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Green Finance Institute report said further pollution could cut 12% off GDP by 2030s

The destruction of nature over the rest of the decade could trigger a bigger economic slump in Britain than those caused by the 2008 global financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, experts have warned.

Sounding the alarm over the rising financial cost from pollution, damage to water systems, soil erosion, and threats from disease, the report by the Green Finance Institute warned that further breakdown in the UK’s natural environment could lead to a 12% loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by the 2030s.

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Finance chiefs say higher taxes for the super-rich are key to battling global inequality and climate crisis

• Billionaires should pay minimum 2% wealth tax, say G20 ministers

When the governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund convened for the spring meetings last week, it was all about the really big questions. What can the international community do to accelerate decarbonisation and fight climate change? How can highly indebted countries retain fiscal space to invest in poverty eradication, social services and global public goods? What does the international community need to do to get back on track towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How can multilateral development banks be strengthened to support these ambitions?

There is one issue that makes addressing these global challenges much harder: inequality. While the disparity between the richest and poorest countries has slightly narrowed, the gap remains alarmingly high. Moreover, in the past two decades, we have witnessed a significant increase in inequalities within most countries, with the income gap between the top 10% and the bottom 50% nearly doubling. Looking ahead, current global economic trends pose serious threats to progress towards higher equality.

Svenja Schulze is Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development; Fernando Haddad is the minister of finance in Brazil; Enoch Godongwana is the minister of finance in South Africa; Carlos Cuerpo is the minister of economy, trade and business and María Jesús Montero the minister of finance in Spain

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Indonesia has begun preparing its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to submit to UNFCCC, the government announced in a press conference this week, adding that it would seek to incorporate the marine sector, with a focus on managing coastal and marine ecosystems.

Illnesses such as dengue and malaria to reach unaffected parts of northern Europe, America, Asia and Australia, conference to hear

Mosquito-borne diseases are spreading across the globe, and particularly in Europe, due to climate breakdown, an expert has said.

The insects spread illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever, the prevalences of which have hugely increased over the past 80 years as global heating has given them the warmer, more humid conditions they thrive in.

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Up to 160 pilot whales have beached themselves at Toby Inlet near Dunsborough, more than 250km south of Perth

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Authorities are rushing to save more than 150 whales from a mass stranding at a beach in Western Australia’s south-west. Four pods have spread across roughly 500m at Toby Inlet near Dunsborough and 26 of these have died, Parks and Wildlife Service Western Australia confirmed.

“There are 20 whales in a pod about 1.5km offshore. Another pod of about 110 animals are together closer offshore,” a spokesperson said.

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Rooftop solar's stunning growth continues, thanks to sunny conditions in two unlikely states.

The post The two unlikely states leading Australia’s stunning growth in rooftop PV output appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Climate experts are calling on Italy to support stronger commitments for renewables as G7 nations prepare to meet over the weekend to discuss climate action for the first time under the country's leadership.

People still see climate risk as gradual. But what were once highly unlikely events are now more likely; and what were once inconceivable are now possible.

The post We’re thinking about climate risk the wrong way appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An Atlanta-based agtech startup is seeking to generate voluntary carbon credits through indoor hydroponic vertical farming, with funding from a $5 million US Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant.

A Candian subsidiary of a UK insurance multinational has provided C$6 million ($4.4 mln) to a non-profit towards the development of nature-based carbon projects and conservation efforts, it announced Wednesday.

Long-term nature-related risks could cost the UK economy up to £70 billion – or 3% of GDP – by the late 2020s due to a slowdown in growth, the Green Finance Institute (GFI) found in a “first of its kind” research published Thursday.

Policymakers should recognise and properly assess the economic risks posed by ecosystem 'tipping points' (ETPs) in order to preserve global financial stability, according to researchers.

California regulator ARB issued the smallest number of compliance-grade offsets in almost two years, but maintained its year-to-date totals above 2023 levels, data published Wednesday showed.

The more plastic, the more waste we produce. It sounds simple, but this discovery could help us find ways of ending plastic pollution. Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Britta Denise Hardesty, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO Katie Conlon, Ph.D., Researcher, Portland State University Win Cowger, Research Director, Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research, University of California, Riverside Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Peru is promoting initiatives to crack down on over-crediting and protect the reputation of Amazonian carbon credits, but industry pushback to reforms linked to Verra, and falling issuances, raise questions about how feasible the voluntary carbon market (VCM) overhaul is in practice.

The European Parliament gave its green light on Wednesday to review the EU's agriculture rules, in a dramatic political U-turn that will weaken requirements for climate action and nature protection.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday announced funding worth over $23 million for two projects that will assess the feasibility of carbon capture and storage (CSS) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

Verra has yet to decide the best way to achieve full eligibility under Phase 1 of CORSIA, the standards body revealed Wednesday, a month after it was denied full approval under the UN's aviation emissions offsetting scheme.

Study confirms Philip Morris International, Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are worst offenders

Fewer than 60 multinationals are responsible for more than half of the world’s plastic pollution, with five responsible for a quarter of that, based on the findings of a piece of research published on Wednesday.

The researchers concluded that for every percentage increase in plastic produced, there was an equivalent increase in plastic pollution in the environment.

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New voluntary carbon market (VCM) demand drivers and increasingly mature de-risking measures are poised to scale the VCM but need more traction, according to a panel of industry experts speaking Wednesday.