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A set of protocols being designed to help US land and forest owners gain access to the voluntary carbon market won’t reach a draft form before the end of President Joe Biden’s term, putting their fate in the hands of the incoming Republican administration.

Poor country delegates say classifications that date back to 1992 are obsolete and two countries ‘should be contributing’

China and India should no longer be treated as developing countries in the same way as some of the poorest African nations are, according to a growing number of poor country delegates at the Cop29 UN climate talks.

China should take on some additional responsibility for providing financial help to the poorest and most vulnerable, several delegates told the Guardian. India should not be eligible for receiving financial help as it has no trouble attracting investment, some said.

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The plethora of biodiversity crediting standards that have emerged over the past couple of years will be narrowed down to just a few once the market takes off – whenever that may be.

Europe is falling far behind on its renewable hydrogen targets, with just 4% of announced projects under construction and production far from the 2030 goal, according to an industry report released on Tuesday.

Countries with domestic carbon pricing efforts emphasised the specific policy design mechanisms needed to minimise pass-through costs to end consumers, government officials told an event on the sidelines of COP29.

Exclusive: Leaders warn cost savings will lead to mass redundancies and that spaces could become ‘paper parks’

England’s national parks face a 12% real-terms cut to their budget which would lead to mass redundancies of wardens and the closure of visitor centres and other facilities, park leaders have warned.

The chief executives told the Guardian that soon the spaces would become “paper parks” designated by a “brown sign on the motorway” and they will have to “turn the lights off, close the doors and put up closed signs” if the cuts go ahead.

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The EU needs coordinated policy to finance emissions reductions to 2030, integrating potential climate risks in order to avoid losses and disruptions stemming from a 'run on brown' scenario, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) warned on Tuesday.

The decision on whether to host COP31 in Turkiye or Australia has reached an "impasse", according to observers, as both countries continue to promote themselves as prospective hosts for the 2026 annual UN climate summit.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $7.7 billion for its various conservation programmes in the 2025 fiscal year, the country's agriculture secretary said Tuesday at COP29, expressing confidence that such initiatives will continue with the upcoming change of presidential administration.

A Zambian climate bill up for public consultation this month, publicised on Monday, lists several layers of government approval and fees for carbon trading but does not elaborate on its high-level principles for environmental integrity.

A UK company specialising in assisting carbon project developers has established an office to expand its activities into the fast-growing Southeast Asian market.

Chris Bowen also pledges A$50m to a fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people repair the damage from climate breakdown

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The Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has declared the landmark Paris agreement “is working” as it had brought the world back from “the brink of catastrophic 4C warming”, but argued countries must set the most ambitious emissions targets possible for 2035 to limit worsening global heating.

Giving Australia’s national statement on the conference floor at the Cop29 summit in Azerbaijan, he also pledged A$50m (US$32.5m) towards a global loss and damage fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown.

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Nearly 80 civil society are calling on UN Climate Change to facilitate the allocation of climate finance to farmers to help them engage in more sustainable practices like restoring degraded soils, in an open letter published on the sidelines of the COP29 climate conference.

Thousands of farmers from across the UK protested in central London against changes in the 2024 budget that will mean some farmers paying inheritance tax. Farmers were previously exempt. The farmers, who were joined by Jeremy Clarkson and seveal MPs, fear the new levy will affect food prices and harm their businesses

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Military conflicts account for around 5.5% of global emissions, yet countries are not obliged to report them under the UN climate body’s framework, research bodies highlighted at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Namibian government will release draft carbon market regulations in 2025, once it has clarity of the rules underpinning the UN's international market mechanism, an official told Carbon Pulse at the COP29 climate summit in Baku.

A Durham-based fintech has purchased 25 acres (10,1 hectares) of new woodland in Northeast England as part of a commitment to become climate positive by 2035, the company announced on Tuesday.

Uganda is looking to Article 6 projects to help finance sustainable development, particularly given the limitations of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) and international finance goals, a senior official told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of COP29.

EU carbon prices stalled on Tuesday morning after their 2.2% jump on Monday, trading in a relatively narrow range as gas prices also stabilised and traders waited for signs of new price direction.

An update on our progress from the Guardian’s head of sustainability

• The Guardian environment pledge 2024
• Support urgent, independent climate journalism today

Five years ago the Guardian made a pledge that we would “play a part, both in our journalism and in our own organisation, to address the climate emergency” with our first annual environment pledge. That commitment reflected our long history of environment reporting and our view that individual companies had to take greater responsibility for their impact on the natural world. We wanted to demonstrate to readers that we were taking the action that our journalism showed was so necessary, and to be transparent about our progress. Today we publish the 2024 pledge.

Since then we have worked hard to measure and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, to understand our impact on nature and to share our results openly with readers. In our latest sustainability report, published last month, we show that our emissions have fallen by 43% since 2020, putting us well on track to achieve our goal of a 67% cut by 2030.

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