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COP28 UN climate talks host UAE on Wednesday backed an EU-led effort to set near-term global clean energy goals, taking a further step to bolster efforts to wean the world off fossil fuels despite the Gulf state's reluctance to explicitly call for an end to oil and gas use.

The UAE on Wednesday launched an alliance to advance carbon market involvement as a means of supporting the nation’s transition to a green economy, with a voluntary carbon market (VCM) exchange named as a founding member.

Brazil's Amazonas state has called on public conservation units to submit applications to create carbon credits from avoided deforestation projects, while Tocantins state formalised its previously-announced deal with commodity trader Mercuria to certify hundreds of millions of jurisdictional REDD+ units.

Majid Al Suwaidi says governments not in agreement yet over whether issue should be on agenda

UN climate talks this year might skirt the vital question of whether and how to phase out fossil fuels, as nations have not yet agreed to discuss the issue, one of the top officials hosting the talks has said.

Majid Al Suwaidi, director-general of the Cop28 climate talks for its host nation, United Arab Emirates, said governments were not in agreement over whether the phase-out of fossil fuels should be on the agenda for the conference, which begins in November.

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Reptile had been in captivity for 16 years when zookeepers discovered eggs, journal reports

Scientists have recorded the first known case of a “virgin birth” in a female crocodile that had no contact with males for about 16 years.

The reptile was able to produce a fully formed foetus that was 99.9% genetically identical to her.

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Advocates are eyeing the prospective for carbon dioxide removals (CDR) stemming from fermentation industries to contribute to EU climate targets, with one large biorefinery noting its potential to generate 500,000 CDR credits annually.   

Poor pollination caused by destructive farming methods leads to loss of biodiversity and is a threat to food production, inquiry told

Fruit growers in the UK are already seeing less yield and lower-quality produce because of the loss of insects, scientists have told MPs, warning that a further loss of pollinators could have “significant” impacts on all crops.

As part of a parliamentary inquiry into insect decline and UK food security, Prof Simon Potts from the University of Reading told MPs at the science, innovation and technology committee that there is already good evidence of a shortfall of pollinators and a threat to food production.

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Eastern US states including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut issue alerts as hundreds of wildfires burn in Canada

• Canada wildfires smoke: latest updates

Tens of millions of people in the US were under air quality alerts on Wednesday, as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, turning the sky in some of the country’s biggest cities a murky brown and saturating the air with harmful pollution.

States across the east, including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, issued air quality alerts, with officials recommending that people limit outdoor activity.

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A London-based ‘carbon-to-value’ startup that transforms CO2 and hydrogen into industrial and consumer products, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), has raised £18 million in Series A funding.

A new report has called out Australia’s fifth-largest bank for continuing to invest in oil and gas companies, despite committing to align its investment portfolios with a 1.5 C temperature pathway.

Three oil and gas giants have been banned from running ‘greenwashing’ advertisements in the UK because they misled the public on the climate and environmental benefits of the groups’ products overall.

Global energy efficiency efforts are set to hit record highs in 2023, according to a special report from the International Energy Agency, but investments must double to $1.8 trillion by 2030 to align with a trajectory toward net-zero emissions by mid-century.

European carbon prices jumped on Wednesday afternoon after the publication of weekly holdings data that showed a record build in speculative short positioning, while energy prices diverged as gas moved higher to reflect increasingly competitive Asian prices.

Exclusive: UN conference president Sultan Al Jaber is also head of oil firm, which was consulted on how to respond to a media inquiry

The United Arab Emirates’ state oil company has been able to read emails to and from the Cop28 climate summit office and was consulted on how to respond to a media inquiry, the Guardian can reveal.

The UAE is hosting the UN climate summit in November and the president of Cop28 is Sultan Al Jaber, who is also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). The revelations have been called “explosive” and a “scandal” by lawmakers.

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Researchers have pointed to what they regard as a significant omission in the draft Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework relating to extinction risk which they have raised with the body as part of submitted formal feedback.

Canadian mining firm Teck Resources has donated C$10 million ($7.5 mln) to the Chilean Nature Fund (FNC), with the funds to go towards its work with the South American country’s marine protected areas (MPAs).

Researchers have found the first case of a crocodile who made herself pregnant.

Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings has teamed up with a climate tech startup to set up a carbon exchange in the Asian nation that will become operational this fall, Nikkei reported Wednesday.

Almost two-thirds of UK asset owners have yet to make any natural capital investments, with lack of knowledge cited as one of several barriers to progress in research conducted by advisory firm and asset manager member network Pensions for Purpose.

DuPont or 3M scientists discovered PFAS toxicity internally, but did not publish findings or report them to the EPA, study says

In 1953, a paper developed for cigarette maker RJ Reynolds detailed possible cancer-causing agents in tobacco, but the document would remain hidden from public view for decades. In the interim, the industry told the public: “We don’t accept the idea that there are harmful agents in tobacco.”

The chemical industry, it seemed, took note. Just a few years later, DuPont scientists found PFAS enlarged lab rats’ livers and likely caused birth defects in workers. Still, the company told its employees the cancer-linked compounds are “about as toxic as table salt”.

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