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A decade on from its beginnings, the BigPicture Natural World photography competition attracts thousands of entries from around the world. Its aim is to highlight the extraordinary and often fleeting moments of wonder and beauty in nature while bringing attention to ecosystems in need of protection and conservation. Open to professionals and amateurs, contestants enter for the chance to win cash as well as the opportunity to be exhibited at the California Academy of Sciences

• Ten years of Guardian Australia’s best photography – in pictures

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A Sierra Leone rewilding project run by a Canadian company had $2.5 million (C$3.3 mln) of its yet-to-be generated carbon credits pre-purchased by a Fortune 100 company, the developer announced Thursday.

Bonn conference settles on agenda for next COP in Dubai, without addressing the underlying problems that are holding up climate negotiations and real action.

The post “It’s a fudge:” Bonn climate talks hit by stalemate over finance and emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Carbon credits should only used as a last resort in corporate climate action, and large corporates should prioritise eliminating or reducing sources of emissions over offsetting, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has advised in updated guidance.

Campaigners have heralded the move as a victory for transparency, making polluting industries more accountable

Fossil fuel lobbyists will have to identify themselves as such in registering for the UN Cop28 climate summit, making polluting and carbon-intensive industries more accountable at the annual talks.

The move by the UN to require anyone registering for the summit to declare their affiliation was heralded as a victory for transparency by campaigners who have been increasingly concerned at the growing presence of oil and gas lobbyists at climate talks.

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Moves to create a benchmark price for voluntary carbon credits are gathering pace, with Singapore-based CIX platform now exploring other categories in the market after launching its REDD avoided deforestation assessment last week, a company executive told Carbon Pulse on Thursday.

Spain wants to speed up a reform of the EU electricity market design as the country prepares to take over the rotating EU presidency next month, though the nation's July elections may spur a rapid change in course as the ruling administration trails in the polls.

*PREMIUM LISTING - The Director, ACMI, hired by GEAPP, will hold the core of ACMI work together during the initial phase of institutional set-up, coordinating the strategic implementation of all 13 Action Programme in the lead-up to COP28. They will be responsible for overseeing progress along each Action Programme, working closely with each Project Coordinator responsible for leading a specific Thematic Group to ensure the successful implementation of the ACMI roadmap.

Animals to be introduced during next three years but ecologists say they still face survival challenges

About 20 specially bred wildcats are being released at secret locations in the Scottish Highlands by conservationists hoping to save the species from extinction in the UK.

The animals were raised in captivity at a wildlife park in the Cairngorms as part of a breeding programme run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which is expected to release up to 60 cats into the wild over the next three years.

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A Canadian-based voluntary carbon project investor has launched an online marketplace offering credits from its portfolio.

Parties negotiating rules for the new Article 6.4 UN carbon crediting mechanism under the Paris Agreement managed to advance discussions on technical details during UN climate negotiations held in Bonn over the past two weeks, despite chaotic scenes that held up wider progress at the gathering.

Queensland’s $550 electricity bill rebate for all and staggering $19bn investment in renewables show why it’s time for NSW to put in place a similar system

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When Queensland posted a surprise $12bn surplus – the largest ever recorded by an Australian state – in this week’s budget, it was a testament to its progressive coal royalties system.

Introduced by the treasurer, Cameron Dick, in June 2022, royalties range from 7-40% of revenues depending on coal prices, and are immediately delivering beyond expectations for the people of Queensland.

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Tim Buckley is the founder of Climate Energy Finance, an Australian public interest thinktank

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Carbon credit certifier Gold Standard has partnered with the intergovernmental body Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to deliver a policy crediting framework than would enable country-to-country emissions trade at scale under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Criticism of South East Water mounts as local people accuse it of failing to invest in infrastructure

Four schools in East Sussex have been closed because of water shortages across the area as criticism of South East Water mounts.

The company was communicating with customers in the affected areas by text message, according to some residents in Wadhurst. Three primary schools and one secondary school that had been forced to shut earlier in the week remained closed, East Sussex county council said.

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World Bank says subsidies costing as much as $23m a minute must be repurposed to fight climate crisis

Trillions of dollars of subsidies for fossil fuels, farming and fishing are causing “environmental havoc”, according to the World Bank, severely harming people and the planet.

Many countries spend more on the harmful subsidies than they do on health, education or poverty reduction, the bank says, and the subsidies are entrenched and hard to reform as the greatest beneficiaries tend to be rich and powerful.

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European carbon rose for a seventh day on Thursday, setting a new two-month high as natural gas prices roared higher amid continued short covering after the Netherlands announced that a major gas field will be closed later this year.

The European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI) narrowly defeated a move to fully reject the highly disputed nature restoration bill on Thursday, but its full position is yet to be established because the voting process was suspended after several hours due to a lack of time.

Australia's biggest coal generator signs contract to take nearly half the output of what will be the biggest wind farm in NSW.

The post AGL signs 15-year purchase deal with biggest wind project in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Centre-right group fail to win enough support to defeat proposals after knife-edge voting

The EU’s flagship environment law to restore biodiversity on land and rivers is hanging by a thread after a rebellion mounted by a centre-right group of MEPs failed to block the proposed legislation from going to the next stage in the parliamentary process.

In a dead heat, 44 MEPs voted in favour and 44 against the nature restoration law that was proposed last year as a fundamental part of the EU’s green deal.

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A weekly summary of our biodiversity news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).