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A girl who died in 2013 has had air pollution listed as a cause of death; what are the implications?

EU climate ministers on Thursday adopted a unified negotiating position for the European Climate Law including a higher 2030 emissions target, while formally endorsing an updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement.

A forensic examination of the cargo reveals the devastation of populations caused by the trade.

One task for the Austrian will be managing the interests of EU and non-EU states, such as the UK.

ICE Futures Europe has been appointed to host carbon allowance auctions under the UK’s new emissions trading scheme, the London-based exchange announced Thursday.

Member states blame uncertainty over Brexit as reason for breach of next year’s limits

Fish populations will continue to be over-exploited in EU waters, partly as a result of Brexit, after a decision on next year’s fishing quotas among EU countries fell well short of scientific advice.

Fishing limits are set to exceed scientific advice for about a third of EU fish stocks, after EU ministers met on Thursday morning, with EU member states citing the uncertainty regarding fishing rights after Brexit as a reason for breaching limits on sustainable catches.

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For the first time, air pollution has been recognised as a cause of death. The dangers are known, and people of colour are most at risk

I live less than five minutes from the road that killed Ella Kissi-Debrah. Like so many in our community, I spend much of my life near the South Circular, a major road that runs through south London, whether I’m walking to the train station or catching a bus, and I can often hear the traffic. In a landmark ruling, Ella has now become the first person in the UK to have air pollution officially recognised by a coroner as a cause of death.

The result of the inquest will, first and foremost, give some sense of justice to the family. I was in Ella’s year at primary school. After she died at just nine years old in February 2013, I saw her mum, Rosamund, spend years fighting for the death to be examined by a second coroner. Thanks to this courageous campaign, which included finding expert medical advice, the second coroner concluded that “air pollution was a significant contributory factor to both the induction and exacerbation of her asthma”. As Rosamund has said, the judgment means that the family can finally rest – and have a Christmas knowing that some justice is done.

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Chemicals called PFAS and PFOS – known as forever chemicals – are in the blood of virtually every person on the planet. And they will only accumulate

Imagine that a small group of people coordinated the intentional manufacture and release of a lethal poison – and imagine they knew this poison had special properties that meant, once released into the world, it would be inevitable that it would make its way into the blood of virtually every person on the planet, even babies in their mother’s womb, and stay there, like a ticking time bomb.

Well, that “ticking time bomb” waiting to explode into serious, even fatal, disease is not a fictional device from some doomsday thriller; it is real, it is inside virtually all of us, right now. Tick, tick, tick.

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Bloomberg New Energy Finance reveals that, for the first time, battery pack prices have dipped below $US100/kWh in China’s e-bus market.

The post Battery prices dip below $US100/kWh, down 90 per cent from levels a decade ago appeared first on RenewEconomy.

US President-elect to appoint former Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy as domestic climate adviser, and Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary.

The post Biden adds to dream “green team” to lead on climate and clean energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Scientists find 156 new plants and fungi, including six new species of toadstool in British woodlands.

Sumitomo writes off stake in WA’s Bluewaters due to difficulty in refinancing loans for coal projects

The Japanese part-owner of Australia’s newest coal-fired power plant has written off its investment amid dimming prospects for coal.

The conglomerate Sumitomo and another Japanese company, Kansai, each own half the Bluewaters power plant, which provides about 15% of Western Australia’s electricity, after buying it for a reported $1.2bn in 2011.

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Botanists list plants newly discovered or named by scientists in 2020

• RBG Kew selects 10 of 156 species officially named this year
• The ugliest orchid in the world, a toadstool found at Heathrow airport, UK, and a potential food source from Peru, among showstoppers on list
• Orchids account for more than a third of the newly named species
• Concerns that several of these rare species, already threatened by habitat clearance, face extinction

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Campaigners urge action after a coroner rules air pollution contributed to her daughter’s death

The mother of Ella Kissi-Debrah called for her legacy to be the passing of a new clean air act to force the government in the UK to clean up the environment for future generations of children.

Rosamund Kissi-Debrah spoke after a coroner ruled that illegal levels of air pollution, predominantly from traffic, had caused the death of her nine year old daughter in south London in February 2013.

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Kew Gardens botanists also named a new toadstool found at Heathrow airport and a bizarre scaly shrub from Namibia

The “ugliest orchid in the world”, a toadstool discovered at Heathrow airport, and a bizarre scaly shrub have topped a list of new species named by scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and their collaborators in 2020.

The researchers said the 156 new plants and fungi highlighted the amazing diversity of species that remain to be found, with the potential to provide new crops, medicines and gardener’s favourites. One is a morning glory plant, whose sweet purple tubers are already eaten by local people in the high Andes of Peru.

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Poisoning birds among allegations after discovery during search of property at Violet Town

A Victorian woman is facing almost 300 animal cruelty charges after wildlife officers allegedly found the carcasses of 140 protected native birds, including 128 wedge-tailed eagles, at her property.

The office of the conservation regulator said police, wildlife officers, and officials from the agriculture department searched the woman’s property in Violet Town in August after a number of dead wedge-tailed eagles were found in the area.

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Horizon Power appoints local outfit to build Australia’s first renewable hydrogen demonstration plant in a remote power system in Denham, Western Australia.

The post Australia’s first remote, renewable hydrogen microgrid to be built at Denham appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tesla has shipped more than 10,000 electric cars to Australia since 2014, and is still selling double that of all other car makers combined in 2020, new data has revealed.

The post Tesla sales in Australia top 10,000, still selling twice as many EVs as all rivals combined appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Japan is reportedly eyeing offshore wind as the country’s energy of the future and has set a target to install up to 45GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040.

The post Japan sees offshore wind as energy of the future, targets 45GW by 2040 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Documents show Tasmania's publicly-owned companies expect to lose tens of millions on 'onerous' wind farm contracts.

The post Premier directed Hydro Tasmania to enter into loss-making deal, utility says appeared first on RenewEconomy.