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Exclusive: Campaigners fight decision that United Utilities cannot face private legal action for outflows of sewage into canal

Environmental campaigners are fighting to stop a water company being given almost total immunity from any private legal action for discharging untreated sewage into waterways.

The Good Law Project (GLP) and the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) are challenging a decision by the high court that the water company United Utilities cannot be subject to any private legal action for its discharges of raw sewage from storm outfalls into the Manchester ship canal.

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Carbon emissions from China’s power industry could peak in 2028 with increased investments in nuclear and accelerated growth in renewables, two years sooner than previously planned for, according to the country's leading power industry association.

European carbon prices will consolidate in 2022 before resuming their upward trajectory in 2023, and will climb even higher than previously predicted in the second half of the decade, according to a bank analyst.

Chemicals used in everyday products have been associated with ‘a range of serious health problems’ including cancer and birth defects

A new analysis of popular brand name products detected toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in nearly 75% of items labeled stain- or water-resistant. The study’s authors say the companies are needlessly putting customers’ health at risk.

The findings highlight how the compounds are widely used in everyday products and clothing despite mounting evidence that the entire class of PFAS chemicals is associated with a range of serious health problems, and safer alternatives exist.

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London and Paris among cities with highest number of avoided deaths thanks to lower pollution in first lockdown

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More than 800 lives may have been saved across Europe thanks to better air quality in the first phase of Covid lockdowns, research suggests.

Measures brought in to stem the rise in infections resulted in far fewer cars and lorries on roads, which had the biggest impact on reducing deaths, according to the study led by experts from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

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AMP Energy to build two 400MW, two hour battery installations in Scotland, to boost the local grid's wind resources.

The post Europe’s largest grid-tied batteries to be operational by 2024 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Clean Energy Regulator has made its first Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) issuance of the year, doling out 220,000 offsets, while the spot price continues to set new records on wafer thin volume.

Themes of making a small change for a big impact and joining a movement are effective in nudging consumers, research finds

Simple changes to messages on restaurants’ menus can double the frequency of customers choosing plant-based options instead of meat, research on the impact of food on the climate crisis has found.

The production, transportation and consumption of food has become an increasing focus for climate researchers, with a recent study finding the food industry accounts for more than a third of the world’s total annual planet-heating emissions.

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Blipfoto members, or ‘blippers’, choose to record a single photo from their day. This unique community of photographers enjoy recording life as they see it. Perspectives on climate are often presented as ad hoc events so it’s not often we get to see a global perspective of public opinion and perception.

We look back at a selection of photos and snippets of day-to-day reflections on climate change from some of their 2021 journals. Questioning, observing, acting and responding - it’s a compelling insight into everyday views on climate change.

The gallery was put together at Blipfoto by Rebecca Cole and Richard Hunt-Smith.

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A liquefied hydrogen carrier will shortly leave Australia to deliver a cargo, the world’s first, to Japan in what has been touted as a new phase for hydrogen’s role in the energy transition, a fuel that key economies in Northeast Asia have also pinned their hopes on to help decarbonise their economies.

Analysts have raised their EU carbon price forecasts across the board following late last year's rally, with some warning that competing narratives could drive the market sharply in either direction in the months to come, all while maintaining a high level of volatility.

Analysis from Greenpeace finds deserted flights are generating millions of tons of harmful emissions

At least 100,000 “ghost flights” could be flown across Europe this winter because of EU airport slot usage rules, according to analysis by Greenpeace.

The deserted, unnecessary or unprofitable flights are intended to allow airlines to keep their takeoff and landing runway rights in major airports, but they could also generate up to 2.1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions – or as much as 1.4 million average petrol or diesel cars emit in a year – Greenpeace says.

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Most media coverage of a big new brown coal hydrogen project greenwashed the news and talked up CCS. An accident on Morrison's website shows us why.

The post The media needs to get better at interrogating hydrogen appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

China is promising a greener Winter Olympics, although critics are not sure if it can deliver.

Overwintering insects in the state rise to 247,000 a year after fewer than 2,000 appeared but numbers are still historically low

The number of western monarch butterflies overwintering in California rebounded to more than 247,000 a year after fewer than 2,000 appeared, but the tally remained far below the millions that were seen in the 1980s, leaders of an annual count said on Tuesday.

The Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count revealed the highest number of butterflies in five years but it is still less than 5% of the 1980s population, said Emma Pelton, senior endangered species biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

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US biofuel credit (RIN) prices rose nearly 10% on Tuesday which market participants attributed to significant involvement from refiners in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) market.

London-based Sylvera has raised $32.6 million to accelerate its plans to build an offset ratings service that can assess the market’s entire range of carbon-cutting projects by 2024.

The EU risks missing its headline 2030 emissions goals because plans to reform the carbon market may do too little to shift the market’s surplus allowances, a consultancy warned in a study published on Tuesday.

The rapid rate of species declines means we should trial potential solutions before it’s too late. Tiffany Kosch, Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.