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Oxfam research suggests up to 40% of bank’s reported climate-related spending cannot be accounted for

The World Bank has come under fire for failing to show that its claimed spending on the climate crisis is real, in a report suggesting up to 40% of its reported climate-related spending is impossible to account for.

Of $17.2bn that the World Bank reported it spent on climate finance in 2020, up to $7bn cannot be independently verified, according to research by Oxfam.

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The largest outbreak of avian influenza on record saw 48m birds culled in the UK and EU in the past year.

South Korea will open negotiations with the EU that carbon cuts achieved under its emissions trading scheme will be recognised under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), while also rolling out plans to improve its domestic MRV system to align with international standards.

Malaysia has significant potential to utilise carbon markets to help meet the Southeast Asian economy’s climate targets, but this will require harmonising the design of voluntary and compliance markets, definitions of clear rules and guidelines for project development, and a scale-up of financing, a report has found.

Poultry farmers from Arctic to Portugal reported 2,500 outbreaks in past year, with migrating birds taking avian flu to North America

The UK and continental Europe have been hit by an “unprecedented” number of cases of avian flu this summer, with 47.5m birds having been culled since last autumn, according to new figures.

Poultry producers from as far north as Norway’s Svalbard islands to southern Portugal have together reported almost 2,500 outbreaks of the disease since last year.

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Climate Change Committee chair says measures needed to cut energy bills will also help reach net zero

Tackling the cost of living crisis requires insulating British homes as a matter of urgency and deploying renewable energy generation faster, the chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said.

Lord Deben, a Conservative former environment secretary, said the measures needed to bring down energy bills were the same as those needed to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

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An investment firm has highlighted the risks posed to the finance sector if its customers rely too heavily on carbon offsets to meet their climate goals, citing longstanding integrity concerns, while issuance of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) rise.

PF Olsen Ltd is looking for an experienced, agile, and motivated person to fill a Senior ETS Consultant role in New Zealand.

EKOS is seeking a senior nature-based solutions consultant.

A Western Australia government-owned coal plant slated to be retired in 2027 has shut down until January, reportedly due to a coal shortage.

The post Coal shortage causes shut down of WA Collie power station appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Bellevue Gold inks solar, wind and battery deal in bid to become Australia’s first publicly-listed gold miner to generate net-zero emissions.

The post Going for “green gold:” WA mine taps solar, wind and battery to reach 100 pct renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New study finds a tax on the super profits of oil and gas companies would deliver much more effective economic relief than the discount on petrol prices.

The post Energy windfall tax offers much better economic relief than petrol excise, study finds appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The owner of the UK's biggest power station, Drax, is cutting down key forests in Canada.

A team from Oxford University is trying to persuade governments to impose CCS requirements on fossil fuel producers. But not everyone is on board.

The post Researchers push to make polluters put carbon back in the ground appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia is experiencing the pitfalls of delaying energy reform and not approaching the transition in a planned manner – and that’s before global market shocks.

The post When the ceiling hits the floor: How electricity prices are turning everything upside down appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Prehistoric footprints on Formby Beach have revealed how the British coast transformed over 9,000 years.

Loss-making venture led by Amit Gudka eyes continent as countries move towards using renewable power

The co-founder of collapsed energy supplier Bulb is planning to expand his loss-making battery storage venture into Europe as the energy crisis escalates.

Amit Gudka hopes to develop Field Energy, the business he set up after leaving Bulb in February 2021, on the continent as countries attempt to switch toward renewable power.

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Wildlife charities accused of trying to ‘upset people’ by urging members to condemn environment policies

Tory MPs have criticised the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), accusing it of using claims of a government attack on nature as a “marketing strategy”.

The bird charity, one of the UK’s oldest and most respected conservation organisations, has joined the country’s other largest environment NGOs, including the Wildlife Trusts and National Trust, to condemn mooted plans to create investment zones – which would weaken environment protections – and to get rid of the post-Brexit nature-friendly farming subsidy.

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Burgundy insect farm ramps up production to offer a meat-free future

In a box-like building on an out-of-town industrial estate in Burgundy, trays of Alphitobius diaperinus – otherwise known as the lesser mealworm – are being fattened up by robots then cooked, dried and turned into protein-rich powder and oil.

This is the headquarters of Ÿnsect a French company that is building the world’s largest insect farm, to open at the end of the year in preparation for what the French company believes will be a large increase in demand for a healthy alternative to meat.

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Time is running out to protect the RSPB and National Trust from climate crisis-denying, neoliberal lobbyists and their nature-hating Tory cronies

Perhaps the unelected 2022 Conservative government’s most surprising achievement has been to radicalise the the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Flask-swiggers best known for shivering silently in freezing hides, usually they await the seasonal arrival of a particular kind of swan. But Kwasi Kwarteng’s kamikwasi budget has made landscape and wildlife collateral damage for his deregulated New Investment Zones, the Japanese knotweed of ultra-Conservative economic ideology, and the twitchers are twitching with rage.

“We are angry!” squawked the normally placid RSPB, in an urgent communique entitled Stop the Attack on Nature. “The UK government has launched an unprecedented attack on nature. They are threatening to tear up the laws that protect our best wildlife sites, weakening protections for nature in the planning system and may be about to scrap vital proposals that would help farmers help nature. We will not stand by and let this happen.” Take to the streets bird-fans. Riot! And remember, a tube of birdfeeder nuts squeezed into a tied-off sock can make a functional cosh, while a barn-style bird-table roof can be adapted into truncheon-resistant headgear. Twitchers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your choughs.

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