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The New South Wales (NSW) state parliament on Thursday passed legislation that will make its emissions reduction targets legally binding, the government announced.

Speaking in the lead up to Cop28 in Dubai, Christiana Figueres said she has lost faith in oil companies

People must balance outrage and optimism after a “hellish summer” of extreme weather, the UN’s former climate chief has urged at the start of the Cop28 climate summit.

“We have to keep the outrage really high because we are so darn late,” said Christiana Figueres, a veteran negotiator hailed as the architect of the Paris climate agreement. She pointed to the weak policies that governments have set in order to cut planet-heating pollution and the $7tn with which they directly and indirectly subsidise fossil fuels.

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This year’s summit in Dubai must be the moment when the developing world finally meets its climate crisis promises

• Ban Ki-moon and Graça Machel are deputy chairs of the global human rights organisation The Elders

After a year marked by unparalleled global temperature highs and climate impacts, leaders are set to meet in Dubai for the 28th conference of the parties to the UN framework convention on climate change – Cop28. We have entered an unprecedented era of global heating: 2023 is near certain to be the hottest year on record.

We have seen extreme wildfires blanketing North America, more than 15,000 killed by extreme weather events in Africa, record-breaking heatwaves in China, southern Europe and the United States, as well as deadly hurricanes and cyclones including Storm Daniel, which killed at least 10,000 people in Libya, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, and caused at least $20bn (£16bn) of damage. Ocean temperatures also soared to record-breaking highs, posing a critical threat to the health of coral reefs and causing widespread disruption to marine ecosystems.

Graça Machel is a deputy chair of the global human rights organisation The Elders, and a women and children’s rights advocate. Ban Ki-moon is a deputy chair of The Elders, co-chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, chair of the Global Center on Adaptation, and the 8th secretary general of the United Nations

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We are belatedly waking up to the many health risks of microplastics. Yet too little research focuses on the most exposed demographic of all

For the last 70 years, we have all been lab rats in the biggest health experiment of human history, one that none of us signed up for, least of all our children.

In the run-up to attending the global plastic treaty negotiations in Nairobi, I was feeling frustrated about the coverage of microplastics and their impact on human health, so I wrote a report, Babies v Plastics. I wanted to emphasise that these tiny, insidious fragments of plastic are associated with not just one health risk, but with an entire range of health issues, from elevated miscarriage rates to early puberty.

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An Australian pipeline company has signed on a junior partner to develop more biomethane as it takes steps to decarbonise its operations longer term.

Voluntary market exchange operator Xpansiv announced late Wednesday that it had dumped more REDD projects from its N-GEO Standard Spot Contract after Verra listed them as ‘on hold’.

Opposition vows to tackle rural connection delays to the grid while Conservatives call for offshore network to preserve landscapes

Labour is promising to “rewire Britain”, making its case to the UK’s rural communities that it will connect farmers and businesses to the National Grid at record-breaking speed.

The pledge comes as Rishi Sunak faces a battle over electricity pylons with the trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, and former ministers urging him to pull the plug on crucial grid infrastructure.

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Varying degrees of debt financing could present a new challenge to European firms striving to achieve the emissions reductions required under the EU’s Green Deal and Fit for 55 initiatives.

Two key calls from Climate Change Authority, including for phase out of gas connections for new and existing homes, have been rejected by the federal energy minister.

The post Bowen rejects CCA call for home gas ban and zero emissions for cars by 2040 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Fortescue signs MOU with Canadian company that includes a supply agreement for hydrogen refuelling stations.

The post Fortescue signs green hydrogen supply deal for refuelling stations in Canada appeared first on RenewEconomy.

China is quietly reorganising its entire power sector to support rapid electrification and renewables uptake – and smashing records along the way.

The post China to install record-breaking 230 GW of wind and solar in 2023 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Wind turbines are being used for longer. Meanwhile, the race is on in Europe and the US to find better solutions to a growing problem of how to recycle them.

The post Wind turbine blades: Inside the battle to overcome the waste problem appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In a triumph of multi-partisanship, NSW Parliament has passed legislation to cut the state's emissions by 70% by 2035, and reach net zero by 2050.

The post NSW passes climate bill to write 70 pct by 2035 emissions reduction target into law appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Origin rejects Brookfield consortium's revised bid and resumes plans for a vote on the offer that last week looked certain to be rejected by shareholders.

The post Origin board rejects Brookfield Plan B offer, with main bid doomed for failure appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia’s GHG emissions have risen by 4 million tonnes of CO2e in 2023 and although the government is pursuing a “broad and deep” climate policy agenda it has yet to translate to falls in GHGs, a report by the country’s Climate Change Authority said Thursday.

Australia is going too slow on emissions, climate authority says, while Bowen admits targets were well off track without the newly announced Capacity Investment Scheme expansion.

The post “Time is running out:” Climate Authority says Australia going too slow on emission cuts appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Victoria's state-owned SEC announces first investment with an equity stake and an offtake deal in what will be one of the biggest battery projects in the world.

The post SEC makes first investment in “one of world’s biggest” batteries in Melbourne appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The threatened bird index reveals largest declines in Queensland and South Australia

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Australia’s populations of threatened and near-threatened bird species have declined by 60% on average in the past 40 years, new research shows.

The threatened bird index, which is produced by scientists working with the University of Queensland, reveals some of the largest declines were among species found in South Australia and Queensland.

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Of more than 8 million deaths worldwide from outdoor air pollution, 61% linked to fossil fuels, finds study

Air pollution from fossil fuel use is killing 5 million people worldwide every year, a death toll much higher than previously estimated, according to the largest study of its kind.

The stark figures, published on the eve of the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, will increase pressure on world leaders to take action. Among the decisions they must make at the UN conference will be whether to agree, for the first time, to gradually “phase out” fossil fuels.

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They arrived like rock stars 12 years ago and their love life was the source of endless speculation.