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People in the Hunter and Illawarra fear offshore turbines could damage marine life and tourism, but parties are accused of ‘weaponising’ the issue

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Frank Future didn’t expect to find an ally in Peter Dutton over his concerns that the offshore wind farm proposed for the Hunter region could have an irreparable impact on the environment.

“He came out with a group of us on that one over there,” he says, pointing to a boat floating metres from the whale watching vessel that he’s run in Nelson Bay for nearly 30 years. “He really saw that there was limited community consultation before that zone was declared.”

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It's Saturday night in Dubai and while most of the world has been enjoying the weekend, tens of thousands of delegates at COP28 remain hard at work.  Carbon Pulse isn't take a break either... Our 11 reporters currently on the ground in the UAE were out in full force to bring you the multitude of announcements and other news that emerged during the UN climate summit's very busy third day.

Governments, private sector, and philanthropic initiatives have so far announced partnerships and funding pledges in the hundreds of millions of dollars for rainforest protection and restoration in multiple nations, specifically involving mobilising finance from international carbon markets and credit sales.

UK prime minister attacked for inconsistency after allowing more gas and oil exploration in the North Sea

Rishi Sunak has been accused of hypocrisy on the international stage after pushing for a phase-out of fossil fuels at the UN Cop28 climate summit in Dubai – weeks after backing more oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

The prime minister’s lack of “consistency” over climate policy was ridiculed by several senior Conservatives, as well as the former US vice president Al Gore, while members of other international delegations said the UK’s incoherent approach meant it was no longer a global leader on climate issues.

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Total of 16,245 hospitals at high risk by end of century unless fossil fuels phased out, analysts say

One in 12 hospitals worldwide are at risk of total or partial shutdown from extreme weather events without a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, a new report warns.

A total of 16,245 hospitals, twice as many as are currently at high risk, will be in this category by the end of the century without a change in pace, according to a report released on Saturday by Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI), a climate risk analyst. It adds that a residential or commercial building with this level of risk would be considered uninsurable.

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An energy subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate SK Group has teamed up with international and domestic partners to speed up the construction of the country's hydrogen ecosystem, the companies announced Saturday.

The UN, UAE, and Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Industrial Transition Accelerator initiative on Saturday, pledging $30 million to scale up decarbonisation of heavy-emitting industries.

US vice-president, deputising for Joe Biden, tells summit that world faces a ‘pivotal moment’ in the climate crisis

The world is facing a “pivotal moment” in the climate crisis, Kamala Harris has told the Cop28 summit after the US vowed to phase out coal plants and slash methane emissions, but also came under attack for meagre assistance to developing countries and for its own booming oil and gas extraction industry.

The US vice-president, deputising for Joe Biden – who skipped the UN climate talks – said Biden’s administration had made the “largest climate investment in the history of our country, and some have said the world” via the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Verra is set to soon issue its first carbon credits aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement from projects in Africa, and also expects to launch its Verified Carbon Standard Version 5.0 in 2025, a senior member of the standards body told a panel at a COP28 side event.

Protesters have been using canoes and dinghies to obstruct deep sea mining exploration vessel between Mexico and Hawaii

Deep sea miners have turned water hoses on Greenpeace activists attempting to block their prospecting in the Pacific Ocean, according to footage released by the NGO.

For the past week, an international team of Greenpeace activists have been using canoes and dinghies to obstruct the Coco, a deep sea mining exploration vessel, as it collects data to file for a mining permit for waters between Mexico and Hawaii.

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Leaders from 120 countries have pledged to triple renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW globally, signing up to a Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge at the UN climate summit in Dubai on Saturday.

Carbon removal technologies such as direct air capture are essential to limiting global warming to 1.5C, said panelists at a number of COP28 side events, but require increased investment and support as they face distinct hurdles to increase capacity.

The US is pledging a further $3 billion to the UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF), Vice President Kamala Harris announced at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai on Saturday.

Brazil launched at COP28 on Friday its proposal for a global instrument dubbed the “Tropical Forest Forever Facility” aimed at mobilising $250 billion to protect standing tropical forests in up to 80 countries, with the UK also committing £35 million to protect the Amazon in the country.

A group of international agencies, funded by a $40 million commitment from a philanthropic organisation, announced a global initiative on the sidelines of COP28 on Saturday to help track and drive methane emissions reductions from the oil and gas industry.

Regulations would cut equivalent of 1.5bn metric tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2038, head of EPA says at Cop28

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The United States has announced a major crackdown on methane emissions as part of a new effort by several countries at the Cop28 summit to curb the “super pollutant” that is responsible for turbocharging the climate crisis.

The US has used the climate conference, which is administered by the UN and being held in Dubai, to unveil new regulations it estimates will cut methane emissions from its vast oil and gas industry by 80% from levels that would be expected without the rule, a total of 58m tonnes by 2038.

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Brazilian president’s plans to approve new fossil fuel projects sit awkwardly with pledge to meet 1.5C target

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has roared into Cop28 with a mega-delegation of more than 2,000 people and grand ambitions to address inequality and protect the world’s tropical forests.

Lula, as he is known, said his country was leading by example: “We have adjusted our climate goals, which are now more ambitious than those of many developed countries. We have drastically reduced deforestation in the Amazon and will bring it to zero by 2030,” he said.

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Colombian president Gustavo Petro wants treaty to lay out plan to end era of coal, oil and gas

• Cop28 live – latest updates

Colombia has formally joined an alliance of nations calling for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty to prevent the “omnicide of planet Earth”, the country’s president announced at Cop28.

At the climate summit in Dubai, Gustavo Petro has said his country would join a group of nations calling for a new body to manage a global transition away from the primary driver of global heating, akin to previous treaties to reduce nuclear weapon arsenals and landmines.

Cop28: Can fossil fuel companies transition to clean energy?
On Tuesday 5 December, 8pm-9.15pm GMT, join Damian Carrington, Christiana Figueres, Tessa Khan and Mike Coffin for a livestreamed discussion on whether fossil fuel companies can transition to clean energy. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

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A voluntary carbon credit ratings agency has partnered with an Asian government to help it use "high-quality" carbon credits towards meeting Paris Agreement goals, they said at a joint launch event on Saturday.

Fatih Birol says fossil fuel use will peak in 2030, and urges companies to lead switch to green energy

• Cop28 live – latest updates

Oil and gas producers must convert their operations to renewable energy or face steep economic decline, the world’s chief energy adviser has said amid the forging of a new alliance of energy companies at the UN Cop28 climate summit.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said: “We have to find a way to reduce fossil fuel consumption, and as such there is an important role that the oil and gas industry can play. I very much hope that they can show in Dubai that they can be part of the solution when it comes to tackling climate change.”

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