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

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Countryside and wildlife conservation groups want a judicial review of government action on nature loss.

While Australian carbon prices were relatively range bound in May, there was a record increase in credits traded under derivative contracts such as forward and options, according to analysts.

Australia’s GHG emissions failed to budge in the December quarter, according to recently published figures, however a significant recalculation in the country’s land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) category sparked concerns from experts.

In these still largely prosperous rural heartlands, filthy water has become a surprisingly powerful symbol of national decline

Laura Reineke has been a mermaid for seven years now. Or more precisely, she’s a member of Henley Mermaids, the name she and a few friends from her open-water swimming club gave to the WhatsApp group they created for arranging river dips. Seven years of navigating various unmentionable waterborne substances later, the mermaids aren’t just swimmers now but fully fledged clean-water activists, campaigning to highlight pollution in Oxfordshire’s waterways alongside the likes of TV presenter Steve Backshall (who lives nearby with his Olympic rower wife Helen Glover) and lobbying local politicians.

Reineke, who works for the conservation charity Wild Fish, still swims daily with the help of an app tracking Thames Water’s regular discharges into the river: but lately, she says even the supposedly clean stretches seem murkier. “You can’t see the bottom any more, the plant life is covered in sewage – it’s grotty. It’s really, really sad.” Though as she points out, it’s much worse for the fish.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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Deal linking Australia's largest state farmer organisation with a leading solar provider aims to help "future proof" the NSW agriculture industry.

The post NSW Farmers ink solar deal to provide members with “reliable affordable” energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The wind, solar, and storage projects that are struggling to meet timelines.

The post Who’s who in the grid pipeline: Why we’re building anticipation more than new projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Two Australian clean energy developers and investors have announced plans to build a portfolio of 27 small battery storage projects across three Australian states.

The post Plan unveiled to build 27 small battery storage projects across southern states appeared first on RenewEconomy.

CO2 allowance prices in China’s national emissions market increased slightly over the past week amid sustained liquidity, with participants remaining eager to learn whether the sectoral expansion plan will be rolled out later this year.

New data shows nearly 60% of all electricity fed into the German grid in first three months of 2024 came from renewables.

The post Almost 60 pct of Germany’s public electricity supply came from renewables in early 2024 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Promise to invest in ‘cheap, clean, homegrown energy’ ticks every box but £8.3bn over a parliament is not game-changing

Great British Energy, Labour’s proposed publicly owned energy company, scores well with voters, according to the pollsters, and one can understand why. The promise to invest in “cheap, clean, homegrown energy, to cut bills for families and rebuild the strength of British industry” ticks every imaginable box. What’s not to like?

And, since the privatised utilities are never going to win a popularity contest (especially when the boss of British Gas’s owner is being paid £8m), the publicly-owned structure of GB Energy is almost a cherry on top. Other countries have state-owned firms making good profits in the UK energy market. Now the home side will be on the pitch.

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More money is being poured into solar than all other generation technologies combined, an IEA report shows, while nuclear makes up tiny fraction of all clean energy spending.

The post More money is being poured into solar than all other energy technologies combined appeared first on RenewEconomy.

South Korea and Indonesia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the implementation of projects under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

One week after Rio Tinto sealed a groundbreaking deal to power its Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, plans to build a new 155MW wind farm have been given the all-clear.

The post Aluminium smelter power supply deal paves way for second largest wind farm in NZ appeared first on RenewEconomy.

One of Australia's oldest wind farms delays its closure date for another seven years, taking its life span to 30 years.

The post One of Australia’s oldest wind farms extends life to 30 years appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Brazilian Federal Police (PF)'s investigation into an alleged criminal scheme selling of millions of dollars' worth of fraudulent carbon credits from illegally authorised lands is centring on a major project developer and the country's top offset seller, local media reported Thursday.

Rapidly reaching net-zero is vital to avoiding the worst ravages of climate change. But doing so in a way that damages nature is self-defeating. Brendan Wintle, Professor in Conservation Science, School of Ecosystem and Forest Science, The University of Melbourne Andrew Rogers, Biodiversity lead analyst, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne James Watson, Professor in Conservation Science, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland Michelle Ward, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland Sarah Bekessy, Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning, Leader, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The European Court of Justice on Wednesday ruled that incinerators used for hazardous waste do not need to be included in the EU's Emissions Trading System if they are part of larger installations covered by the scheme, provided they only marginally incinerate other types of waste.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices in the secondary market reversed course late Thursday after a week of sliding toward March lows on high ICE futures and options volume exacerbating the technical sell-off, market participants said, while Washington Carbon Allowances (WCA) declined heading into the second quarterly permit sale.

Financing for new wind and solar projects rebounds in first quarter, but remains well below level needed to meet renewable targets. Battery storage, meanwhile, charges on.

The post Wind and solar projects show signs of rebound, as battery storage charges on with record quarter appeared first on RenewEconomy.