, it’s possible you’ll find it even worse when water firms are holding you to a 40% bill hike if you simply want one of the essential building blocks of human life to come out of your tap. The companies have acted like cowboy builders who fleece unsuspecting customers for catastrophically poor work, and now want you to pay them huge sums again to fix it.

Back to them in a minute. For now, let’s rewind to early January this year, when the prime minister portentously unveiled his government’s five pledges. You may recall quite a lot of political experts explaining loftily that he had chosen these specific targets as they were actually not all that hard to achieve. As Rishi Sunak put it then: “Those are the people’s priorities. We will either have achieved them or not. No tricks, no ambiguity. We’re either delivering for you or we’re not.”

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

European carbon posted a small gain at midday on Friday after early declines amid thin trading as the quarter neared its end and traders closed their books, with a weak German auction contributing to a bearish feel while energy prices were slightly firmer as traders looked ahead to the start of Q3.

Europe's carbon market has seen sharp price swings in recent months amid an increased focus on technical trading as participants have focused on speculative positioning, but after the most recent episode of short-covering traders are starting to question whether EUAs are overvalued, with some are saying allowance costs may again start to reflect fundamentals.

A report from a British parliamentary environment committee on protecting marine mammals published this week calls for new comprehensive and precautionary actions to protect species.

The spot price in China's national emissions trading scheme (ETS) remained stable over the past two weeks with a steady increase in trading volume, while the domestic offset market saw shrinking liquidity as participants are taking a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the official relaunch of the national programme.

We exploit around a third of wild animals for own own uses, putting almost half at risk of extinction.

First Bornean orangutan to be born at the zoo in 20 years welcomed, with species facing extinction in the wild

An orangutan has been born at Blackpool zoo as part of efforts to save the dwindling species.

The new arrival is the first Bornean orangutan to be born at the zoo in 20 years, making him a “very special baby”, zookeepers said.

Continue reading...

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council has reached an agreement on the design of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), leaving everything set for the fund to be formally launched at the GEF Assembly in Canada in August.

PFAS was found in seven of eight samples bought at US stores, with organic kale containing higher levels of the toxic compounds

Seven out of eight US kale samples recently tested for toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” contained high levels of the compounds.

The testing looked at conventional and organic kale bought at grocery stores across the country, and comes after Food and Drug Administration analyses conducted between 2019 and 2021 found no PFAS contamination.

Continue reading...

Japan has made further adjustments to the rules of its national voluntary carbon credit programme to remove doubts over double claims, agreeing to subject it to corresponding adjustments in preparation for its participation in ICAO’s aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA.

A New York-based private equity firm wants to establish partnerships with carbon credit investors on financing climate projects in developing countries as it looks to increase its involvement in the voluntary carbon market, a senior member of the firm told Carbon Pulse at the sidelines of the Gold Standard conference in London earlier this week.

A handful of countries, including India and China, disproportionately contribute to global livestock emissions, and a shift in their investments can help reduce related emissions and allow food systems to adapt to climate extremes, according to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Exclusive: Quadrature Climate Foundation is run by billionaires whose fund has stakes worth $170m in fossil fuel firms

Some of the world’s best-known climate campaign groups have taken millions of pounds in donations from a foundation run by billionaire hedge fund bosses whose investment fund has invested in fossil fuel companies, the Guardian has learned.

Groups including the European Climate Foundation, the Carbon Tracker Initiative and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have taken millions of pounds in grants over the past two years from Quadrature Climate Foundation, according to filings with the Charity Commission. WWF told the Guardian on Tuesday it would investigate the donation.

Continue reading...

The parliamentary committee scrutinising Australia’s nature repair market (NRM) legislation has had its reporting date extended indefinitely, potentially delaying the passage of the bill in the Senate.

It takes just under a minute to make a single swift brick that could house generations of migratory birds. So why isn’t it compulsory to install them in the UK?

At first, it is hard to spot. A small hole in the eaves is often all that can be seen. It’s only on closer inspection that a hollow brick can be discerned, slotted neatly into a wall. Inside might be a pair of nesting swifts that have travelled thousands of miles from Africa to the UK.

At Manthorpe Building Products’ factory in Derbyshire, it takes just under a minute to produce a single swift brick that could provide a safe haven for generations of these migratory birds. Granules of recycled plastic are put into an injection moulding machine and, moments later, the separate parts of the brick come out, before a worker snaps them together.

Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including hungry gannets, spotted owlets and a baby mongoose

Continue reading...

A major Japanese bank has signed investment agreements with two global forest investment funds with the intention of earning voluntary carbon credits that it expects to over time become eligible for use towards the domestic obligations of its Japanese clients.