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One of the few positives from lockdown is the number of city dwellers who connected with urban wildlife during the long days at home. New York-based music supervisor Randall Poster is one of them. He loved listening to birdsong in the quiet city so much that he decided to highlight the birds’ plight as their habitats vanish. With producer Rebecca Reagan, he created For the Birds, a multidisciplinary initiative that includes The Birdsong Project, a 20-LP box set of music and poems to enjoy. If you head to Brooklyn Botanic Garden between now and October, there’s also an installation of 33 artist-built birdhouses. Some are species specific, such as Jessica Maffia’s A Home for Flickers and Nina Cooke John’s Oh Robin!, but all reflect the complex, fragile, migratory lives of the birds. “We hope that visitors will feel the joy of creativity and the inspiration of birds and birdsong,” says Poster.

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A man in a hammock is determined to stop Haringey council felling the 120-year-old plane in a row over subsidence

On Wednesday evening, as the light was fading, I stood chatting under a London plane tree to Marcus Carambola, who was about to spend his 50th consecutive night sleeping in a hammock among the tree’s branches, 10m above the pavement. Carambola, barefoot, 33, spoke of the tree as an old friend: “We have got to know each other pretty well,” he said, looking up.

The 120-year-old tree, in Oakfield Road, in Haringey, north London, has become the emblem of a battle between residents, insurers and the local council that has implications for leafy streets across the country.

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In 2020, the BBC revealed that vast quantities of protected rosewood were being trafficked from Senegal.

Exclusive: António Guterres says growing north and south divide is ‘morally unacceptable’ and dangerous

Humanity is facing a “perfect storm” of crises that is widening inequality between the north and south, the UN secretary general has warned. The divide is not only “morally unacceptable” but dangerous, further threatening peace and security in a conflicted world.

The global food, energy and financial crises unleashed by the war in Ukraine have hit countries already reeling from the pandemic and the climate crisis, reversing what had been a growing convergence between developed and developing countries, António Guterres said.

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

A US court has sentenced two British men to a total of nearly eight years in prison for defrauding elderly victims for over $16 million through fraudulent stock and carbon credit investment schemes.

EDF is seeking a Director, Voluntary Carbon Markets and Accountability, to identify strategic opportunities for advancing the use of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets to achieve near-term climate action; to manage related advocacy efforts; and to collaborate across EDF mission areas.

Speculators saw their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) holdings drop precipitously this week as the June contract went to delivery, while compliance entities’ position ticked up, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

AspiraDAC device can remove two tonnes of CO2 a year and store it underground using direct air capture technology

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A solar-powered and tent-sized Australian prototype machine that can suck CO2 from the air has secured a $700,000 contract to capture and store carbon.

The deal, part of a project backed by corporates including the owners of Google and Facebook, is thought to be the first time an Australian company has secured a deal to remove CO2 using direct air capture (DAC) technology.

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The Alberta government is seeking to tighten output-based standards for stationary sources and raise offset and performance credit limits for its Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regime in order to meet Canada’s post-2022 carbon pricing benchmark.

Electricity sector CO2 output in California remained beneath last year’s levels in April and May, according to recent data from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), though much of the state remained in severe drought that will hamper low-carbon hydropower.

Supporters of group say young people have ‘nothing to lose any more’ as they call for end to new oil and gas projects

Two young supporters of Just Stop Oil have glued themselves tothe frame of a JMW Turner painting at Manchester Art Gallery.

It is the third time this week that supporters of the group, which is calling for a government-imposed moratorium on new oil and gas extraction projects, have glued themselves to major works in UK galleries.

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The climate agenda risks being derailed by energy market disruptions caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine

Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia this month highlights the paradox of American power. The US has the economic heft to punish an opponent – but not enough to alter the behaviour of a determined adversary. Sanctions will see Russia’s economy contract by 9% next year. But Washington needs more nations to join its camp to halt Moscow’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Mr Biden has been forced to prioritise war objectives over ethics in meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA says ordered the barbaric murder of the prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The havoc that Russia’s war has caused on the world’s energy markets is contributing to an economic crisis that is playing into the hands of Mr Biden’s domestic opponents. This highlights the west’s failure to confront the climate emergency with a less carbon-intensive economic model. The green agenda risks being derailed by sky-high hydrocarbon prices. This scenario could have been averted if western nations had accelerated their net zero agendas by driving down energy demand – the lack of UK home insulation is one glaring failure – and spending on renewables to achieve energy security. Instead, this week the G7 watered down pledges to halt fossil fuel investment over fears of winter energy shortages as Moscow squeezes supplies.

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A decision on whether aircraft operators should use set a baseline of 2019 emissions, or the 2019 and 2020 average, to measure obligations for CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme will be critical for the decarbonisation of the industry, a senior aviation stakeholder told a conference Friday.

Pennsylvania’s power sector cap-and-trade regulation took effect Friday, allowing the state to become the newest member of the US Northeast and Mid-Atlantic RGGI programme as a court decision regarding the state’s participation awaits.

Switzerland is considering submitting its candidacy to hold the COP31 annual UN climate summit in 2026.

Conservation group wants to ‘drive cultural shift’ to designate trees and woodlands ‘as fundamental to quality of life’

She would never have dreamed of it a few years ago, but when lockdown came and she found herself separated from family and friends, “I’m not ashamed to say I hugged a tree or two if I was feeling sad,” says Jane Barber. “When you couldn’t hug people – and I didn’t have a partner at the time – it was really challenging for people who lived alone.

“We need connection, to feel connection with another living being. To connect with the tree’s history and reflect on what it might have witnessed is wonderful.”

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Initiatives seeking to boost the integrity of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) could stifle demand and deter investors, an official at a leading standard warned on Friday, while referencing the work of a Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity (VCMI) initiative.

Britain should guard against calls for extreme measures to protect its industry from the impacts of higher power and gas costs this winter, including suspending the UK ETS, according to an energy industry representative.

Small populations of wild rock doves discovered in places including Outer Hebrides

Colonies of extremely rare and endangered birds that are the wild ancestors of domestic and feral pigeons have been found on secluded Scottish islands.

Researchers have spoken of their excitement and surprise at discovering small populations of wild rock doves in places that include the Outer Hebrides.

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