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The EU formally adopted its Critical Raw Materials Act on Tuesday after a vote by MEPs, as the bloc attempts to shore up domestic production of the materials that will be needed for the transition to clean energy.

The first study to quantify what our felines eat on a global scale finds they have a significant impact on wildlife

Cats may be adored human companions, but they are also highly effective killers, according to a study that shows they eat more than 2,000 species globally – including hundreds that are of conservation concern.

Since domestication 9,000 years ago, house cats have spread to all continents except Antarctica. In the paper, published in Nature Communications, researchers describe them as “amongst the most problematic invasive species in the world”.

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Singapore’s environment minister has emphasised the importance of standards in drawing up Article 6 implementation agreements with host countries, as voluntary standards and market stakeholders try to figure out how these agreements will work on the ground, particularly in developing nations with weak governance and capacity issues.

Many accused of being too mired in fossil fuel hypocrisy, as wrangling over possible deal continues

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Rich countries have failed to show the leadership necessary to solve the climate crisis, and many are too mired in their own hypocrisy over fossil fuels to break the impasse at Cop28, climate justice advocates have told the Guardian.

Talks at the UN climate summit were deadlocked on Tuesday night, as countries fought over the wording of a potential deal on the future of fossil fuels.

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Singapore-based Abaxx Commodity Futures Exchange and Clearinghouse plans to launch two physically-settled carbon futures in January after being granted licenses by the Singaporean authorities, company representatives have revealed to Carbon Pulse.

Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer good companies, is being investigated for greenwashing by the UK’s competition watchdog amid a crackdown on corporates making bogus climate friendly claims.

Australian Renewable Energy Agency to invest $1.64 million in EnergyLab to help the climate and cleantech accelerator support the next generation of renewable startups.

The post EnergyLab lands more funds to support next generation of renewable startups appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An Article 6.2 deal between Switzerland and Thailand that had achieved the world’s first issuance of ‘internationally transferred mitigation outcomes’ (ITMOs) may not involve additional emissions reductions, according to an NGO report this week.

Biodiversity Council says offsets should be a last resort and only used for ‘nature that we can replace’

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The Australian government should significantly constrain the use of biodiversity offsets under its environmental law reform agenda and stop them being used for critically endangered wildlife, according to a report by a partnership of 11 universities.

The Biodiversity Council also called on the Albanese government to define the term “nature positive” in law and set targets for what it will mean in practice, warning that without a clear mandate in legislation the term “will simply become another political slogan”.

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European carbon was little changed at midday on Tuesday, after early gains inspired by firmer natural gas prices gave way later on, while participants kept a wary eye out for a return to strong selling activity as the December options contract entered its last 24 hours.

Colombia has officially announced its interest in hosting the COP16 UN biodiversity conference next year, with onlookers welcoming the move.

Brazil will open the largest oil and gas block auction in its history on Tuesday, a move campaigners find highly hypocritical as the COP28 summit negotiations struggle to agree on phasing out fossil fuels globally even as the South American nation touts its climate leadership.

Charges would add to fund for at-risk nations but Andrew Mitchell believes colleagues would not back them

The UK’s international development minister, Andrew Mitchell, has played down the prospects of imposing a levy on frequent flyers to help fund the rescue and rehabilitation of poor countries stricken by climate disaster.

A small charge on airline tickets is one of several ideas floated by developing countries to provide cash for the loss and damage fund.

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Graham Stuart’s surprise exit leaves civil servants in Dubai to finish negotiations in his absence

• Cop28 live – latest updates

The UK minister in charge of Cop28 climate talks has returned to London, the Guardian has learned, leaving civil servants to finish the fraught negotiations in his absence.

Graham Stuart, the minister of state for climate change, left Dubai on Tuesday morning to return to his duties as an MP, the government confirmed, even as the climate talks reached crisis point.

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Pioneering efforts to store carbon from an industrial emitter base in South Africa, including from the world’s largest single-source CO2 emitter, are set to progress to pilot construction stage following completion of the geological assessment of the local area.

Study finds impact of wind farms on nearby property values finds is restricted to “homes located within 1 mile of a commercial wind turbine”, and only soon after announcement.

The post Landmark study finds negative impact of wind farms on real estate values is temporary at worst appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Leaders and activists must fight to the end in Dubai to stop vested interests sabotaging progress on fossil fuel phase-out and adaptation

As Cop28 in Dubai enters its final hours, the emotional weight of the moment is hard to bear. I find myself thinking of a six-year-old boy called Desmond I met in Turkana county, Kenya, who died from severe acute malnutrition on the same day. His death was the result of a climate-induced drought that has left millions of people on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa.

I want the negotiators deciding the outcome of Cop28 to know Desmond’s story. Because in the end, the climate crisis is not about pledges, statistics, reports or activists. It’s about human suffering and ruined lives. It’s about death.

Vanessa Nakate is a climate activist, Unicef goodwill ambassador and author of A Bigger Picture: My fight to bring a new African voice to the climate crisis

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New Zealand’s newly appointed Minister for Climate Change has emphasised the importance of the country’s agricultural sector – the biggest contributor to the country’s GHG emissions – and a stable Emissions Trading Scheme, in his first national statement to COP28 in Dubai.

New draft text released by presidency omits reference to phase out of ‘fossil fuels’

Tuesday morning at Cop28 and we’re back in a waiting game. Heads of delegation met until the early hours, mostly expressing their deep unhappiness with the draft text produced by the summit presidency late Monday afternoon.

The scheduled end of the two-week conference has come and gone – that was 11am local – and as yet there is no new text to replace the document from yesterday. Anybody who says they know when this will end is guessing.

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Exclusive: Report calls for new law on maximum indoor temperature to stop workers overheating

A maximum indoor temperature working law giving people a day off if workplace temperatures surpass 30C should be mandated by government, a new report recommends.

The report by the Fabian Society thinktank highlights inequalities in who bears the brunt of the impacts of climate breakdown and puts responsibility on bosses and landlords to stop people from overheating.

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