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Back from the brink: sand-swimming golden mole, feared extinct, rediscovered after 86 years
Border collie Jessie sniffs out elusive species last seen in 1937 among dunes of South Africa
An elusive, iridescent golden mole not recorded since before the second world war has been rediscovered “swimming” in the sand near the coastal town of Port Nolloth in north-west South Africa.
The De Winton’s golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni), previously feared extinct, lives in underground burrows and had not been seen since 1937. It gets its “golden” name from oily secretions that lubricate its fur so it can “swim” through sand dunes. This means it does not create conventional tunnels, making it all the harder to detect.
Continue reading...Euro Markets: Midday Update
Scottish nature restoration consortium to develop biodiversity credits as part of funding solution
‘Don’t be naive like I was’: UK academic advises Cop28 attenders to stay safe
Matthew Hedges, tortured in UAE in 2018, tells reporters and activists to take clean phones and watch who they deal with
Journalists and campaigners attending the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai should “not be naive” and take steps to protect their physical and digital security, a British academic who was tortured in the summit’s host country has warned.
Matthew Hedges, who was detained in the United Arab Emirates for seven months in 2018, advised reporters and activists to take new, clean phones, think carefully about who they deal with and how and where they protest.
Continue reading...Europe's new Ariane-6 rocket completes final test
I advised David Cameron in the days of ‘cut the green crap’. Here’s what both Tories and Labour could learn | Tara Singh
There are clear parallels between the climate crises facing Rishi Sunak and the former PM – and there’s one gamechanging solution
With energy prices at record highs and the Conservatives trailing in the polls, a Tory prime minister pacifies restless backbenchers and the right-leaning media by promising to cut green costs for consumers, while pinning future bill increases on Labour’s “gimmicky” 2030 decarbonisation goals. That describes 2013, but could just as easily apply to 2023. It seems that Rishi Sunak has not just recycled David Cameron back into his cabinet, he has recycled Cameron’s energy policies, too. But Cameron’s approach to climate policy was more nuanced than many give him credit for. Sunak, as well as Labour, could learn something from his successes and failures.
I worked with Cameron in 2013, and while some will find this surprising, he really did care about the climate. Once in power, he committed significant sums to developing offshore wind, and continued to speak on climate crisis issues at home and abroad. Since 2010, renewable electricity output has grown by 500%, coal has been almost phased out, and electric vehicle sales have soared. Many of Cameron’s policies are ones to be proud of.
Tara Singh is managing director of public affairs at Hill & Knowlton. She was the government’s special adviser on energy and environment from 2013 to 2015
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Continue reading...Agreement on loss and damage deal expected on first day of Cop28 talks
Fund to help world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries hit by climate disaster likely to be first decision agreed on at conference
The Cop28 climate summit has officially opened, with the first decision likely to be on relief for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries, which are being hit increasingly by climate disaster.
A blueprint for a new fund for loss and damage, focused on the rescue and relief of poor countries stricken by extreme weather, is expected to be officially agreed on and adopted on Thursday. This will involving setting up a fund under the auspices of the World Bank at first, able to disburse money to developing countries and funded by rich industrialised nations and emerging economies and fossil fuel producing countries, such as China, Gulf states and the Cop28 host country, the United Arab Emirates.
Cop28: Can fossil fuel companies transition to clean energy?
On Tuesday 5 December, 8pm-9.15pm GMT, join Damian Carrington, Christiana Figueres, Tessa Khan and Mike Coffin for a livestreamed discussion on whether fossil fuel companies can transition to clean energy. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live
Leaders of world’s major cities call for phase-out of fossil fuels
As Cop28 conference begins, letter to heads of state from the C40 group says fossil fuels era must end
Governments must commit to bringing the fossil fuel era to a close, a group of mayors representing the world’s leading cities has demanded, amid growing pressure for an agreed phase-out of oil, gas and coal at the Cop28 climate talks.
Leaders from the nearly 200 countries at the United Nations climate summit under way in the United Arab Emirates must face the “inescapable truth” that fossil fuels must be left behind, a letter to heads of state from the C40 group, which includes the mayors of cities including New York, London, Beijing, Paris and Cape Town, states.
Continue reading...Chinese developer secures mangrove project in Indonesia
‘Climate collapse in real time’: UN head António Guterres urges Cop28 to act
World Meteorological Organization says 2023 will be hottest year on record, leaving ‘trail of devastation and despair’
“We are living through climate collapse in real time,” the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has told Cop28 delegates in Dubai.
He spoke at the launch of the World Meteorological Organization’s stark State of the Climate report, which said 2023 will be the hottest year ever recorded.
Cop28: Can fossil fuel companies transition to clean energy?
On Tuesday 5 December, 8pm-9.15pm GMT, join Damian Carrington, Christiana Figueres, Tessa Khan and Mike Coffin for a livestreamed discussion on whether fossil fuel companies can transition to clean energy. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live
Change is coming. The question is: what kind of change will it be? | Bernie Sanders
The challenges we face are enormous – economic, environmental, political. Our future is at stake, so let’s come together and win
We are living in the most difficult moment in modern history. If you feel anxious and overwhelmed about what’s going on, you’re not alone. The extraordinarily challenges we face are very real, but we can never let them become excuses for checking out of the political struggles that address these crises and will define our future.
Our nation and, indeed our planet, are at a critical juncture. It is imperative that we recognize what we are up against, and what we must do to move our politics toward justice and human decency. And we can start by acknowledging that the American people have been through a lot, and that their confidence in politics and in government has been shaken.
Continue reading...COP28: New European group to promote clean aviation fuel
COP28: Major EU utility launches UAE-based carbon markets subsidiary
The new ‘scramble for Africa’: how a UAE sheikh quietly made carbon deals for forests bigger than UK
Agreements have been struck with African states home to crucial biodiversity hotspots, for land representing billions of dollars in potential carbon offsetting revenue
• Who is the UAE sheikh behind deals to manage vast areas of African forest?
The rights over vast tracts of African forest are being sold off in a series of huge carbon offsetting deals that cover an area of land larger than the UK. The deals, made by a little-known member of Dubai’s ruling royal family, encompass up to 20% of the countries concerned – and have raised concerns about a new “scramble for Africa” and the continent’s carbon resources.
As chairman of the company Blue Carbon, which is barely a year old, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al-Maktoum has announced several exploratory deals with African states that are home to crucial wildlife havens and biodiversity hotspots, for land that represents billions of dollars in potential offsetting revenue. The sheikh has no previous experience in nature conservation projects.
Continue reading...French initiative to produce biodiversity benefit assessment methodology
Cop28 live: Guterres calls for climate talks to agree complete ‘phaseout’ of fossil fuels
UN secretary general insists the 1.5C climate goal ‘is not dead, it’s alive’ on day one of summit in Dubai
At the Guardian we’ve been working hard to get you up to speed with what to expect from Cop28. If you can’t stop to read, you can listen.
The Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast this week focuses on everything you need to know about the climate talks, with host Ian Sample talking to Fiona Harvey, our environment editor and resident Cop expert.
As Rishi Sunak lands in Dubai, we are deeply concerned by the message the UK government is sending to countries in the global south affected by its alarming inaction on climate change. Ahead of the Cop summit this week, the UK claims that it is more ambitious on climate than any other major economy, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
As it issues licences for over 100 new oil and gas fields and fails to provide a proper roadmap on how it will deliver £11.6bn in loss and damage finance to climate-stricken countries, the UK’s decisions today will continue to cause environmental catastrophe well into the future and cause immense harm to women and girls disproportionately affected by climate breakdown.
The UK is also the heart of the global financial sector, which our recent research found has poured hundreds of billions of pounds into fossil fuels and agribusinesses since the Paris agreement. With UK banks like HSBC and Barclays among the largest funders of climate chaos, it also has a responsibility to regulate the sector, ensuring that money stops flowing towards climate-wrecking industries.
Instead of accelerating investments into fossil fuels and continuing its harmful, polluting legacy, it should show strong leadership in Dubai and commit to phasing out fossil fuels entirely.
Continue reading...COP28: Roundup for Day 1 – Nov. 30
Surfing was my life – then Britain’s filthy water left me with an incurable illness | Reuben Santer
The disease left me debilitated and jobless. What will it take for the water companies to clean up their act?
Surfing was my life. In 2022, I even moved to Devon to work as a teacher so that I could be closer to the waves. As a surfer, I’ve always had a respect for the sea and the power of the tides. But I never realised that it was perhaps the quality of the water that was the biggest risk to my health.
At work one day, I suddenly experienced deafening tinnitus in my left ear. At an emergency doctor’s appointment I was told I had an ear infection and was given antibiotics. The doctor said the likely cause was exposure to sewage in the sea. I was eager to surf again, but I waited the recommended month before getting back in at Saunton Sands beach in north Devon. Perhaps naively, I forgot to check the sewage warnings and only noticed afterwards that there had been a sewage alert in place.
Reuben Santer is a surfer based in Devon
Continue reading...W.A. energy minister quits after guiding radical switch from coal to renewables
Bill Johnston to quit parliament after setting up the roadmap for a dramatic reshaping of the world's biggest standalone grid from coal to renewables.
The post W.A. energy minister quits after guiding radical switch from coal to renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
CP Daily: Wednesday November 29, 2023
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