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Scientists are investigating reports of dying coral from Lizard Island in the north to Heron Island in the south

Scientists are reporting corals are bleaching white and dying from rising ocean temperatures across a more than 1,000km stretch of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Australian Institute of Marine Science were preparing on Thursday to carry out surveys from a helicopter across the southern section of the reef.

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EU carbon allowance prices fell back on Thursday morning, giving back most of the gains seen over the previous two trading sessions and approaching long-term lows, as earlier short-covering gave way to renewed selling and traders continued to speculate over where the bottom of the market may be found.

The ECT allowed fossil-fuel companies to sue governments for billions in compensation for lost profits.

The ECT allowed fossil-fuel companies to sue governments for billions in compensation for lost profits.

The ECT allowed fossil-fuel companies to sue governments for billions in compensation for lost profits.

Improving profits from assets related to nature and climate are attracting investors to the market, while biodiversity credits are tipped to mature this year, a survey has suggested.

The 4,000-strong Asian-flagged shipping fleet that keeps goods flowing from east to west will need to surrender around 20 million EU Allowances (EUAs) a year to cover its emissions once the maritime sector is fully included in the trading bloc’s Emission Trading System (ETS), research finds.

Proposal focuses on technique that fills atmosphere with particles, reflecting part of sun’s heat and light back into space

Switzerland has initiated a global debate on whether the “risks, benefits and uncertainties” of dimming the sun should be studied by a United Nations expert group.

It is proposing that the world body should gather information about ongoing research into solar geoengineering, and set up an advisory panel that could suggest future options for the untested and controversial approach to reduce global heating, which would have implications for food supply, biodiversity, global inequality and security.

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The committee overseeing Japan’s J-Credit programme is considering expanding the scope of the domestic voluntary scheme to encourage the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon removal projects.

Investment comes after research showing Australia is at risk of missing out on global renewables manufacturing boom

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Thousands of Queenslanders could soon be employed in a globally competitive grid-scale battery export industry, with the state committing hundreds of millions in backing for the sector.

Centre for Future Work director, Jim Stanford, said the state’s shift towards long-unfashionable “industry policy” was “absolutely the right direction” for the entire country, not just Queensland.

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$275m to support industry to innovate and commercialise battery technologies, including a new Australian battery industrialisation centre.

$92.2m to drive battery investment and supply chain growth, including grants.

$202.5m to promote the local industry, including a new state government clearing house.

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Britain joins France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands in withdrawing from charter it says ‘penalises’ shift to net zero

The UK is pulling out of a treaty that lets fossil fuel firms sue governments over their climate policies.

The UK will quit the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT) after efforts to align it with net zero emissions plans failed, the government announced late on Wednesday.

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The UN Federal Credit Union (UNFCU) has joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), the global initiative aimed at standardising greenhouse gas accounting across the sector.

China is planning to formulate technical standards for the development of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) by 2025 as part of a broader roadmap to peak emissions from domestic industries by the end of this decade.

Carbon emissions in construction and manufacturing can be cut at least 10% through the use of lifecycle assessments (LCA), but a lack of policies, environmental data, and investor awareness are key barriers to wider LCA adoption, according to a survey of industry professionals.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral resources has revised up its prospects for carbon capture and storage (CCS) by over 25%, it told an audience at an industry event this week.

Team behind Little Amal puppet hope to create ‘visceral engagement’ with issues caused by climate emergency

The production team behind the Little Amal puppet, which raised awareness about the plight of the refugee crisis in Europe, hope their next project – a herd of animal puppets going on a 20,000km trek – will start a new global conversation about the climate crisis.

Amir Nizar Zuabi, the Palestinian artist who helped launch the Amal project, said The Herd – which will tour through several African and European cities and feature dozens of puppets – will be a “soft, beautiful evocation to think differently” about the climate crisis.

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Labor and Coalition likely to block climate "duty of care" bill designed to close the gap that allows new fossil fuel projects to be approved.

The post Major parties set to block Pocock move to enshrine climate change “duty of care” for children appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s proposed Project One cracking plant is ‘hugely destructive’, says Client Earth

The creation of the biggest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years faces a new legal challenge by a group of NGOs arguing that the true impact of the development on people, nature and the climate has not been considered.

Client Earth lodged papers on Wednesday evening in court which aim to halt the building of Project One, a vast cracking plant to produce the chemicals to make plastic, which is being built in Antwerp by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company Ineos.

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With current data on global biodiversity either lacking or flawed, a global satellite scheme aims to fill the gaps to target protection of our seas, soils and wildlife

For the handful of people who get the chance to observe Earth from space, the impact is often profound. Called the “overview effect”, astronauts report being deeply moved by the experience, as the planet’s fragility and beauty became clear. Others, such as the actor William Shatner, said they were overcome with grief.

Now, scientists are proposing the creation of a new system that they hope will use the view from space to transform our understanding of Earth’s changing ecology and its complex systems.

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A group of Japanese energy giants have finalised an agreement with their nation’s international development agency to work on what they call the ‘Master Plan for Energy Transition Management Project’ in Indonesia.