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The rich world's failure so far to provide evidence it has met the $100 bln pledge for developing nations will hinder negotiations at upcoming UN summits, according to a report by a development charity published Monday, as climate finance tensions come into focus at talks that begin in Bonn this week.

Vast Solar names engineers for what will be Australia's first large scale solar thermal facility that could begin construction next year.

The post Australia’s first solar thermal plant edges closer to reality as engineers named appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Snowy Hydro given stable outlook on basis that government will have no choice but to back it, despite delays and cost blowouts. Without such backing, its debt would be junk.

The post Too big to fail: Why Canberra will back Snowy despite delays and cost blowouts appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Find out how the world's major economies are doing on cutting their emissions and what lies ahead.

Black-veined whites, thought to have died out in 1920s, have seemingly returned due to warmer climate

When they last roamed England in 1925, they counted Winston Churchill as a fan. Now, black-veined whites – an extremely rare species of British butterfly – have been spotted fluttering once again.

Small numbers of the black and white insects have been spotted in fields and hedgerows in south-east London, nearly a century after the species was thought to have become extinct in the UK.

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Oxfam report says only $11.5bn (£9.2bn) of climate finance in 2020 devoted to helping vulnerable states

Rich nations are undermining work to protect poor and vulnerable countries from the impacts of the climate crisis, by providing loans instead of grants, siphoning off money from other aid projects or mislabelling cash, new research suggests.

Only $11.5bn (£9.2bn) of climate finance from rich countries in 2020 was devoted to helping poor countries adapt to extreme weather, despite increasing incidences of climate-related disaster, according to a report from the charity Oxfam.

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New study finds "smart" electric water heaters can store as much energy as more than 2 million batteries and save households billions a year on energy bills.

The post Electric water heaters could do work of 2 million home batteries – and save billions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Now begins a long and difficult process to recover vast areas of forest after more than 50 years of destructive logging. David Lindenmayer, Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Chris Taylor, Research Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A heater with a 300-litre tank can store as much energy as a home battery at a fraction of the cost. Being able to store surplus solar energy at the right times helps grid stability and cuts emissions. David Roche, Research Director - Strategic Energy Collaborations, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner - a keen naturalist - has been on their trail.

Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were killed in a region where 23 Indigenous groups live – and we all face the same danger

Among my people, the Marubo, knowledge is transmitted through oral history, passed down by elders throughout the centuries. For many generations these stories described the approach of people we call nawas – outsiders who always brought misfortune, usually in search of natural resources from the forests we inhabit.

My ancestors spoke of Catholic missionaries from Spain and Portugal, of Peruvian rubber barons and logging companies. The stories my generation tells are of fundamentalist evangelical missionaries, illegal miners and fishing gangs bankrolled by drug trafficking networks.

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British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous expert were killed a year ago on Monday in remote Amazon region they tried to defend

Friends and admirers of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira are preparing to gather in towns and cities across Brazil as well as London to remember the men and the causes they cherished.

The British journalist and the Brazilian Indigenous expert were shot dead during a reporting trip in the Amazon’s remote Javari valley region one year ago, on 5 June 2022.

If you want to help finish Dom Phillips’s book on the Amazon you can contribute here.

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A French factory is pioneering recycling of solar units as experts warn of a waste mountain by 2050.

Queensland to legislate renewable targets to build 22GW of wind and solar, and 12GW of storage. But it will still have the lowest share of renewables in 2035.

The post Queensland to legislate renewable targets in $62 billion wind, solar and storage plan appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A £6.5m scheme to help prevent the extinction of priority species in Scotland has been launched.

Deteriorating conditions and other whales in area south of Sydney hampered attempts, say rescuers

A humpback whale trapped in waters south of Sydney has finally been freed after a gruelling eight-hour rescue mission.

Rescue efforts began on Saturday morning after reports of a whale in distress off Five Islands near Port Kembla. Volunteer crews from Marine Rescue NSW and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service were called to assist at about 8.30am.

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Pollution from gas flaring – the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction – is also a major concern in the oil-rich but extremely dry south

Western oil companies are exacerbating water shortages and causing pollution in Iraq as they race to profit from rising oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Water scarcity has already displaced thousands and increased instability, according to international experts, while Iraq is now considered the fifth most vulnerable country to the climate crisis by the UN. In the oil-rich but extremely dry south, wetlands that used to feed entire communities are now muddy canals.

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Japanese start-up Green Carbon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Philippines’ state-owned National Development Company (NDC) with a view to generating 45 million carbon credits annually across a range of project types.

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

Speculators extended net holdings across North American carbon markets this week, while producers shed significant length across California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) and RGGI Allowances (RGAs), data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed Friday.