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UN negotiations on Article 6 rules to govern international emissions trade took a step forward on Thursday when Brazil appeared to accept a compromise on accounting rules, two sources close to the process told Carbon Pulse.

COP26 heads into crunch time, as the COP president pleads with negotiators to finish on time. New Zealand emerges as a surprise agitator on 2030 targets.

The post Glasgow Brief: Negotiations head into crunch mode as COP president warns “time is running out” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rooftop solar has smashed output records in all states over the past few weeks.

The post Rooftop solar smashes output records in all Australian states appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Forrest's team built the first haul truck to run on hydrogen, now they have been given 12 months to convert the first ship to green ammonia.

The post Forrest promises to convert first ship to green ammonia within a year appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Only in coming years will we know if COP26 was a real game-changer for the planet, or just empty promises and spin. Tim Flannery, Professorial fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Morrison government’s great refusal to take action on climate may come back to haunt Australia when we seek the cooperation of other countries. Robyn Eckersley, Professor of Political Science, School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Egypt was confirmed as the next host of the UN climate summit for late 2022, with the United Arab Emirates selected to host the meeting for the following year, current COP26 President Alok Sharma announced on Thursday.

Antonio Guterres tells the Associated Press that COP26 will probably not achieve what's needed.

The London mayor and chair of a global alliance of cities announces $1bn for electric buses

• Cop26 summit – day 11 live
• Cop26 – the complete guide
  
  

Global cities are acting now to fight the climate crisis, while many governments are delaying, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has told the Cop26 summit.

Cities are growing fast and cause an estimated 75% of carbon emissions, making urban action critical to halting global heating. Khan is chair of the C40 group of 97 major cities, representing more than 700 million people and a quarter of the global economy.

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More than 100 nations including Australia this month signed up to stop or reverse deforestation by 2030. The pact, hailed as one of the main achievements of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, put the spotlight on an issue that combines carbon emissions and threatened species. These images reveal some of the shocking impacts of deforestation

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The UK and Indonesia are eyeing a joint carbon trading exchange, according to reports.

World leaders, big business and international delegations have converged on the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow promising to tackle global heating.

But outside the closed negotiation doors, activists from around the globe have been a strong voice in attempting to hold those in power to account on their environmental pledges. The Guardian followed Fatima Ibrahim, activist and co-director of Green New Deal Rising, as she navigated a day at the climate conference 

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Scottish ministers fear raft of measures could be undermined by delay to parallel action in England

The sale of plastic straws, cutlery and polystyrene cups and food boxes is to be banned in Scotland next year as part of measures to reduce waste and pollution.

The Scottish government said the ban would cover all single-use polystyrene food containers and their lids, as well as plastic stirrers, balloon sticks, plates and coffee stirrers, and would come into force on 1 June.

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Climate experts say their message is getting through but more urgent work is needed

• Cop26 – latest updates

Scientists attending Cop26 have sent a clear warning to policymakers: get a move on, because every moment of delay, every extra fraction of a degree of global heating will have dire consequences.

That message has been reinforced at Glasgow with reports, forums and discussions, but those involved in channelling the science to the world’s leaders are frustrated that words are still not being matched by actions.

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Recipients felt ‘threatened’ by letter from Mears, which is contracted to house asylum seekers in Glasgow

• Cop26 – latest updates

Concerns have been raised about a letter sent to thousands of asylum seekers in Glasgow advising them not to take part in policed protests during the Cop26 summit.

The letter was sent by the private housing provider Mears, which has the Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in the city, the UK’s largest dispersal area.

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The Earth Project, in collaboration with Nature Picture Library photography competition, aims to raise awareness of the huge challenges faced by nature, as well as the impacts of climate change on global ecosystems. Some of the world’s leading photographers came together to illustrate nature under threat, linking to one of the main goals of Cop26: to help protect and restore ecosystems in countries adversely affected by the climate crisis

• The overall winning images, by Rivoni Mkansi of a rhino being dehorned to deter poaching; by Doug Gimesy of little blue penguins silhouetted against Melbourne city, and by Jo-Anne McArthur of pigs in an industrial farm, were selected by an online vote for three galleries

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Climate Action Tracker data shows world still heading for catastrophe – but outlook could improve

New Cop26 pledges announced on methane, coal, transport and deforestation could nudge the world 9% closer to a pathway that keeps heating to 1.5C, according to a study by the world’s most respected climate analysis coalition.

Climate Action Tracker says the sectoral commitments announced in Glasgow represent potential cuts of 2.2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the emissions of Germany, Japan and the UK combined, or 20,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers. This is in addition to measures previously outlined in national climate plans.

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Diverse participation leads to more robust solutions, but Cop26 shows we are still failing to include marginalised voices

In a stirring speech at the opening of the Cop26 world leaders summit, Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, asked: “When will leaders lead?” The problem she identified is that “both ambition and needed faces are not present in Glasgow”. The over-representation of white men in climate change decision-making processes is stifling for both the imagination and the implementation of transformative solutions. Globally, only 26 women serve as heads of government and state. At the last Cop summit, held in 2019, approximately 80% or 155 of the 196 heads of delegation were men. Progress has been made to increase women’s participation in Cop events, but gender parity in climate leadership is estimated to be achieved only in 2068.

The global climate change agenda has met with not only political inaction, but resistance in the form of populist denialism that threatens to derail or undo existing efforts. For example, studies on “conservative white males” in the US and Norway have highlighted the connections between climate change denialism, patriarchal beliefs and rightwing nationalism.

Dr Maria Tanyag is a research fellow and lecturer in international relations at the Australian National University

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British chemical giant to exit sector saying it is lagging too far behind rivals already making batteries at scale

Britain’s hopes to grab a slice of the fast-growing market for electric vehicle batteries have been dealt a blow after one of the UK’s biggest chemicals companies said it would give up on developing the technology.

Johnson Matthey, a member of the FTSE 100, announced plans on Thursday to exit the battery materials business because it is too far behind rivals who are already making batteries at gigantic scale.

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A number of Chinese power plants unexpectedly face a shortage of allowances in the national CO2 trading scheme after neglecting to finalise the verification process for their 2019 emissions, according to market participants.