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Associate Director, Carbon & Energy, Jacobs – London
Thames Water fined £2.3m for raw sewage pollution incident
Judge says firm’s breach of environmental standards in 2016 amounted to ‘high negligence’
Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, has been fined £2.3m for a pollution incident in 2016 that resulted in the death of 1,200 fish and damaged the environment.
The incident, involving a leak of untreated sewage with a high ammonia content into the Fawley Court ditch and stream that flows into the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, happened between 21 and 24 April 2016.
Continue reading...Changes in Atlantic currents may have dire climate implications for the next century | Andrew Meijers
Without modifying human behaviour we run the risk of violent weather swings and a drastic effect on crops and ocean life
The ocean circulation that keeps our relatively northern corner of Europe warm(ish) is often likened to a gigantic conveyor belt bringing warm equatorial water northwards at the surface, balanced by cold southward flow at great depth. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC for short, brings heat energy northward at the equivalent rate of 10 Hiroshima bombs every second and keeps our weather mild, and just a little bit too damp, and is critical to the wider climate.
New research has provided important long-term context for scientists’ observations of these Atlantic currents that bring warmth and climatic stability to our shores, with concerning implications for the coming century. Changes in the AMOC in the geologic past have caused significant local and global impacts, and for several decades now oceanographers have been monitoring its strength.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
The best of the week’s wildlife pictures, including a bat rescue mission and knitted nests for injured birds
Continue reading...CO2 emissions: nations' pledges 'far away' from Paris target, says UN
Secretary general António Guterres says first assessment of promises amounts to ‘red alert for our planet’
The first assessment of countries’ pledges to cut their greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, a vital component of the Paris climate agreement, has found they are only a fraction of the effort needed to avoid climate breakdown.
If all of the national pledges submitted so far were fulfilled, global emissions would be reduced by only 1% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. Scientists have said a 45% reduction is needed in the next 10 years to keep global heating to no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris agreement.
Continue reading...ANALYSIS: Prospects limited for EU carbon market speculation curbs after missed opportunities
Brunt Ice Shelf: Big iceberg calves near UK Antarctic base
Major EU cement firms see output near pre-COVID levels, expect gains in 2021
Climate change: Carbon emission promises 'put Earth on red alert'
First UK ETS auction, futures contracts launch set for mid-May
World’s climate pledges falling far behind target, UN report shows
*Head of Sales and Marketing, C-Quest Capital – Coastal US/Western Europe
If the UK government won't stop industrial fishing from destroying our oceans, activists will | Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
By dropping boulders on the bottom of the seabed, Greenpeace is preventing trawlers from ploughing up vital habitat
Our oceans are in crisis. I saw it for myself while I was making my television series Hugh’s Fish Fight for Channel 4 over a decade ago. I saw the most destructive fishing practices first-hand, as I dived over the sea floor within minutes of fishing boats dragging their metal-toothed gear along the bottom and scraping everything in their path. And I witnessed the desert they created.
Related: Global freshwater fish populations at risk of extinction, study finds
Continue reading...Director, Energy Community Secretariat – Vienna
China sees first carbon neutral bonds, though questions raised
'Blossom circles' to bloom across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Project aims to inspire UK equivalent of hanami – the Japanese custom of relishing fleeting sight and scent of blossom
The joyful sight of trees bursting into blossom during the first Covid lockdown last spring gave comfort and hope to countless people confined indoors or only allowed to roam very briefly outside.
Almost 12 months on a conservation charity is leading a major project to create “blossom circles” in cities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to provide spaces for reflection and optimism to aid the emotional recovery from the pandemic.
Continue reading...EU ETS Policy Analyst, ERCST – Brussels
Green homes grant will meet only tiny fraction of target in England
Scheme will issue vouchers to just 49,000 people by end of March at current rate, analysis finds
The government’s flagship green homes grant scheme will help just 8% of its target 600,000 households switch to renewable energy by the end of March, analysis reveals.
The £2bn for the scheme is being withdrawn at the end of next month. Analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank reveals that at the current rate it will issue vouchers to just 49,000 members of the public by that time.
Continue reading...‘Dying like flies’: A million chickens die on way from farm to abattoir each year
Whistleblower says birds are dying ‘in a pretty rough way’ from heat stress and lack of water on journeys in England and Wales
Chickens are “dying like flies” in their millions while being transported from farms to abattoirs because of poorly ventilated lorries, a whistleblower has told the Guardian.
Around one million chickens are dead on arrival at slaughterhouses in England and Wales every year, according to data collected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and analysed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Guardian.
Although the number of deaths in transit is just a fraction of the one billion birds slaughtered every year in the UK, the government said this week that the figures were “worrying” and reducing deaths was a driving force behind its new proposals to restrict the transport of live animals. A consultation on the issue closed this week.
Energy Insiders Podcast: What does Texas mean for Australia’s grid reform?
Texas blackouts have lessons for Australia. As climate impacts grow, new market reforms are introduced, and more battery storage comes into the grid.
The post Energy Insiders Podcast: What does Texas mean for Australia’s grid reform? appeared first on RenewEconomy.