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As I lie down under a 2,000-year-old small-leaved lime coppice, I contemplate what is truly sacred

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This is me trying to have a sacred encounter with the 2,000-year-old small-leaved lime coppice at Westonbirt Arboretum. Because of my terrible hunched posture I’m always looking for an opportunity to lie down and alleviate the pain in my back. Because of my great love of trees I am always looking for an opportunity to lie down in a woodland. And because we lost a beloved cousin tragically young this summer, I was also looking for opportunities to be quiet and think of him and have a little cry. This was my moment.

We recently welcomed a puppy to our family, and he has taken a special liking to me because I’m the person who walks him and feeds him; I’m not really a dog person, so he’s made it his personal mission to convert me. I guess it’s working, I love him in a sort of gently revelatory, deeply trying, must-learn-to-be-patient way. He joined me in the ancient green cavern, whining. I don’t like to have my face licked when I’m having a reflective moment. His name is Happy, so if you were passing the lime coppice you would have heard me saying, “No Happy. Fuck’s sake, Happy. Happy, please leave me alone for two seconds.”

Max Porter’s new novel, Shy, is out next year

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The UAE has stepped up its hydrogen plans after Masdar, the country’s biggest renewable-energy firm, teamed up this week with Germany’s Uniper to build a new plant in the Middle East country.

Trading volume in China’s national emissions trading scheme reached a new high since the end of the previous compliance cycle over the past week due to a significant contribution of block deals, though spot prices continued to drop over the period.

Cold air from north Canada brings wind-chill warnings over area stretching down to Mexico border

Much of the United States is experiencing very cold conditions as cold air plunges south from northern Canada all the way to the Gulf coast, giving freezing temperatures across most of the country.

An area of low pressure in the Great Lakes region brought snow and bitter winds. Twenty centimetres (8in) of snow was reported in the twin city area of Minneapolis-Saint Paul in Minnesota on Wednesday. The surge of cold air also affected areas farther west, with a sharp cold front bringing a dramatic 22C (40F) drop in just 30 minutes in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

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The New South Wales state government on Friday announced a new target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 70% below 200 levels by 2035, while the Clean Energy Regulator in its last issuance of the year distributed 325,000 new Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).

The Shanghai government will auction off an additional 3 million carbon allowances under its emissions trading scheme on the last trading day of this year, with participation restricted to companies with compliance obligations under the city’s pilot emissions trading scheme.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a released Iberian lynx, spectacled teals and twin giraffes

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Exclusive: Forestry Act 1967 to change from 1 January to deter people from flattening trees and accepting paltry penalties

Illegal tree felling in England will be punishable by unlimited fines and prison sentences from 1 January, the government has announced.

The current fine for cutting down a tree without a licence, established by the Forestry Act 1967, is £2,500 or twice the value of the timber, whichever is the higher.

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The crew members may have to return to Earth early after their capsule started leaking.

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Another Canada-headquartered carbon credit investment firm is preparing to go public.

How you can celebrate while doing less harm to the planet

A US-based biochar company has been approved to start selling carbon credits on a major platform for engineered removal units.

Alberta compliance offset values climbed to new heights this week after the provincial government set the CO2 price trajectory and increased credit usage limits under the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regime, as data showed financial players have bolstered their positions since early November.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices continued their end-of-year run up this week, albeit at a slower pace than in 2021, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) values picked up over the last five days after a prolonged stagnation.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday tapped a representative from organised labour to sit on the state’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC), filling a nearly two-year vacancy on the carbon market watchdog.

US biofuel credit (RIN) values this week pared back roughly half of their losses that followed the EPA publishing lower-than-expected Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) quotas, with traders attributing the price bump to year-end activity.

The species at risk include flowering plants, moss and lichens, tough invertebrates and breeding seabirds. Jasmine Lee, Conservation biologist, Queensland University of Technology Iadine Chadès, Principal research scientist, CSIRO Justine Shaw, Conservation Biologist, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

In the struggle against aqua nullius, Indigenous people’s right to make decisions about water on Country is a priority. Kat Taylor, Water Justice Hub Research Fellow, Australian National University Anne Poelina, Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Fellow, University of Notre Dame Australia Quentin Grafton, Australian Laureate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Several batches of palm kernel product imported for dairy farms contained certain chemicals above a safe limit – and there’s an ethical quandary in supporting an industry linked with deforestation. Hadee Thompson-Morrison, PhD Candidate in Environmental Science, University of Canterbury Brett Robinson, Professor of Environmental Chemistry, University of Canterbury Sally Gaw, Director of Environmental Science, University of Canterbury Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.