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French president, speaking on sidelines of UN ocean conference in Lisbon, urges more investment in science to protect high seas

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has called for a legal framework to stop deep-sea mining from going ahead and urged countries to put their money into science to better understand and protect the world’s oceans.

There is growing international interest in deep-sea mining but there is also pressure from some environmental groups and governments to either ban it or ensure it only goes ahead if appropriate regulations are in place.

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In a major environmental case, the court has made clear that it would rather represent the interests of corporations and the super-rich than the needs and desires of the vast majority of Americans – or people on Earth

In remarks to the first Earth Day gathering in 1970, the Maine senator Edmund Muskie made the case for the Clean Air Act – a bill he helped draft – in stark terms. “There is no space command center, ready to give us precise instruction and alternate solutions for survival on our spaceship Earth,” he told the crowd. “Our nation – and our world – hang together by tenuous bonds which are strained as they have never been strained before – and as they must never be strained again. We cannot survive an undeclared war on our future.”

In its Thursday ruling on West Virginia v EPA – in line with a string of decisions that will make life here more dangerous – the US supreme court all but declared that war, curtailing the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plants under a provision of the Clean Air Act and – more worryingly – striking an opening blow to the government’s ability to do its job.

Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at the New Republic and the author of Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet – And How We Fight Back

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Join a panel of leading experts in a broad ranging discussion about the challenges and opportunities of net zero for Asia.

The post Webinar: Funding Net Zero: Green Capital for the Asia Energy Transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EUA prices began the new quarter and half on a weak note, dropping sharply on Friday morning after the daily auction cleared at a significant discount after three positive differentials in a row, while UK allowances shrugged off the weakness amid utility buying.

S&P Dow Jones Indices has launched a new index to track the price of the two most liquid voluntary carbon market (VCM) futures currently in the market, although more contracts could be added every six months.

The Australian government has committed A$9.5 mln ($6.4 mln) to support five domestic blue carbon projects around the country, designed to restore mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal marshes, while also co-funding a batch of global schemes to ramp up project pipeline development.

The price for Chinese carbon allowances has come down slightly over the past week though only on the back of a handful of largely symbolic transactions, while Tianjin has pushed back the annual compliance deadline in its municipal market due to disruption from anti-Covid policies.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a stonefish, a mountain jerboa and a bevy of otters

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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

AEMO lays out roadmap for a rapid transition to renewables, Baringa's Alan Rai joins us to discuss the high points and the lows.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Australia’s rapid transition to renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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Energy ministers will decide which technologies will be eligible in a capacity mechanism, but the ESB chief says emissions cuts could be built into its design.

The post Could an emissions reduction trajectory be baked into a capacity mechanism? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Transgrid says switch to green energy is going to accelerate, particularly after the disruption in global energy markets.

The post “Big shift in language:” Transgrid welcomes new urgency in transmission plans appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Developing countries’ delegates at UN conference seek recognition of small fisheries’ role in protecting oceans and fighting hunger

Small-scale fishermen and women from coastal nations in the frontline of the “ocean emergency” have accused world leaders and other decision-makers at the UN oceans conference of ignoring their voices in favour of corporate interests.

More than half of the world’s fish caught for human consumption comes from small-scale fishing communities, yet their contribution to food security and ocean protection is not being sufficiently recognised, they say.

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Labor taps former chief scientist Ian Chubb with the task of restoring confidence in Australia's troubled carbon offsets regime.

The post Chubb’s big challenge is to restore confidence in Australia’s tainted carbon markets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Ruling by activist court doesn’t take away the EPA’s power to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, but it makes federal action much harder.

The post US Supreme Court curtails EPA’s power to regulate carbon pollution appeared first on RenewEconomy.

This Plastic Free July, we need to be teaching children to demand less plastic from the world’s worst producers instead of expecting change from individual recycling efforts. Sara Tolbert, Associate Professor of Science and Environmental Education, University of Canterbury Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

BNEF reports temporary cost rises for renewables, driven by increased cost of materials, freight, fuel and labor. But solar and wind are still way cheaper than coal and gas.

The post Costs for new build wind and solar have jumped, but nothing like those of fossil fuels appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Technology to cut steelmaking emissions is in the early stages, but such transitions can accelerate, as shown by wind and solar.

The post Green steelmaking needs urgent advances in technology and mining appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Public funding of energy research collapsed under the Coalition, with more funds spent on fossil fuel technologies than renewables, IEA data shows.

The post IEA data exposes “technology not taxes” myth of former Morrison government appeared first on RenewEconomy.