Feed aggregator

Britain’s natural landscape is in ruins – thanks to the Tories. Here’s how Labour will restore it | Steve Reed

The Guardian - Fri, 2024-04-26 01:57

Sewage pollutes our waterways, species face extinction. We must act fast to halt the decline – and we will

  • Steve Reed is shadow environment secretary

We must not be the last generation to have the opportunity to marvel at nature.

When I was growing up, I took for granted the excitement of climbing trees in the local woods at the end of our road, sleeping under the stars at Scout camp, and exploring the micro-worlds of seaside rockpools on holiday in Cornwall. Our children and grandchildren deserve to be astounded by the magnificence of our landscapes and coastlines, mesmerised by the beauty of a robin’s song, and to splash about in the local river.

Steve Reed is the MP for Croydon North, and shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Only five local authorities in England prepared for biodiversity net gain agreements -law firm

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-04-26 01:26
Just five local authorities in England out of the over 300 assessed are sufficiently prepared to enable the creation of conservation agreements for developers to meet biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements, with delays likely, a law firm has said.
Categories: Around The Web

I’m asking BP to take its share of responsibility for my son’s death, and will take it to UK court if I have to | Hussein Julood

The Guardian - Fri, 2024-04-26 01:21

Ali died of cancer last year. He was 21, and had to live in the choking smoke of the Rumaila oilfield

A year has passed since my beautiful boy Ali Julood died. Not a day goes by when I do not think of him smiling and playing football with his friends outside. Those days are gone. As a father, that gives me great pain.

Ali was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 15. The cancer caused him to drop out of school, leave his football team and spend years undergoing painful medical treatment. He died at the age of 21 on 21 April 2023.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Veteran carbon, energy sales trader moves on from Canadian bank after 15 years

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-04-26 01:16
A veteran carbon and energy sales trader has left one of Canada’s big banks after more than 15 years of service, Carbon Pulse has learned.
Categories: Around The Web

Australia’s skilled mechanics shortage forcing insurers to write off electric vehicles after minor accidents

The Guardian - Fri, 2024-04-26 01:00

Lack of parts and outdated laws also contributing to long repair wait times and ballooning premiums

Electric vehicles are routinely being written off after minor accidents, as a shortage of skilled mechanics and parts, as well as outdated laws, leads Australian insurers to scrap EVs prematurely instead of repairing them.

Despite the scarcity of supply that has plagued the local market in recent years, in part due to the lack of a fuel-efficiency standard, the financial reality of insuring EVs is continuing to consign them to scrap yards while inflating premiums for owners.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

INTERVIEW: Strong social return on investment boosts REDD project in Tanzania 

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-04-26 01:00
A REDD developer in Tanzania is seeking to boost the selling power of its avoided deforestation projects by assessing the social impact of investment.
Categories: Around The Web

Drax refinances as it waits on government subsidies for BECCS plant

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-04-26 00:56
UK energy company Drax Group has completed a major refinancing plan to extend operations beyond 2027 as it waits on the government to decide on extra subsidies to retrofit its biomass plant with carbon capture technology, it announced Thursday.
Categories: Around The Web

EU Parliament gives blessing to ETS-funded Net-Zero Industry Act

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-04-26 00:28
The European Parliament gave its blessing on Thursday to plans aimed at producing 40% of the bloc's annual needs for net-zero technologies domestically by 2030, thanks to funds partially coming from emissions trading revenues.
Categories: Around The Web

Fears grow over rising number of oil lobbyists at UN plastic pollution talks

The Guardian - Thu, 2024-04-25 23:44

Proposed global treaty to curb production represents challenge to producers of fossil fuels, from which most plastics are made

The number of fossil fuel and petrochemical industry lobbyists at UN talks to agree the first global treaty to cut plastic pollution has increased by more than a third, according to an analysis.

Most plastic is made from fossil fuels, via a chemical process known as cracking, and 196 lobbyists from both industries are at the UN talks in Ottawa, Canada, where countries are attempting to come to an agreement to curb plastic production as part of a treaty to cut global plastic waste, according to analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (Ciel).

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

NA100 launches benchmark with 50 metrics on corporate nature progress

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2024-04-25 23:31
A set of 50 metrics for investors to measure corporate progress on biodiversity action has been released by Nature Action 100 (NA100) in its benchmark.
Categories: Around The Web

Public prefers nature-based to engineered carbon removals, study finds

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2024-04-25 22:43
Carbon removals based on nature-based solutions are generally preferred to engineered approaches amongst the general public in 22 countries, according to a study published on Wednesday.
Categories: Around The Web

Saudi Arabia’s carbon company to use Xpansiv technology for new VCM exchange

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2024-04-25 22:26
The Saudi Arabian company set up to drive voluntary carbon market growth has selected Xpansiv, the owner of the CBL marketplace, to provide the technology infrastructure for its carbon credit exchange.
Categories: Around The Web

‘Huge disappointment’ as UK delays bottle deposit plan and excludes glass

The Guardian - Thu, 2024-04-25 22:05

Scheme for plastic bottles and cans put back to 2027 while environment minister says glass recycling ‘unduly’ complex

A UK deposit return scheme for recycling drinks bottles has been delayed to 2027, meaning it will not be in place until almost a decade after it was proposed.

Campaigners say the delay is a “huge disappointment”, adding they are doubly dismayed that the plan will not include glass bottles.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

New rule compels US coal-fired power plants to capture emissions – or shut down

The Guardian - Thu, 2024-04-25 21:35

New EPA directive will cut pollution equivalent to the emissions of 328m cars, but industry group decries it as a ‘reckless plan’

Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

New limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration’s most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector, the nation’s second-largest contributor to the climate crisis. The rules are a key part of Joe Biden’s pledge to eliminate carbon pollution from the electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide by 2050.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Global battery rollout doubled last year – but needs to be six times faster, says IEA

The Guardian - Thu, 2024-04-25 21:17

Energy watchdog warns pace must accelerate to hit targets after new batteries increased capacity by 130%

The rollout of batteries across the global electricity industry more than doubled last year but will need to be six times faster if the world hopes to meet its renewable energy targets, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

A report from the global energy watchdog found that new batteries totalling 42 gigawatts (GW) were plugged into electricity systems around the world last year, increasing total capacity by more than 130% from the year before to 85GW.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Startup looking to invest $150 mln in carbon offsetting projects in India, Sri Lanka

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2024-04-25 20:14
A Chennai-based developer is planning to invest $150 million in several carbon offset projects in India and Sri Lanka within the next 12-18 months, it announced at a conference this week.
Categories: Around The Web

‘Outrageous’ climate activists get in the faces of politicians and oil bosses – will it work?

The Guardian - Thu, 2024-04-25 20:00

As the climate crisis has deepened, protesters have become more confrontational – and their ambitions have grown

The head of ExxonMobil told to “eat shit” as he was about to receive an award. A US senator and coal boss called a “sick fuck”, almost sparking a brawl. Theatre shows interrupted. As the climate crisis has deepened, protests aimed at those deemed responsible are becoming starkly personal, and often confrontational.

At the vanguard of this new style of in-your-face activism is Climate Defiance, a group of just a handful of core staffers now marking its first birthday following a year of disrupting, often crudely, the usually mundane procession of talks, speeches and panels that feature Joe Biden administration officials, oil company bosses and financiers.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Singaporean tech firm teams up with Japanese biofuel developer on sorghum carbon projects

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2024-04-25 17:52
A Singapore-based tech company has partnered with a Japanese biofuel developer to create agriculture-based carbon credits from sorghum production.
Categories: Around The Web

Clean heat rollout should take priority in European Commission’s next term -report

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2024-04-25 17:31
Clean heating should become a political priority for the next European legislative cycle, starting work next autumn, according to a report published on Thursday.
Categories: Around The Web

160 pilot whales stranded and 26 confirmed dead in Western Australia – video

The Guardian - Thu, 2024-04-25 15:19

Authorities are rushing to save more than 150 whales from a mass stranding at a beach in Western Australia’s south-west. Four pods have spread across roughly 500 metres at Toby Inlet near Dunsborough and 26 of these have died, Parks and Wildlife Service Western Australia confirmed. Wildlife officers, marine scientists and veterinarians are on site assessing the conditions of the whales that have become stranded

Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator