Feed aggregator

The latest round of negotiations on the UN plastic treaty wrapped up on Monday with shy steps forward on the draft text, due to be finalised by the end of the year, though observers levelled criticism over the lack of progress on production cuts and funding mechanisms.

A total of 10 carbon offsetting projects have now cleared the preliminary assessment of a Bangkok-based voluntary carbon registry, and are poised to collectively generate more than 4 million carbon credits annually.

The UK’s second-largest operator of waste-to-energy facilities is eying opportunities as a removals provider as it looks to roll out carbon capture across its portfolio and it receives an increasing proportion of biogenic waste.

An investigation into Australia’s federal environmental offset scheme has found a ‘set and forget’ regulatory approach has led to areas earmarked for conservation being impacted or developed without consequence.

Agency announces rule on methylene chloride, colorless liquid used for stripping paint, cleaning metal and decaffeinating coffee

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Tuesday that it will ban most uses of methylene chloride, a colorless liquid used for stripping paint, cleaning metal, and even decaffeinating coffee. The chemical has been linked to dozens of deaths and advocates have long called for its ban.

The new rule will require stronger worker safety protections from the harmful carcinogen for the remaining “critical” uses. All consumer use will be prohibited within a year, while most commercial and industrial use will be phased out within the next two years.

Continue reading...

UK aviation has a number of potential routes for decarbonising — from jet fuels to operational changes — but stronger policy is needed to incentivise and accelerate the shift in an industry where growing demand will otherwise push emissions upwards, industry experts said during a webinar on Tuesday.

Family discovers ‘terrifying’ gigantic bee colony in wall of home with blood-like honey oozing down wall and $20,000 in damage

A toddler told her mom that “monsters” were in her closet. But in fact, there were more than 50,000 bees there.

A mother of three children under four years old was met with a “terrifying” surprise after she and her husband investigated why a handful of bees had flown into the attic of the couple’s North Carolina home.

Continue reading...

The federal government's first major capacity auction is 32 times oversubscribed by a massive pipeline of battery storage projects.

The post Bowen says first battery storage tender is “massively oversubscribed” with 19,000 MW of projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Big day for Australia's offshore wind ambitions with six potential projects awarded feasibility licences and another six to follow. Altogether, a potential 25GW of new capacity.

The post Six projects named to start feasibility studies for Australia’s first offshore wind farms appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A Finnish startup is offering a pooling service to group high- and low-emissions intensity ships and facilitate their net compliance with the EU’s incoming FuelEU Maritime rules.

Last year was the most dangerous to be a reporter since 2015. Without the courage of correspondents risking everything to report from conflict areas, we could be at risk of ‘zones of silence’ spreading around the world

Conflict in Gaza, war in Ukraine, a battle over the global environment – the world is becoming an increasingly hostile place, particularly for frontline journalists.

Last year saw 99 killings of reporters, up 44% on 2022 and the highest toll since 2015.

Jonathan Watts is the Guardian’s global environment writer

Continue reading...

National Park Service will reintroduce bears to Washington’s North Cascades and won’t remove horses from South Dakota park

Wildlife advocates are celebrating “incredible” news for the preservation of threatened bears, and a herd of historically significant wild horses, in separate north-western and upper midwestern national parks.

In North Dakota, the National Parks Service (NPS) has dropped a plan that would have seen about 200 wild horses, descended from those belonging to Native American tribes who fought the 1876 Great Sioux War, rounded up and removed from Theodore Roosevelt national park.

Continue reading...

The far right are on the march in Germany and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany has become the most popular party in several states. Immigration and a sense of being economically left behind have been driving factors in the rise in popularity but the Green party and the federal government’s climate policies have also borne the brunt of public anger. The Guardian travelled to Görlitz, on the German border with Poland, to find out to what extent Germany’s green policies are fuelling the far right

• How climate policies are becoming focus for far-right attacks in Germany

Continue reading...

The US state of Florida has announced a $1.5-billion commitment to restore biodiversity and improve water quality, including what it claims to be the largest single-year investment ever made to protect the Everglade wetlands.

Institutional investors including the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund and Rothschild & Co are asking PepsiCo to report on its dependencies on biodiversity in a bid to quantify the financial risks related to nature loss.

The Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal can potentially act as carbon reservoirs, storing huge amounts of CO2 that will help to decarbonise industrial clusters and can aid India to achieve its net zero targets, researchers have found.

European carbon allowance prices rose steadily on Tuesday morning, wiping out seven days of losses, as the selling activity that dominated Monday's session was largely absent and gas prices rallied as the new benchmark contract month began.

A major trading house in Japan has teamed up with two domestic partners to launch an impact finance loan product to meet the decarbonisation needs of Japanese companies.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide among the 371m lb of pollutants released by just 41 plants in five years

Tyson Foods dumped millions of pounds of toxic pollutants directly into American rivers and lakes over the last five years, threatening critical ecosystems, endangering wildlife and human health, a new investigation reveals.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide were among the 371m lb of pollutants released into waterways by just 41 Tyson slaughterhouses and mega processing plants between 2018 and 2022.

Continue reading...

Campaigners say last-minute compromise plays into the hands of petrostates and industry influences

Campaigners are blaming developed countries for capitulating at the last minute to pressure from fossil fuel and industry lobbyists, and slowing progress towards the first global treaty to cut plastic waste.

Delegates concluded talks in Ottawa, Canada, late on Monday, with no agreement on a proposal for global reductions in the $712bn (£610bn) plastic production industry by 2040 to address twin issues of plastic waste and huge carbon emissions.

Continue reading...