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Mutual funds and ETFs with climate-related mandates rose to $572 billion in value through the first nine months of 2024, but also recorded their first outflows since 2018 of almost $24 bln this year, according to a report published by a research firm.

A few reefs on the Great Barrier Reef have been largely untouched by bleaching. We found upwellings of cold water are protecting them – for now Chaojiao Sun, Research Group Leader, physical oceanographer, CSIRO Craig Steinberg, Physical Oceanographer, Australian Institute of Marine Science Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Alberta government announced C$50 million ($35.7 mln) in funding from provincial carbon market proceeds to spur innovation in drilling technologies aiming to reduce emissions.

The Canadian federal government announced Thursday C$12.5 million ($8.9 mln) in funding for six research and development (R&D) projects in British Columbia that aim to accelerate carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) of industrial emissions.

Government puts forward £1.98bn in funding over three years, an increase of about 40% on last pledge

The UK has increased its contribution to the World Bank, in a move that will boost prospects for climate finance.

Next week, at a meeting in Seoul of the International Development Association (IDA) – the body that funds the World Bank’s support for low-income countries – the UK will put forward £1.98bn in funding over three years, an increase of about 40% on the previous pledge.

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The Polish government announced that a national fund to help citizens replace coal-fired boilers in their homes will be suspended, which proponents said had been running successfully over the past six years.

Campaigners say news that Walleys Quarry in Silverdale has been told to close has given them ‘huge relief, just elation’

A landfill site in Staffordshire which has plagued residents with noxious fumes for years has been told to permanently shut down, with local campaigners hailing the news as “absolutely amazing”.

The Environment Agency said it had brought the closure of Walleys Quarry forward after “exhausting other enforcement options”, and said it had to stop accepting new waste from Friday.

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The Lufthansa Group will extend its sustainable "green" travel tariff to long-haul flights, the German company announced on Wednesday, expanding a scheme that currently helps finance sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and carbon projects.

‘Important shift’ made in global attempts to address plastic pollution though final treaty text yet to be agreed

Pressure from an increasingly large bloc of countries has offered hope that a breakthrough at critical international plastic treaty talks could be in sight at last, after two years of deadlock. But some warned that fragile progress could disappear again in the last stages of negotiations over the weekend.

For some time, the talks have been split over demands for the treaty to include plans to reduce the amount of plastic that is being produced – a production cap. A draft text for a final deal published on Friday included language for a global target to reduce the amount of plastic made. But it also included another option for no text – meaning no action would be taken to reduce plastic production worldwide. The final text, which may use either of those options, will hopefully be decided this weekend.

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The incoming European Commission should refrain from re-opening existing climate legislation in the next five years, a French Member of the European Parliament told Carbon Pulse in an interview, warning this risks sowing political chaos and uncertainty.

A ‘covalent organic framework’ can be used to capture carbon to store it or convert it for industrial use

An innocuous yellow powder, created in a lab, could be a new way to combat the climate crisis by absorbing carbon from the air.

Just half a pound of the stuff may remove as much carbon dioxide as a tree can, according to early tests. Once the carbon is absorbed by the powder, it can be released into safe storage or be used in industrial processes, like carbonizing drinks.

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Integrity appears to be improving in the voluntary carbon market, according to three sets of project ratings data shared with Carbon Pulse, suggesting that efforts to improve quality on both the supply and demand sides are gradually paying off.

A UK pension fund plans to allocate between £100-150 million to natural capital investments during the current financial year, with a focus on sustainable forestry and agriculture.

EU carbon prices broke below a key technical level on Friday moving towards a further important support, during a second consecutive day of relatively light trading due to the US Thanksgiving holiday, while natural gas declined amid speculation that Russian flows could ramp up in the final month before transshipment contracts end.

Prices in China’s national emissions market remained stable over the past week as trading volume surged, with analysts expecting liquidity to sustain throughout the rest of the year. 

International carbon standard Verra has suspended credit issuance from six afforestation projects in India and China, and placed them on hold following stakeholder comments.

Modular direct air capture (DAC) systems designed to operate in cities and industrial sites could drive down costs and expand the technology's use beyond rural areas, an executive at a US-based DAC company has told Carbon Pulse.

Two state-owned Chinese energy majors are leading a new industry alliance set up to accelerate the development and commercialisation of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) in the country.

The row over electric vehicles is just the start. The change to a green economy was always going to be politically explosive

Have cake, will eat. For years it has been the default political response to awkward questions about the climate crisis, with successive governments insisting that going green would create jobs, not destroy them, and that the planet could be saved without stifling growth or demanding uncomfortable sacrifices. Keir Starmer promised only this month not to “tell people how to live their lives”, suggesting the road to net zero would not be quite as painful as some think. And then, this week, he hit a pothole.

The carmaker Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, announced it was closing its van factory in Luton, putting 1,100 jobs at risk; its rival Ford is axing 800 jobs. In Sunderland, Nissan has warned of an industry at “crisis point”.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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