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Some of these trees can be over 30 metres high. Others, can live for centuries or, for the Huon pine, up to an astonishing ten millennia. Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Foreign companies should not be able to sue the government for taking action on climate change

An article in the Conversation with the catchy title “Hey Minister, leave that gas trigger alone” has urged the Labor government not to extend the Turnbull government’s gas trigger, which could be used to compel foreign-owned gas companies to keep gas reserves for use in Australia in some circumstances. It warns that actually using the trigger could inadvertently allow such companies to seek to sue the government under Australia’s existing international agreements.

Many Australians don’t know this but some of our trade agreements give foreign-owned companies special legal rights to sue the federal government if a change in law or policy reduces their profits, even if the change is in the public interest. The mechanism is known as an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

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The world's oil majors are pocketing record profits from the current energy crisis, but not much of it is going into renewables, despite their marketing spin.

The post “Grotesque greed:” Oil majors’ windfall profits are headed for their pockets, not renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Takeover target Genex has announced the purchase of a massive 2GW battery storage and solar project in Queensland.

The post Genex Power buys massive 2GW battery storage plus solar project in Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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Canadian oil and gas producers could potentially receive compensation for reducing the same emissions under federal and subnational climate policies that incorporate carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), threatening the environmental integrity of these programmes and deflating credit prices, experts told Carbon Pulse.

Savanna grasslands are burnt early in the dry season to reduce the chance of large fires later. But it’s making air pollution worse. Penelope Jones, Research Fellow in Environmental Health, University of Tasmania David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Fay Johnston, Professor, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Czech utility CEZ reported a lagged hedged position for H1 on Tuesday despite increased coal-fired output and bumper earnings, giving a bullish signal for EUAs for the rest of the year.

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Uncertainty over whether host countries will allow carbon credits to be generated for the international voluntary carbon market (VCM) is only likely to be temporary, according to Dirk Forrister of business group IETA, who noted on Tuesday that governments are still figuring out how to use Article 6 international trade provisions to meet their Paris Agreement emissions pledges. 

Climate research finds modelling used cannot predict localised extreme weather, leading to poor estimations of risk

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Trillions of dollars may be misallocated to deal with the wrong climate threats around the world because the models used by central banks and regulators aren’t fit for purpose, a leading Australian climate researcher says.

Prof Andy Pitman, director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, said regulators are relying on models that are good at forecasting how average climates will change as the planet warms, but are less likely to be of use for predicting how extreme weather will imperil individual localities such as cities, however.

The concerns, detailed in a recent report in the journal Environmental Research: Climate, were underscored by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s release on Monday of its corporate plan 2022-23. Apra plans to “continue to ensure regulated institutions are well-prepared for the risks and opportunities presented by climate change”.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has called for lawmakers to ratchet up the ambition of the state’s 2030 GHG reduction target, according to a document circulated to legislators this week and seen by Carbon Pulse, which sent California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices to a two-month high on Tuesday.

University of Newcastle spin-off promoting graphite blocks as an easy way to store energy for heat and power gains funding from ARENA for a pilot plant.

The post Graphite storage technology gets ARENA funding for heat and power applications appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Ban will hit 15 million people in London and south-east England and could last until October

Fifteen million more people are to be hit with a hosepipe ban in London and the surrounding areas, as Thames Water has announced measures will be introduced “in coming weeks”.

People served by the water company will join those in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, who have been under restrictions since last week, and those in Sussex and Kent, who will be under a ban from this Friday.

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Europe’s most severe drought in decades is hitting homes, factories, farmers and freight across the continent, as experts warn drier winters and searing summers fuelled by global heating mean water shortages will become 'the new normal'. Drone footage comparisons between the summer of 2022 and previous years shows the dramatic impact lack of rainfall has had on European rivers

• ‘The new normal’: how Europe is being hit by a climate-driven drought crisis
  
• UK braced for drought conditions to last until October
  

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A crypto company is expanding its reach for selling tokenised offsets from projects preserving the Amazon rainforest after teaming up with a blockchain marketplace.

Trading in EUAs continued to diminish on Tuesday as the holiday period reached its peak, with prices moving in their narrowest range of the year so far and volume shrinking to its lowest since the early June public holidays, while energy markets edged lower despite warnings of higher temperatures.

An investment fund has taken an equity stake in an Indonesia-based carbon project developer with an eye on scaling up forest conservation and peatland restoration activities across Southeast Asia.

The bill is a devil’s bargain between the Democrats, the fossil fuel industry, and recalcitrant senator Joe Manchin. Yet it’s better than nothing

“We’re pleased,” ExxonMobil’s CEO, Darren Woods, said on an earnings call last month, speaking about the Inflation Reduction Act. He called the bill, now making its way through the US Congress, “clear and consistent”. After it passed the Senate Sunday evening, Shell USA said it was “a step toward increased energy security and #netzero”. The world is currently on track to produce double the amount of coal, oil and gas in 2030 than is consistent with capping warming at 1.5C. To state the obvious: climate policy should strike fear into the hearts of fossil fuel executives, not delight them. So what have some of the world’s worst polluters found to like about a historic piece of climate legislation?

Guilt by association only goes so far: that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed is undoubtedly good news. It will do a lot of good things. Democrats face the distinct possibility of being locked out of power for at least a decade after midterm elections this November, when they’re expected to lose the House of Representatives. Republicans won’t be keen to recognize that another party’s candidate could win the presidency, let alone reduce emissions. That something being called climate policy passed at all is thanks to the tireless work the climate movement has done to put it on the agenda, and the diligent staffers who spent late nights translating that momentum into legislation.

Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at the New Republic and the author of Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet – And How We Fight Back

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Taiwan has required a new batch of companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions data on an annual basis, with a primary focus on electronics components manufacturers, one of the pillars of the island's economy.