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Plans are underway to create a series of linked REDD projects that will cover 1.8 million hectares of designated national parks in Tanzania, and generate correspondingly-adjusted carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

A Denver-headquartered carbon credit exchange company will close due to a failure to secure funding, its CEO announced in a LinkedIn post this week.

COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber pulled off an unexpected victory securing long-awaited climate disaster help.

A twice-weekly summary of our biodiversity news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).

A voluntary nature credit development framework led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) has been launched by Pollination Foundation.

Delegates adopted a new climate loss and damage fund at the first day of the two-week COP28 UN climate negotiations on Monday, a move that immediately led several governments to announce contributions.

Canadian environmental non-profits advocated for fossil fuel phase-out language in a panel Thursday at COP28 in Dubai as the federal environment ministry is soon expected to announce a cap on emissions from oil and gas.

A court has ordered the German government to set up a climate action plan to adequately tackle emissions in the traffic and construction sectors, adding to Berlin's recent climate policy woes.

The publishing of draft legislation on the UK’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) framework has been broadly welcomed, but its planning permission proposals have triggered concerns about "serious risks" among ecologists.

Independent carbon credit certification bodies and the EU’s own carbon removal certification efforts are likely to coexist in the removals market once the EU methodologies are issued, experts said during a webinar on Thursday, though this is not likely to occur before 2026.

Exclusive: Climate groups say projected amount is 10 times greater than estimates of Australia’s remaining fair ‘carbon budget’ if global heating is to be limited to 1.5C

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The Australian government will face decisions on whether to greenlight 30 fossil fuel developments, mostly to export coal or gas, that together could result in more than 20bn tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

Climate groups have calculated the potential total climate pollution from fossil fuel developments currently submitted for environmental approval. Including emissions released both during production and when the fossil fuel was ultimately burned for energy – often in overseas power plants – they found the developments could lead to an additional 22bn tonnes of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere.

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The government deserves credit for a fall in electricity emissions but large parts of industry and farming are still emitting the same as they were in 2005

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The wonks call it climate Christmas – the dump of Australian climate change information from the federal government that happens shortly before the end of the parliamentary year, and just as the annual UN climate summit kicks off.

It’s impossible to get across it all in one brief sitting, so this is by necessity a first look only, but the hundreds of pages of data published in five documents on Thursday tell us a lot about where Australia is up to on the climate crisis, and where it is heading.

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An open letter signed by multiple environmental groups has urged signatories to the UN Paris Agreement to protect countries against what they describe as "landgrabs" from carbon project developers.

Border collie Jessie sniffs out elusive species last seen in 1937 among dunes of South Africa

An elusive, iridescent golden mole not recorded since before the second world war has been rediscovered “swimming” in the sand near the coastal town of Port Nolloth in north-west South Africa.

The De Winton’s golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni), previously feared extinct, lives in underground burrows and had not been seen since 1937. It gets its “golden” name from oily secretions that lubricate its fur so it can “swim” through sand dunes. This means it does not create conventional tunnels, making it all the harder to detect.

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European carbon prices were firmer in Thursday morning trade despite an early effort to test the recent low, as traders appeared to be switching focus to the options market with the December contract having just two weeks left till expiry, while energy markets rose for the first time in five days.

A consortium of groups and organisations in Scotland on Thursday announced an investment plan for a new restoration project that in part will rely on a partnership with a nature fintech platform that recently won a contract with the government to develop a biodiversity credit system.

Matthew Hedges, tortured in UAE in 2018, tells reporters and activists to take clean phones and watch who they deal with

Journalists and campaigners attending the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai should “not be naive” and take steps to protect their physical and digital security, a British academic who was tortured in the summit’s host country has warned.

Matthew Hedges, who was detained in the United Arab Emirates for seven months in 2018, advised reporters and activists to take new, clean phones, think carefully about who they deal with and how and where they protest.

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The next-generation vehicle conducts a hot-fire test on its launch pad in French Guiana.

There are clear parallels between the climate crises facing Rishi Sunak and the former PM – and there’s one gamechanging solution

With energy prices at record highs and the Conservatives trailing in the polls, a Tory prime minister pacifies restless backbenchers and the right-leaning media by promising to cut green costs for consumers, while pinning future bill increases on Labour’s “gimmicky” 2030 decarbonisation goals. That describes 2013, but could just as easily apply to 2023. It seems that Rishi Sunak has not just recycled David Cameron back into his cabinet, he has recycled Cameron’s energy policies, too. But Cameron’s approach to climate policy was more nuanced than many give him credit for. Sunak, as well as Labour, could learn something from his successes and failures.

I worked with Cameron in 2013, and while some will find this surprising, he really did care about the climate. Once in power, he committed significant sums to developing offshore wind, and continued to speak on climate crisis issues at home and abroad. Since 2010, renewable electricity output has grown by 500%, coal has been almost phased out, and electric vehicle sales have soared. Many of Cameron’s policies are ones to be proud of.

Tara Singh is managing director of public affairs at Hill & Knowlton. She was the government’s special adviser on energy and environment from 2013 to 2015

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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Fund to help world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries hit by climate disaster likely to be first decision agreed on at conference

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• Why loss and damage funds are key to climate justice

The Cop28 climate summit has officially opened, with the first decision likely to be on relief for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries, which are being hit increasingly by climate disaster.

A blueprint for a new fund for loss and damage, focused on the rescue and relief of poor countries stricken by extreme weather, is expected to be officially agreed on and adopted on Thursday. This will involving setting up a fund under the auspices of the World Bank at first, able to disburse money to developing countries and funded by rich industrialised nations and emerging economies and fossil fuel producing countries, such as China, Gulf states and the Cop28 host country, the United Arab Emirates.

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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