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Australia’s de facto carbon price surges to $47, on way to $60
New report shows Australian carbon market experienced a major bull run in 2021, driven by voluntary corporate demand – and with no signs of slowing down.
The post Australia’s de facto carbon price surges to $47, on way to $60 appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Kean keeps energy portfolio in Perrottet reshuffle, new face for transport
Matt Kean remains the NSW energy minister after a pre-Christmas reshuffle, but his predecessor will exit state politics altogether.
The post Kean keeps energy portfolio in Perrottet reshuffle, new face for transport appeared first on RenewEconomy.
The world’s first octopus farm - should it go ahead?
Buy Australian oysters and farmed barramundi: five tips to make your feast of summer seafood sustainable
A celebratory Australian seafood spread doesn’t have to sacrifice sustainability – here conservation scientist Carissa Klein gives a few tips to make better choices
Summer in Australia is synonymous with seafood, from fish and chips at the beach to prawns on the barbie. But how do we know if the seafood is sustainable – that is, harvested from healthy stocks with minimal negative environmental impacts?
More than a third of the world’s fisheries are being harvested at unsustainable levels, according to the latest figures from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Eat farmed Australian prawns. Much intensive prawn farming overseas has been linked to the destruction of coastal habitats, and some Australian wild-caught prawns have bycatch issues, meaning rare species like dugongs and turtles are accidentally caught by trawling. By contrast, Australian prawn farming is done in tanks on land, making it a more sustainable industry.
Eat wild-caught Australian rock lobster. This year lobster prices are much lower than usual due to export issues. Australia’s rock lobster fisheries are generally sustainably fished, as opposed to imported lobster.
Eat farmed Australian oysters and mussels. It’s hard to go wrong here – fresh local oysters and mussels are widely available in stores and restaurants and are usually sustainable. Imported options are not widely available and are usually tinned.
Eat farmed Australian barramundi. Locally farmed barramundi is the most commonly available sustainable fish species. Some wild-caught Australian barramundi fisheries have issues with bycatch, while imported farmed barramundi have recurring issues with disease.
When in doubt, pick fresh Australian seafood. Australian fisheries are better managed than most others around the world, making local fish usually the better choice.
Continue reading...All signs point to a quick transition to renewables. But can we connect them?
Connection problems have hampered wind, solar and battery projects for the last three years. Now something is being done about it.
The post All signs point to a quick transition to renewables. But can we connect them? appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Farmers shouldn’t have to compete with solar companies for land
We must ensure Australia’s clean energy transition sees solar development occur with co-benefits for local communities, and protects productive agricultural land.
The post Farmers shouldn’t have to compete with solar companies for land appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Hope for US climate legislation disintegrates as Manchin torpedoes reconciliation bill
Blue-sky thinking: net-zero aviation is more than a flight of fantasy
Buy Australian oysters and farmed barramundi: 5 tips to make your feast of summer seafood sustainable
The Guardian view on the police bill: a fight for the right to protest | Editorial
Labour and the Lords must take a stand against the draconian crackdown on demonstrators proposed by ministers
An already illiberal police and crime bill threatens to become even more so, if 18 pages of amendments added to it by the government in the House of Lords last month are accepted. A new criminal offence of obstructing major transport works, the expansion of stop and search powers and a new power for police to ban named people from demonstrations are clearly intended to strangle off what ministers are worried could be a new line in disruptive climate protests, after two months of roadblocks organised by the direct-action group Insulate Britain – and a decision by the supreme court earlier this year reaffirming the right of protesters to cause disruption.
Emboldened by the angry response to Insulate Britain from some members of the public, and criticism from paramedics about delays to ambulances, the home secretary, Priti Patel, and her colleagues have calculated that they can risk bypassing the scrutiny by MPs that is an essential part of our parliamentary process. In January, the Lords will have the opportunity to prove them wrong by rejecting these tacked-on, kneejerk measures.
Continue reading...Running around Waimapihi Reserve in the dark my headtorch revealed hidden treasures | Ashleigh Young
At first I was full of dread but as I pressed on I noticed things I had never seen in daylight
- Guardian writers and readers describe their favourite place in New Zealand’s wilderness and why it’s special to them
I’m scared of getting lost in the bush. This is unusual for an essayist. Most of us like to go for a walk in disorienting landscapes and get completely lost so that we can write about it.
Rebecca Solnit wrote that getting lost is “a voluptuous surrender” but this sounds to me like walking in increasingly frantic circles, getting cold and hungry as night closes in, until you have no option but to dig yourself a little hole and cover yourself in leaves.
Continue reading...Rare and frightening footballfish washes up in California – again
Curiously, the Pacific football fish, with spiny teeth and a bulb on its head, is the third to wash ashore this year
At first, the black blob spotted between rocks along the shores of San Diego this week was mistaken for a ball of tar. But as a concerned surfer approached, it became clear that this was something special.
The finned creature had a gaping underbite that revealed nightmarish spiny teeth, small black eyes, a tentacle-covered appendage and bulb protruding from its head.
Continue reading...Call for young volunteers to help care for UK’s national parks
News that the average age of volunteers in some areas tops 60 has prompted park authorities to get upcoming generations more involved
Kirsty Ferris started volunteering in the South Downs national park when she turned 18 and wanted to “give something back” while getting experience with practical outdoor work.
Now 22 and running her own garden design business, she has spent hours coppicing trees, building fences, laying hedges, helping conserve grassland and improving access to beautiful countryside.
Continue reading...Soil carbon sequestration on farms alone won’t absolve our daily emission sins
We must be realistic about how much soil carbon sequestration can achieve in the fight against the climate crisis
- Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter
- Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community
Soil carbon sequestration is front and centre in the government’s plan to combat global warming, and it makes political sense, because politicians have a dilemma.
Voters and big business want climate change action. But on the eve of an election, it’s a game politician who tells the voters to fly less, drive less, use less internet, watch less television, waste less food and turn the lights off.
Continue reading...Great Barrier Reef could face another mass bleaching by end of January, forecast says
Scientists are hoping La Niña conditions might yet stave off threat from predicted heat accumulation in northern and central reef
Corals across large parts of the Great Barrier Reef could be hit by mass bleaching for the fourth time in just seven years by the end of January, according to a forecast from a United States government agency.
Reef scientists are hoping that favourable weather, including cloud cover and rain or a cyclone, could yet cool corals and stave off the threat.
Continue reading...Millions of daffodils ‘will rot’ if Brexit denies UK farmers foreign workers
Flower growers fear end of the UK’s £100m industry as Covid and border restrictions lead to lack of seasonal workers
Millions of daffodil stems will be left to rot in the fields this spring, as growers face a critical labour shortage that they fear could spell the end of the entire industry.
“If we can’t recruit more pickers, there won’t be a daffodil industry left. The situation is very grim,” said James Hosking, of Fentongollan Farm, near Truro in Cornwall.
Continue reading...Peat sales to gardeners in England and Wales to be banned by 2024
Peatland vital carbon store but campaigners say lack of immediate action makes plan a ‘damp squib’
The sale of peat to gardeners in England and Wales is to be banned by 2024 under plans published by the government on Saturday. Ministers said they also aimed to end peat use in the professional horticulture sector by 2028.
The government set a voluntary target in 2011 for compost retailers to end sales of peat by 2020. But peat use fell by only 25% from 2011-2019 and increased by 9% in 2020 as Covid lockdowns boosted gardening as a hobby.
Continue reading...PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ constantly cycle through ground, air and water, study finds
The Stockholm University study highlights the chemicals’ mobility, which has been found in penguin eggs and polar bears
Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in the ocean are transported from seawater to air when waves hit the beach and that phenomenon represents a significant source of air pollution, a new study from Stockholm University has found.
The findings, published in Environmental Science & Technology, also partly explain how PFAS get into the atmosphere and eventually precipitation. The study, which collected samples from two Norwegian sites, also concludes that the pollution “may impact large areas of inland Europe and other continents, in addition to coastal areas”.
Continue reading...CP Daily: Friday December 17, 2021
*Policy and Data Analyst, Gold Standard – UK/Germany/India
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