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Trash Free Trails’ report finds average of 41 pieces of litter a kilometre as calls grow for deposit returns scheme

Litter is blighting the UK’s footpaths, with an average 41 pieces found a kilometre, according to a major study. Particularly frequently found brands included Lucozade, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Monster and Walkers.

The State of Our Trails report, conducted by Trash Free Trails, is the first UK study that aims to establish a scientific understanding of the environmental consequences of the tonnes of litter in our landscapes. It drew together more than 1,600 submissions by 4,500 volunteers and with the data the authors have estimated as many as 9.1m individual pieces of litter could be found across the UK’s 220,000km of public rights of way. The surveys took place between July 2020 and August 2023.

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The time for alarmist messages is over, and the organisation could help unite people in positive action

• Rupert Read is co-director of the Climate Majority Project

Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, has been found guilty of criminal damage, after she broke a window at the Department for Transport in an ecologically motivated protest against HS2 in 2019.

The timing of Bradbrook’s verdict is almost exquisitely ironic. Five years ago last week, Extinction Rebellion was launched in Parliament Square. Back then, a principal term of criticism lobbied at XR was that it was “alarmist”. Five years on, it’s plainly visible that it was not.

Rupert Read is the author of Extinction Rebellion: Insights from the Inside and Co-Director of the Climate Majority Project

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Quinbrook signs 10 GWh supply deal with China battery giant CATL, including for the use of 16-hour batteries at the world's biggest solar and storage project Sun Cable.

The post Quinbrook eyes 16-hour batteries for Sun Cable in massive storage deal with China’s CATL appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Worsening climatic conditions leading to carbon credit issuances failing to materialise has been labelled a key risk that is being overlooked by the Australian carbon market, according to analysis released this week.

‘Alarming’ new research warns of risk to British woodlands from disease, extreme weather and wildfires, unless ‘call to action’ is heeded now

UK forests are heading for “catastrophic ecosystem collapse” within the next 50 years due to multiple threats including disease, extreme weather and wildfires, researchers have warned, with trees dying on a large scale.

The study, published in the journal Forestry, was put together by a panel of 42 researchers, with 1,200 experts consulted. Lead author, Dr Eleanor Tew, head of forest planning at Forestry England and visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge, described the finding as “sobering and alarming”.

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More native plants and species at risk of extinction as Australia enters worst bushfire season since 2019’s black summer

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More than 20 plants and animals have been added to the government’s threatened species list as politicians look ahead to another challenging bushfire season.

A chubby frog, eight kinds of crayfish and a river fish with no scientific description have been added to the growing list of threatened native wildlife.

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Japan will issue its first climate transformation bond next year to drive decarbonisation of five key sectors and enable public-private partnerships, and ultimately not just drive its own decarbonisation but much of Asia’s.

In this podcast, former Labor climate change minister Greg Combet joins The Conversation to discuss net-zero, and Australia's future as a "renewable energy superpower". Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Predicted 116m tonnes of waste annually by 2060 is six times higher than in 2019, driven by demand in sub-Saharan Africa

Plastic waste is “spiralling out of control” across Africa, where it is growing faster than any other region, new analysis has shown.

At current levels, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, according to the charity Tearfund.

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While Europe is battered by the climate crisis, governments must reassure voters that green costs will be fairly shared

“At a time when we should be accelerating action, there is backtracking … We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open.” A few months ago, the UN secretary general António Guterres used these words to warn that the collective battle against the climate crisis is losing political steam. Guterres was right: the collective response is pitiful. But it’s not just the politicians.

Clear evidence of climate fatigue emerges from recent opinion polls on voting intentions in the next European parliament elections, in June 2024. While European green parties are expected to lose more than a third of their seats, rightwing climate-sceptic conservatives are expected to win big.

Francesco Grillo is a visiting fellow at the European University Institute, Florence and director of the thinktank Vision

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

The world is still on track to produce more than twice as much fossil fuel in 2030 than would align with the Paris Agreement to curb global warming, and unless governments tackle this by collaboratively phasing out production the gap will only widen, a UN-backed report warned on Wednesday.

Plans by nations including Saudi Arabia, the US and UAE would blow climate targets and ‘throw humanity’s future into question’

The world’s fossil fuel producers are planning expansions that would blow the planet’s carbon budget twice over, a UN report has found. Experts called the plans “insanity” which “throw humanity’s future into question”.

The energy plans of the petrostates contradicted their climate policies and pledges, the report said. The plans would lead to 460% more coal production, 83% more gas, and 29% more oil in 2030 than it was possible to burn if global temperature rise was to be kept to the internationally agreed 1.5C. The plans would also produce 69% more fossil fuels than is compatible with the riskier 2C target.

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Scientists find average levels of nitrogen dioxide almost twice as high in homes cooking with gas as in those cooking without

Gas cookers are pumping toxic particles linked to childhood asthma into kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms across Europe, a report has found.

Dutch scientists measured the air quality in 247 homes and found average levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were almost twice as high in those cooking with gas as in those cooking without. One in four homes with gas cookers breached hourly pollution levels set by the World Health Organization, while none of the homes in the control group, which used electric cookers, broke the limits.

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Representatives from climate groups and electricity utilities continued to provide feedback to California regulator ARB regarding changes to the state's cap-and-trade regulations, while a petroleum association opposed increased programme stringency.

In a speech in Adelaide, federal energy minister doubles down on 82% renewables target and hints at new policy initiatives to "amplify" efforts to reach it.

The post Bowen says accelerating switch to renewables essential to “keep the lights on” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A company addressing the coal-seam gas industry's waste brine problem is on Energy Estate's radar, both as a renewables customer and a green hydrogen partner.

The post Energy Estate backs CSG water treatment tech with view to green hydrogen future appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia’s Woodside Energy has made incremental progress on its CCS ambitions, but its investor briefing day held Wednesday offered little new in terms increased progress or ambition on its climate and decarbonisation goals.

Chinese regulators have released an action plan for the country to better tackle methane emissions, outlining several policy tasks including the utilisation of the domestic voluntary carbon market, despite a lack of substantial targets.

The last five months have "obliterated" temperature records, linked to carbon emissions and El Niño.