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Downpours moved south from Alps as far as Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, causing rivers to overflow

Heavy rain and thunderstorms have caused havoc in Switzerland and northern Italy over the past week. Switzerland was badly hit on Friday 21 June, with downpours delivering more than 100mm across many areas – more than half of this within one hour.

Flash flooding and landslides swept away cars and houses, with at least one person known to have died, alongside widespread damage to transport infrastructure. The mountain resort of Zermatt was entirely cut off due to a combination of flood water, road closures and suspended train services.

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Fears of fire and environmental disaster as company repeatedly misses UK deadlines to decommission sites

The North Sea’s biggest oil and gas infrastructure company is risking fires and environmental disasters, experts have warned, as documents reveal it is failing to plug its ageing oil wells in time and is missing decommissioning deadlines by up to a decade.

Last year, the fossil fuel firm Perenco faced controversy after an oil spill from its Poole Harbour operations polluted the Dorset site, which is internationally recognised for its ecological importance. The RSPB reported oiled birds in the water at the largest natural harbour in Europe, which is one of the most heavily protected areas in the UK. Perenco promised it would never happen again and committed to pay for the damage caused.

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Implementation of existing policies and investments in net-zero technologies to meet the EU’s 2030 decarbonisation target will be the cornerstones of the new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen when it comes to climate policy, officials have said.

The newly-elected government of Indonesia is working to create a National Carbon Body that will oversee the country’s emissions trading activities, an industry group spokesperson told Bloomberg. 

Japan has selected advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects for the creation of a CCS value chain, as the country aims to secure a capacity of storing up to 12 million tonnes of CO2 by the end of this decade, the government announced Friday.

The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) has approved $20 million in funding to Cameroon in order to help smallholder cocoa and coffee farmers adopt sustainable agricultural practices, it announced this week.

Spot prices for Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) have traded sideways for much of the past three months, with traders speculating that many facilities covered under the Safeguard Mechanism have already acquired all the credits they need to meet their obligations, at least for the first few years.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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Growing and changing demands for water and the increasing impacts of climate change are adding to the challenge of ensuring everyone has access to a safe and reliable water supply. Stuart Khan, Professor and Head of School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

While Peter Dutton says he is waiting for battery storage to be "discovered," one analyst values Tesla's battery business at $A200 billion, more than nearly every Australian company.

The post Tesla battery business is worth nearly $200 billion, more than any Australian company except BHP appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Latest NSW tender for new renewable projects selects first solar and battery hybrid, and a wind farm that has already been built.

The post NSW wind and solar auction comes up short, with one winning project already built appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EU heads of states have nominated Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission President and adopted a roadmap for the next five years that includes the continuation of European Green Deal priorities agreed over the last mandate.

Over millions of years, a stable climate helped create this biodiversity hotspot. Climate change now threatens it. Sean Buckley, Lecturer in Molecular Ecology and Environmental Management, Edith Cowan University Luciano Beheregaray, Matthew Flinders Professor of Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University Mark Allen, Post Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch University Stephen Beatty, Research Leader (Catchments to Coast), Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Incorporating First Nations into the Future Made in Australia Act will finally bring Australia onto a more equal footing with the US and Canada.

The post Is Australia finally catching up on clean energy benefits for First Nations? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The average cost of electricity has continued its upwards march for Australian households, despite rooftop solar helping to push usage to a new low.

The post Household power usage hits a new low – but regulator credits the weather, not rooftop solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

More than 21,000 old sites may be releasing ‘forever chemicals’ into land often left as open space

• ‘It’s a poison and it’s killing us’: the hidden dangers of old UK landfills

Thousands of polluted landfills across England could be leaking toxic chemicals into the environment and harming people who live nearby, experts have warned.

A few decades ago, the method for getting rid of industrial and domestic waste was to stick it in a hole in the ground, cover it up and hope for the best. It was known as “dilute and disperse” and it assumed toxic substances would seep into the surrounding soils, air and water and become harmless.

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The appointment of high-profile NSW Liberal politician Matt Kean to chair the CCA has sparked questions about what this body does. How does it influence climate policy in Australia?

The post What’s next for the Climate Change Authority under Matt Kean’s leadership? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New Zealand’s Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has told reporters the government will accept the advice of its handpicked panel on methane targets and science, regardless of whether it contradicts advice provided by the Climate Change Commission (CCC).

Self-determination lies at the crux of the relationships Indigenous Colombians hold with both public and private stakeholders in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), Carbon Pulse heard at the Latin America Climate Summit in Cartagena this week, as communities variously seek recourse in courts to curb rights violations and open collective land allotments to project proponents to finance conservation and development.

Global carbon standard Verra on Thursday released its new methodology for technology-based carbon capture and storage (CCS), including modules for CO2 capture, transport, and storage initiatives.