Feed aggregator

Outright denial has been replaced by something that may turn out to be even worse: delay

As he flew to New York yesterday to speak to the UN general assembly about the Cop26 climate conference, Boris Johnson was asked to defend old comments made by his newly appointed trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan. Trevelyan had made statements on Twitter in the past decade promoting climate-denial literature, denying climate change was happening at all, and denigrating climate scientists and activists as “doom-mongers” and “fanatics”.

Johnson insisted that these views – despite coming from a minister whose role has serious climate implications – weren’t really such a big deal. In fact, he was himself guilty of similar statements not so long ago. He reminded the public that were we to “excavate some of [his] articles from 20 years ago”, it wouldn’t be difficult to find sentiments that “weren’t entirely supportive of the current struggle”, as he generously put it. “Facts change,” he added, “and people change their minds.”

Continue reading...

Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) allowance prices surged nearly 30% in the final auction of the 2021 compliance year, with the settlement eclipsing the most recent quarterly auction price in the Northeast US RGGI cap-and-trade programme.

German utility RWE’s early hedging of its EUA exposure for the period to 2030 may earn it significant financial rewards if the country’s coal phaseout is brought forward from its scheduled 2038 deadline, according to media reports.

EU carbon allowances were relatively calm on Tuesday as the market stabilised after Monday's volatility, with traders looking ahead to tomorrow's expiry of the Sep-21 options contract.

The private sector Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM) announced its governance body on Tuesday, adding that it was on track to deliver next year standardising tools being designed to help dramatically increase the volume of carbon credit transactions.

Brazil's Petrobras and Saudi Aramco have joined ten other oil and gas companies in aiming for net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions, though the pledge did not include setting a date for when the goals would be reached.

Green lawns are terrible for the environment. They’re also embarrassingly old-fashioned and out of style

Americans love front yards with big, carefully manicured lawns. In fact, homeowners spent a record $47.8bn in lawn and garden retail purchases in 2018 alone. Then there’s the water usage: 9tn gallons a year nationwide just on gardening. We consume this water even as parts of the American west are in the grip of a horrific drought that has paralyzed farmers, triggered huge wildfires, and has some states considering water cutbacks.

The reason we spend so much time, money and natural resources on our lawns, as Kristen Radtke recently noted in the Los Angeles Times, is that decades of television and popular culture have cemented in our brains a certain image of the American dream: house in the suburbs, white picket fence, two-car garage, glossy green lawn. The problem isn’t just that that image is difficult to attain for a lot of Americans. It’s that it’s embarrassingly dated.

Continue reading...

In Germany, flying insects have declined by 76% in 26 years. In the UK, common butterfly populations have fallen by 46% since 1976. We should be alarmed by this insect apocalypse

Insects have been around for more than 400m years, their ancestors crawling from the oceans to colonise the land long before dinosaurs appeared. They have been enormously successful, evolving into a staggering diversity of more than 1m known species, with perhaps as many as another 4m yet to be described by science. There are more than 300,000 different types of beetle alone. I have been obsessed by insects for all of my life; they are amazing, are often beautiful, and lead fascinating, peculiar lives.

What’s more, the world would not function without these tiny creatures: they pollinate our plants; control pests; recycle all sorts of organic material from dung to corpses, tree trunks and leaves; keep the soil healthy; disperse seeds, and much more. They are a vital source of food for many larger creatures such as birds, bats, lizards, amphibians and fish.

Continue reading...

Despite the summer’s floods, frontrunner Olaf Scholz’s ‘moderate’ climate message is holding out against the Greens

Forty years ago, Germans loved to make fun of eco-types who ate muesli, wore shapeless knitted sweaters and packed their groceries in jute bags. Back then, the German Green party was just getting started. Today, things are different: every supermarket has organic food, every fashion chain sells sustainable T-shirts in its stores, and the coronavirus crisis has accelerated the trend towards cycling to get around. The Green party itself has become a viable political force.

Related: The Guardian view on Angela Merkel: farewell to a bulwark of stability | Editorial

Continue reading...

Low wages and poor working conditions – as well as unruly customers – combine to keep the food service labor shortage going

After the traumas of widespread economic shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, America’s restaurant industry is largely open for business again as eateries ranging from high-end bistros to fast-food chains are serving hungry customers.

But behind the full tables and busy kitchens is a story of a sector still in trouble amid the impact of the pandemic, marked by staff shortages, low wages and fears that safety protocols are still not enough to cope with a virus that is still a threat as the more contagious Delta variant spreads across the US.

Continue reading...

If proposed reforms to grid congestion go ahead, they will make Australia a bad place for investment in wind and solar.

The post Australia’s energy superpower status at risk with grid congestion reforms appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The food and drink industry is warning of supermarket shortages because of a lack of CO2.

Shipping firm NYK Line has taken a minority stake in an Australian offset developer to expand its carbon credit business and gain know-how that can be used in other markets, it said Tuesday.

Women’s Institute supports initiative, urging manufacturers to take action on plastic microfibres

Washing machines should be fitted with filters to prevent microplastic fibres from clothes reaching waterways and the sea, the Women’s Institute, campaigners and MPs have urged.

Filters are cheap and can catch almost all of the plastic microfibres produced from washing clothes made from artificial fabrics such as nylon, but there is no obligation in the UK for washing machines to be fitted with the simple devices.

Continue reading...

A new catalyst has been found to require less energy input in producing hydrogen from waste water, while also reducing the urea content of the fuel source.

The post Research breakthrough boosts hydrogen production from waste water appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In the first of our Energy Transformed podcasts series we take a deep dive into the different roles battery storage can play in the energy market.

The post Energy Transformed Podcast: Can batteries take charge of the grid? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Energy trading company Powerledger has been shortlisted by the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Regulator in the next phase for the delivery of the highly anticipated Australian Carbon Exchange.

The post Powerledger’s blockchain technology shortlisted as solution for Australian Carbon Exchange appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Meat and dairy groups threaten to stop contributing to international summit on food sustainability after critical voices invited

Livestock groups have been lobbying the UN to support more meat and dairy production before a high-profile summit on food sustainability, documents reveal.

Most experts agree that livestock are responsible for at least 14% of global emissions, while a study published last week found the use of animals for meat causes twice the planet-heating gases that plant-based foods do.

The UN Food Systems Summit (UN FSS), taking place this week in New York, aims to make global agricultural systems more sustainable, billing itself as a transformational “people’s summit”.

But documents obtained by Greenpeace Unearthed – the investigative arm of environmental NGO Greenpeace – and seen by the Guardian, show livestock industry bodies threatening to withdraw if others in their discussion group at the summit do not share their “common goal”.

In the months leading up to the summit, discussion groups – known as clusters – worked to produce position papers offering sustainable food system solutions.

In one draft paper, dated 15 June, members of the “sustainable livestock” cluster stated that “advances in intensive livestock systems” mean they can “contribute to the preservation of planetary resources and effective delivery of nutrition”.

Environmental and other experts have advised however that lower levels of animal protein production and consumption are critical to reducing climate breakdown and protecting the environment.

Continue reading...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party hung onto a minority government during Monday's snap election, with more of the same for the country's existing carbon pricing and climate policies and new announcements requiring parliamentary compromise to come into fruition.

APA Group joins battle for network owner AusNet with $10bn rival takeover bid, saying a merger would accelerate Australia's energy transition.

The post APA Group launches rival $10 billion takeover bid for network owner AusNet appeared first on RenewEconomy.