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Australia on Monday announced it will distribute more than A$3 million ($2 mln) in grants to four projects for conservation of marine ecosystems under the Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund (BCAF) it administers in partnership with IUCN.

The summit had appeared close to calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels but made last-minute changes.

But populations are in long-term decline and El Niño is drying out wetland habitats

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Widespread floods and environmental flows have been a boon for waterbirds, with annual surveys in eastern Australia recording more than half a million birds.

But researchers say long-term declines in populations persist and the effects of El Niño and drying across eastern Australia are showing, with the total area of surveyed wetland habitat decreasing over the past year.

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The European Commission plans to release in February its proposal for the bloc's 2040 emissions target along with a communication on industrial carbon management, the EU's executive reportedly outlined on Monday.

Global heating, pollution, overfishing and falling water levels among factors hitting populations, finds IUCN red list study

Nearly a quarter of the world’s freshwater fish are at risk of extinction due to global heating, overfishing and pollution, according to an expert assessment.

From the large-toothed Lake Turkana robber in Kenya to the Mekong giant catfish in south-east Asia, many of the world’s freshwater fish are at risk of disappearing, the first International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list assessment of the category has found.

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The governments of the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Finland, and Austria issued a joint statement on Sunday issuing recommendations to carbon credit buyers on the voluntary carbon market (VCM).

European carbon prices came under yet more pressure on Monday morning as natural gas dropped sharply amid forecasts for average seasonal temperatures and storage levels remained high, while traders anticipated the expiry of the December options contract on Wednesday.

Canada’s environment minister, soon responsible for a federal cap-and-trade system regulating the emissions of its oil and gas industry, unpacked his climate goals for the country’s economy in an interview with Carbon Pulse at COP28 while saying he did not expect countries to agree to a "pure phaseout" of fossil fuels during negotiations in Dubai.

Roman Abramovich’s yachts are said to emit more carbon than many small countries. This is unsustainable, and wrong

The rich gazed at their superyachts, and decided they were not enough. The new breed of megayachts, which are at least 70 metres (230ft) in length, may be the most expensive moveable assets ever created.

Roman Abramovich’s custom-designed Eclipse is estimated to be worth upwards of $800m. When he tires of its swimming pool, submarine and armoured plating, he can use one of its helipads to fly to the $475m Solaris, which he also owns. On the way he might, perhaps, glimpse the $600m Azzam, commissioned by the former president of the United Arab Emirates.

Chris Armstrong is a professor of political theory at the University of Southampton in the UK and the author of A Blue New Deal: Why We Need a New Politics for the Ocean and the forthcoming Global Justice and the Biodiversity Crisis: Conservation in a World of Inequality

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Broadcaster and RSPCA president says moratorium needed as mortality rates jump, while activists question charity’s role in certifying farms

Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has called for a halt to the expansion of the Scottish salmon farming industry, as official figures suggest salmon mortality in the country’s farms hit record levels this year.

Packham, the president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), described the growing industry as “catastrophic” for fish welfare and Scotland’s environment.

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The UN Umbrella Group of rich nations including the US, UK, and Australia say they are supportive of a phaseout of unabated fossil fuels in energy systems by 2050 at COP28, but members of civil society have argued this language it too weak and inconsistent with their own domestic energy policies.

A carbon exchange backed by the Taiwanese government will offer trade in international carbon credits by the end of this year, though lingering policy uncertainty could limit domestic buying interest.

Greenleaf Renewables wins federal government approval for one of three wind projects it is seeking to build in Queensland.

The post Greenleaf wins approval 166MW wind farm and battery project in Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The climate summit is heading into the final part of the negotations. We’ll be following events here all day

Simon Stiell, head of the UN climate change body in charge of Cop, has called out “tactical blockades” and “strategic landmines” as the talks enter their final phase. “We do not have a moment to lose in this crucial home stretch.”

Speaking to journalists on Monday morning, including my colleague Fiona Harvey, Stiell said the remaining areas for negotiation had “narrowed significantly” to leave just two issues. The first is how high the ambition to mitigate climate change is. The second is how willing countries are to back the transition with the support it needs.

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The NSW Independent Planning Commission says it has provided conditional approval on a large solar and battery project near Armidale, in the heart of the New England renewable energy zone, and despite objections from some members of the local community. The Oxley solar farm will comprise a 215 MW solar facility, along with a 50 […]

The post NSW approves big solar farm and battery near New England town of Armidale appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A busy Singaporean delegation at COP28 in Dubai has secured two more bilateral carbon trading framework agreements to pave the way for purchasing units aligned with Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement.

Heat in Australia is 15C above December average and comes as Cop28 nears end

Parts of south-east Australia have been experiencing extreme heat over recent days. Temperatures hit 43.5C at Sydney airport on Saturday. This was the highest temperature recorded at this station since records began in 1929, and is about 15C above the December average. Authorities have issued several bushfire warnings and banned fires across many parts of New South Wales.

Temperatures will ease early this week across south and south-east Australia, but will intensify across northern, western and central parts as the week progresses. Here, temperatures could rise widely into the 40Cs by the weekend.

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More than 30 countries announced this weekend they had joined the Freshwater Challenge, meaning nations home to around a third of global freshwater resources now have joined the efforts to protect and restore the world’s rivers, lakes, and wetlands.

Singapore-headquartered carbon marketplace operator ACX has teamed up with a major stock exchange operator in Latin America, as it is preparing to unveil a trading platform for the Brazilian market next year. 

Top climate scientist says carbon sinks such as forests and wetlands vital to keeping temperature rise below 1.5C

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Human destruction of nature is pushing the planet to a point of no return, and even a phase-out of fossil fuels will not stave off climate breakdown unless we also protect the natural world, one of the world’s top climate scientists has warned.

Johan Rockström, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told the Guardian: “Even if we phase out all fossil fuels, if we do not get involved in nature, [the destruction of natural landscapes and habitats] can make us lose what we all have agreed on the safe future for humanity on Earth – that is, to stay within the 1.5C limit. It’s really decisive, that we get it right on nature.”

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