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The UAE will have its moment of glory while the UK press worries more about petrostate money buying the Telegraph

“A petrostate hosting a climate conference” sounds like a situation shouted out at an improv night, after they’ve done the ones about a fox hosting a henhouse and Jimmy Savile hosting Jim’ll Fix It. Arguably, though, the fact the president of this week’s Cop28 climate conference in Dubai is also the CEO of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil firm crosses the fine line between mirthless joke and extinction-level distress signal. Happily for Sultan Al Jaber, this metaphorical flare will be obscured by all the actual flares caused by oil companies still cheerily burning waste gas across the Gulf. Maybe the various Emirati governments will order the oil firms to lay off this toxic practice – ineffectually outlawed by the UAE 20 years ago – for the duration of the conference, a bit like the Chinese government ordered many Beijing factories to shut down during the 2008 Olympics so that a pea-souper didn’t prevent enjoyment of the dressage. If not, international dignitaries flying into Cop28 on private planes will be able to look out of their windows at the oilfields and consider how nice it is to be welcomed by a roaring fire.

To the jolly old UAE, then, which can own our football clubs but not our newspapers, which should rather be squired by the right kind of meddling foreigners (Rupert Murdoch), criminal foreigners (Conrad Black), morality-vacuum island fort dwellers (the Barclays) or basic non-doms (the Rothermeres). Yes, the week’s other Emirati plotline is the hokey-cokey over the sale of the Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and Spectator titles, which look like they could be at risk of effectively going to an investment fund backed by the Abu Dhabi ruling family. At present, only a half-arsed government probe stands between civilisation and a desert ski-resort corporate retreat at which former Telegraph editor Charles Moore would be seated heavily down-table from Pep Guardiola, and possibly even Jack Grealish.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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

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This year has seen a shift in the voluntary carbon markets, with demand gravitating towards pricier, higher quality carbon credits that bring other benefits in addition to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report published on Tuesday.

Minister says aftercare must be included in targets, after concerns from woodland experts that many trees are dying

Housebuilders who “just shove trees in the ground” to meet planting targets will be made to ensure they survive by watering them properly, as part of plans being considered by ministers.

Under the government’s legally binding environment improvement plan targets, which replace EU nature rules, the aim is to increase England’s woodland cover from 10% to 16.5% by 2050. The government has therefore set tree planting targets and asked private businesses to contribute in return for funding or as part of a biodiversity net gain plan.

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European carbon prices slumped for a second day, falling to a new one-year low as selling across all energy markets continued, while traders also digested news that a major EU emitter had called time on its long-term hedging strategy.

A UK-French led initiative on an international biodiversity credit market has launched a ‘call for views’ to help it address the challenges in scaling the market on topics including pricing, stewardship, and offsets.

Evidence of Chemours-operated plant contaminating region is ‘alleged human rights violations’, say experts appointed by council

A new investigation by human rights experts appointed by the United Nations has expressed alarm at evidence of pollution from a North Carolina PFAS manufacturing plant, describing it as “alleged human rights violations and abuses against residents”.

The ongoing PFAS crisis in North Carolina has been linked to a Fayetteville Works plant operated by Chemours, a chemical giant that was spun off from DuPont in 2015.

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Virgin Atlantic flight, partly funded by UK government, hailed by ministers but criticised by campaigners

• Can UK’s ‘jet zero’ hopes take off with a plane fuelled by used cooking oil?

The first transatlantic flight by a commercial airliner fully powered by “sustainable” jet fuel will take off from London Heathrow this morning.

The Virgin Atlantic flight, partly funded by the UK government, has been hailed by the aviation industry and ministers as a demonstration of the potential to significantly cut net carbon emissions from flying, although scientists and environmental groups are extremely sceptical.

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EU co-legislators in the early hours of Tuesday reached a provisional political agreement to set common internal market rules for gas and hydrogen, after extensive closed-door negotiations that left some elements still to be concluded.

A Singapore-headquartered carbon software firm has teamed up with a UK-based exchange technology provider to build carbon trading infrastructure for national markets connected by a shared registry, they announced Tuesday.

Construction of new coal-fired power plants has dropped in 2023 across most of the world while all of Asia continues to lead the world in terms of new coal construction, not counting China, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Shanghai government will auction off 3 million carbon allowances under its emissions trading scheme this week to ensure regulated companies can acquire enough permits for compliance purposes.

New Zealand's first utility scale solar farm swings into production, while environmentalists succeed in blocking an even bigger project on the south island on the grounds of biodiversity.

The post New Zealand’s first utility-scale solar farm begins generating power appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A European-based biochar developer has completed a funding round with capital raised from both existing and new investors, to fund its transition from proof-of-concept to the building of commercial-scale facilities.

A European-based biochar developer has completed a funding round with capital raised from both existing and new investors, to fund its transition from proof-of-concept to the building of commercial-scale facilities.

Studies of cetaceans stranded in UK waters show high levels of toxins 20 years since global ban of most PCBs, say scientists

Nearly half of the whales and dolphins found in UK waters over the past five years contained harmful concentrations of toxic chemicals banned decades ago, an investigation has found.

Among orcas stranded in the UK, levels of PCBs, a group of highly dangerous and persistent chemicals that do not degrade easily, were 30 times the concentration at which the animals would begin to suffer health impacts, researchers said.

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Exclusive: Experts ‘alarmed’ after potentially toxic chemicals detected in sources at 17 of England’s 18 water firms

Potentially toxic “forever chemicals” have been detected in the drinking water sources at 17 of 18 England’s water companies, with 11,853 samples testing positive, something experts say they are “extremely alarmed” by.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – a group of 10,000 or so human-made chemicals widely used in industrial processes, firefighting foams and consumer products – were found in samples of raw and treated water tested by water companies last year, according to the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), the Guardian and Watershed Investigations has found.

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Carbon credits must be scrutinised – and none more so than credits for taking grazing animals off arid rangelands. David John Eldridge, Professor of Dryland Ecology, UNSW Sydney Andrew Macintosh, Professor and Director of Research, ANU Law School, Australian National University David Alan George, Adjunct Assoc. Professor - Australian Rivers Institute - Earth scientist, Griffith University Don Butler, Professor, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A Japanese peer-reviewed study has verified direct air capture (DAC) of carbon occurring in the chemical process for manufacturing concrete, which it said could be useful for the industrial sector or countries looking to offset their emissions.

Home energy efficiency assessor, Lucinda Flynn, explains why your reverse cycle air conditioner feels blowy, how to increase the energy rating on your home, and tips for retrofitting on a budget.

The post SwitchedOn Podcast: How a health check for your home can help upgrade its energy efficiency appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Broken Hill battery, testing grid forming inverters at the edge of Australia's sprawling grid, is about to begin its commissioning process.

The post Broken Hill battery makes first appearance in “most challenging” part of grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.