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California regulator ARB this week awarded some 777,000 California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) across the forestry, ozone-depleting substances, and livestock protocols. 

A mysterious rise in banned CFC-11 is used in polyurethane foams that insulate buildings and refrigerators, but its production was supposed to have been phased out by 2010 under the Montreal Protocol.

For several years, emissions of CFCs have been rising, in apparent defiance of a global ban in place since 2010. A new global detective effort has traced the source to two eastern Chinese provinces. Paul Krummel, Research Group Leader, CSIRO Bronwyn Dunse, Climate Science Centre, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO Nada Derek, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, CSIRO Paul Fraser, Honorary Fellow, CSIRO Paul Steele, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The May California-Quebec current vintage auction sold out at the highest level in the programme's history, but the price marked a double-digit discount to the secondary market that has been driven by an influx of speculative interest in recent months, according to results released Wednesday.

Aquaculture network in Victoria, maintained over 6,600 years, faces final step in recognition process

A 6,600-year-old, highly sophisticated aquaculture system developed by the Gunditjmara people will be formally considered for a place on the Unesco world heritage list and, if successful, would become the first Australian site listed exclusively for its Aboriginal cultural value.

Known as the Budj Bim cultural landscape, the site in south-west Victoria is home to a long dormant volcano, which was the source of the Tyrendarra lava flow.

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Dr Robin Russell-Jones and Geraint Davies MP on the harmful effects of diesel exhaust, and Christine Benning on why we need a cheap electric car for all, not Tesla’s Model 3

The harmful effects of air pollution during early life deserve greater attention (Air pollution damages ‘every organ in the body’, 18 May). Ongoing research in the US has reported that exposure during pregnancy to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a constituent of diesel exhaust, is linked to developmental delay at three years, an IQ reduction of 4-5 points at five years, increased anxiety, depression and inattention at six to seven years, a reduction in surface white matter in the brain at eight years, and delayed self-regulatory behaviour which became most significant at 11 years. These data are “preliminary” only in the sense that they have not yet been replicated. Benzo-a-pyrene (BaP) is the only PAH routinely monitored by the EU. Due to the rapid growth in the sale of diesel vehicles since 2000, levels of BaP at traffic-monitoring sites has increased by 52%.

These findings have huge implications for public health, educational attainment and the high level of mental health problems currently afflicting schoolchildren in the UK. It is beyond belief that the government’s only response is a vague commitment to halve the number of people exposed to levels above the WHO limit for small particulates by 2025. This is not even a target; it is an aspiration that is legally unenforceable.
Dr Robin Russell-Jones Scientific adviser, Geraint Davies MP Chair, all-party parliamentary group on air pollution

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British Steel has entered compulsory liquidation, putting one of the UK’s biggest emitters at risk of closure and throwing into doubt the government’s ability to recover a £120 million loan given for EU ETS compliance weeks earlier.

Birds brooding three eggs due to hatch in June are part of a rewilding project

White storks nesting on top of an ancient oak tree could become the first wild pair to successfully breed in Britain for hundreds of years.

The enormous birds are brooding three eggs on the rewilded Knepp estate, in Sussex, as part of a project to reintroduce the species to south-east England.

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Billions of euros spent on supporting climate-intensive meat and dairy farms, which have shown no drop in emissions since 2010

The EU is disregarding the climate emergency by continuing to give out billions of euros in subsidies to climate-intensive livestock farms at the same time as promising to cut emissions, say campaigners.

Under the Paris climate agreement, the EU and its member states have committed to reduce emissions in the European Union by at least 40% by 2030. The EU’s farming sector has shown no decline in emissions since 2010, with meat and dairy estimated to be responsible for 12-17% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

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UK workers must move to nine-hour week if carbon levels do not change, says thinktank

People across Europe will need to work drastically fewer hours to avoid disastrous climate heating unless there is a radical decarbonising of the economy, according to a new study.

The research, from thinktank Autonomy, shows that workers in the UK would need to move to nine-hour weeks to keep the country on track to avoid more than 2C of heating at current carbon intensity levels. Similar reductions were found to be necessary in Sweden and Germany.

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A guide to the shops, restaurants and businesses that are moving to ban plastic straws.

The Whitsundays Mayor wants to strike a balance between caring for the environment and the local economy, amid the debate over the Adani mine.

The Queensland Labor government still must approve two outstanding environmental management plans for the Adani mine to go ahead. Samantha Hepburn, Director of the Centre for Energy and Natural Resources Law, Deakin Law School, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Queensland Government and Adani have issued each other new deadlines as both seek to expedite coal mine approvals

The post Qld Govt, Adani, tripping over themselves to approve Carmichael coal mine appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Network operator Ausgrid seeking proposals to expand its virtual power plant, targeting the estimated 5,000 batteries within its network and help defray investment costs.

The post Ausgrid seeks to expand virtual power plant to cut back on network costs appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Analysis in north-west England linked to evidence of UK’s vulnerability to climate crisis

The floods of 2009 and 2015 in north-west England were the worst for more than 550 years, according to groundbreaking analysis of lake sediment in the region.

Residents have long suspected that the devastating floods were the worst in living memory, but this confirmation – from an analysis of lake sediment layers – provides a unique window on to the history of flooding in one of the wettest parts of England, and reveals the global climate crisis.

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Government confirms ban on sale and use of items from April next year

Plastic straws and drink stirrers, and cotton buds with plastic stems will be banned from sale and use in England from next April, the government has confirmed.

The move, which has been in the offing for more than a year, is hoped to vastly reduce the litter and other environmental impacts of the nearly 5bn plastic straws currently used each year in the UK, along with more than 300m plastic stirrers and close to 2bn cotton buds with plastic stems.

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The Labor leadership contest shapes up as a battle for the future of climate policy and as contest between pragmatism and ambition.

The post Battle for Labor leadership is a battle for Labor’s future climate policy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Gold miner GBM Gold plans 60MW solar farm, including a floating solar element, on old evaporation ponds near Bendigo.

The post Bendigo gold miner plans 60MW solar farm on old evaporation ponds appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In a bid to limit ocean pollution, the government will introduce new controls on single use plastic items.