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Climate-friendly practices can increase yields while improving ecosystem of farms, scientists say

Farmers could continue to produce high crop yields with far less use of artificial fertilisers if they adopted environmentally sustainable practices, an academic study has shown for the first time.

Techniques such as adding manure and compost to soils, growing nitrogen-fixing plants between crops, and cultivating a wide range of produce instead of sticking to the same crops, can all increase yields while protecting and improving the natural ecosystems of farms.

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António Guterres says the world must turn the tide of rising sea levels, ocean heating, acidification and plastics pollution

The UN secretary general has declared that the world is in the middle of an “ocean emergency”, and urged governments to do more to restore ocean health.

Speaking at the opening of the UN ocean conference in Lisbon, Portugal, attended by global leaders and heads of state from 20 countries, António Guterres said: “Sadly, we have taken the ocean for granted and today we face what I would call an ocean emergency. We must turn the tide.”

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EUAs consolidated around their recent range in a low-key start to the week early on Monday, as trading continued to be active in longer-dated contracts amid steady forward hedging. 

Tim and Geli Harris to take agency to high court over groundwater removal for farming near protected wetlands

A couple are taking the Environment Agency to the high court in a landmark case to stop the abstraction of water damaging internationally important wetlands in the Norfolk Broads.

In a sign of the growing struggle over the allocation of scarce water resources in the dry south-east, Tim and Geli Harris are seeking to reduce the removal of groundwater to irrigate potatoes and other crops farmed next to three protected wetlands, including Hickling Broad national nature reserve.

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The Australian government is set to announce it will commit funding to five blue carbon projects across the country, as its environment minister told a UN Ocean Conference that the environment “is back front and centre” in Australia.

New Zealand’s coastlines could be home to thriving blue carbon projects, though significant financial and methodological barriers remain alongside the very real risk that projects could be submerged by rising sea levels in the coming decades, a study has found.

After becoming extinct in the wild, European bison were reintroduced to Poland in 1954 and Romania in 2012. Photographer Alexander Turner went in search of Europe’s largest land mammal with rangers from Foundation Conservation Carpathia

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This is an opportunity for an enthusiastic Senior Carbon Footprinter to join a fast- growing team of sustainability experts.

This is a key role within the organisation based in the Fitzroy Basin, which is responsible for recruiting farmers, administering and managing AgriProve's portfolio of soil carbon projects under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).

Intestinal viruses such as rotavirus were found to be infectious for up to three days by attaching to microplastics, research shows

Dangerous viruses can remain infectious for up to three days in fresh water by hitchhiking on plastic, researchers have found.

Enteric viruses that cause diarrhoea and stomach upsets, such as rotavirus, were found to survive in water by attaching to microplastics, tiny particles less than 5mm long. They remain infectious, University of Stirling researchers found, posing a potential health risk.

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Turnover on Australia's main grid more than doubles to over $25 billion this financial year, and cost of the chaotic last fortnight may be $4 billion or more.

The post The staggering cost of Australia’s fossil fuel energy crisis appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New data shows carbon pollution rose 0.8% in 2021 as manufacturing, agriculture and gas bounced back from pandemic lockdowns

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Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2021 as the country wound back Covid-19 lockdowns without taking significant steps to maintain a fall in carbon pollution recorded during the pandemic.

National emissions rose 0.8% – 4.1m tonnes of carbon dioxide – in the final full year of the federal Coalition government, according to government data released on Monday.

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It is Nasa's first launch from a commercial site outside the US - and a landmark moment for Australia.

Environment minister receives enthusiastic welcome in Lisbon and flags five blue carbon projects to safeguard ocean health

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Australia’s new environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has received an enthusiastic welcome in Lisbon at the UN ocean conference after flagging five new blue carbon projects and declaring that “under the new Australian government, the environment is back – front and centre”.

Plibersek opened her contribution at the conference by telling delegates: “For those of you who don’t follow Australian politics very closely, we’ve just had an election, there’s a new government, the whole world has changed.”

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Queensland's coal strategy makes no sense, but the bigger problem is getting more renewables and storage into Australia's main grid.

The post Queensland’s coal fantasy, and re-thinking renewable and storage targets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia's emissions jumped higher in 2021, growing by 4.1 million tonnes, after Morrison government failed to seize chance for a 'green recovery'.

The post Australia’s emissions jumped higher last year, prompting Bowen to slam Morrison’s legacy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Penalties for peaceful action are now the same as for aggravated assault

Last Friday dozens of armed New South Wales police officers raided a camp near Sydney and arrested two environmentalists. One was Aunty Caroline Kirk, an Aboriginal elder. She was charged with “wilfully obstructing and intimidating police”.

“I can’t run, I can’t climb,” she said. “All I can do … is teach my culture. Why are they doing this?”

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Labor has promised to ‘future-proof Australia’s water resources’. It’s a massive job. Here are the actions the government should prioritise. Stuart Khan, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A Western Australian gold mine is now being powered by solar power, the first operational project under the state's Clean Energy Future Fund.

The post WA gold mine now renewably powered after rapid solar deployment appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rio Tinto joins Bill Gates and a host of high profile industrial groups and cleantech investors in fund raising for hydrogen electrolyser start-up EH2.

The post Rio Tinto joins Gates to back renewable hydrogen startup as miners look to future tech appeared first on RenewEconomy.