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Top climate scientist says carbon sinks such as forests and wetlands vital to keeping temperature rise below 1.5C

• Cop28 summit: live updates

Human destruction of nature is pushing the planet to a point of no return, and even a phase-out of fossil fuels will not stave off climate breakdown unless we also protect the natural world, one of the world’s top climate scientists has warned.

Johan Rockström, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told the Guardian: “Even if we phase out all fossil fuels, if we do not get involved in nature, [the destruction of natural landscapes and habitats] can make us lose what we all have agreed on the safe future for humanity on Earth – that is, to stay within the 1.5C limit. It’s really decisive, that we get it right on nature.”

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Investment manager Mirova has invested in a Colombia-based developer of biodiversity credits as part of the final deployment of its Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) strategy, while at the same time announcing plans to raise $350 million for a new sustainable land management strategy.

Australia's leaky homes could become 'climate ready' using thermal upgrades and electrification, and enable us to avoid building an oversized energy grid.

The post SwitchedOn Podcast: A ‘renovation wave’ could be the least costly pathway for our energy transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A podcast episode takes an unexpected turn when a snake makes an appearance in the roof above a guest who is speaking via video link. The episode is part of the podcast series Fresh Perspectives, produced by the Sydney-based consultancy The Strategy Group. Andrew 'Wardy' Ward of Regen Farmers Mutual is chatting about greenwashing when the two podcast hosts notice a snake dangling behind him from the roof of his porch. 'Oh my god!' gasps co-host Alycia Wolf. Wardy, however, is unfazed: 'It’s only a carpet python ... it's our rodent control officer,' he jokes, before continuing his talk

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• Guess who’s coming for dinner? The world’s second most venomous snake

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Atmos Renewables has cut a deal with UK company Nomad to develop its 1 GW portfolio of wind, solar and batteries.

The post One of Australia’s biggest renewables players moves west with gigawatt-scale play appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Battery storage is making its present felt in the evening peaks, reaching more than 20 pct of peak demand in South Australia.

The post Battery storage meets more than 20 per cent of early evening peak demand in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

This year, China has built renewables at a truly staggering pace. But can its tech-first approach actually cut emissions – and find common ground at COP28? Xu Yi-chong, Professor of Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Latest AEMO studies shows voltage control issues at 100 pct renewables solved by wind, solar and storage inverters, but it will be hard to find spinning machines for system strength. More batteries, then.

The post Market operator ticks off one of major challenges of meeting 100 pct renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Release of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report provides a sobering reality check for an industry on life-support and a contrast to Ted O'Brien's silliness at COP28 climate conference.

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The post Ted O’Brien’s nuclear love-in at COP28 gets a brutal reality check appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Diseases like dengue fever could be common if little is done to tackle climate change, report warns.

At Cop28, Labor has made more progress on climate than the Coalition did in nearly a decade – but can this be true if Australia remains the world’s third biggest fossil fuel exporter?

Two years ago, when the former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison gave in to diplomatic pressure and turned up at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, the story of Australia’s response to the climate crisis was straightforward. There wasn’t one.

Morrison mustered a bit of half-hearted rhetoric and re-heated climate funding, and suffered through the fallout of French president Emmanuel Macron accusing him of lying, but did nothing to dispel the view that Australia had no meaningful climate policies and was a roadblock at the talks not far removed from the Russians and Saudis.

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The proliferation of Antarctic research stations – 77 in all – is increasing knowledge of the continent but also the human impacts. A new study has identified the best ways to limit these impacts. Shaun Brooks, Fieldwork Coordinator/Research Technician, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Here's Carbon Pulse's summary of stories from the last Saturday at COP28 in Dubai. Our tireless team of journalists have now published around 170 articles from this year's UN climate summit, providing our readers with unrivalled coverage. We reckon few, if any, other media outlets can boast more comprehensive reporting. Subscribe to CP Daily here or email admin@carbon-pulse to inquire about a subscription.

A standard for verifying biodiversity certificates, said to be the first of its kind, has been launched by certifier Plan Vivo with the addition of a new habitat metric.

Australia’s climate minister says summit must aim to keep 1.5C goal alive so Pacific countries are not ‘swallowed by the seas’

The Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has told nearly 200 countries at the Cop28 summit that the use of fossil fuels in energy production must end.

This came as the president of the Cop, Sultan Al Jaber, convened a majlis – a meeting in the traditional form of an elders’ conference in the United Arab Emirates – between all countries late on Sunday in an attempt to reach consensus on points of deadlock, including whether fossil fuels should be phased out or phased down.

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Sir Keir Starmer has popular plans to green the economy but electoral support is the crucial precondition for to make them a reality

Politicians know they can’t win an argument without making it. Yet unfortunately that is what Sir Keir Starmer seems to believe. In 2021, the party earmarked £28bn a year for a green industrial strategy to rid the economy of its carbon addiction and create a wave of “clean jobs”. This summer, however, the spending was postponed to the second half of the next parliament. Then it was reported that it would take a full term to ultimately redeem the pledge. Last week, because of self-imposed fiscal rules, Sir Keir suggested it might not happen. This was unsettling, especially as Labour is miles ahead in the polls. Yet more disappointment is in store. On Tuesday, according to reports, the Labour leader will extol the virtues of small technocratic policies rather than big transformative ones.

Sir Keir is mistaken if he thinks he can avoid a fight by not turning up. British governments are unusually free to overhaul the country’s economy, but electoral support is the crucial precondition for such changes. Green policies won’t happen by themselves. This week, Cop28 will reach a climax, spotlighting the climate emergency. Inaction is not an option: relying on volatile gas prices would cost Britain double that of achieving 2050 net zero targets. Sir Keir knows that Labour spending will be caricatured as a “tax bombshell” by the Tories. Ministers hope to overwhelm facts with emotional force. But Labour should take heart that Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on climate targets in September, coupled with a conspiracy-laden assault on the opposition, fell flat with voters.

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An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) carbon market alliance was launched at a side event of COP28 in Dubai Sunday with the goal of scaling voluntary and compliance schemes in the region.

The Canadian environment ministry on Sunday released a draft protocol to generate offsets through reducing methane emissions from the digestive processes of beef cattle.

The world’s major multilateral development banks on Saturday launched a first common set of principles to track nature-finance positive as part of a move to scale up and mainstream activities that protect and restore nature and biodiversity.

Bulgaria’s environment minister expects one of the biggest coal power plants in the EU ETS to operate until 2030, despite the EU ruling that the plant exceeds pollution limits and therefore should be shuttered, he told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of COP28.