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Record emissions, temperatures and population mean more scientists are looking into possibility of societal collapse, report says

Many of Earth’s “vital signs” have hit record extremes, indicating that “the future of humanity hangs in the balance”, a group of the world’s most senior climate experts have said.

More and more scientists are now looking into the possibility of societal collapse, says the report, which assessed 35 vital signs in 2023 and found that 25 were worse than ever recorded, including carbon dioxide levels and human population. This indicates a “critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis”, it says.

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Tanya Plibersek claims Labor is protecting 52% of its ocean territory, but experts say that is ‘misleading’

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Scientists have challenged Tanya Plibersek’s claim that Australia is protecting more than half of its oceans and has “blitzed” a 30% target, arguing industrial longline fishing will still be allowed in some areas the government says it is conserving.

The environment minister told a “global nature-positive summit” in Sydney on Tuesday the government had quadrupled the size of the sub-Antarctic Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve, a world heritage area about 4,000km south-west of Perth.

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An Amsterdam-based carbon removal accelerator has selected its first cohort of Indian climate startups to scale carbon removal solutions across the country, marking its entry into the Asian market, it announced at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Alexander Darwall, owner of Blachford estate in national park, is challenging the right to wild camping

Picnicking on Dartmoor is trespassing, according to the lawyers for a landowner who is challenging the right to wild camping on the moors.

The public should have no right to undertake any activities other than walking or horse riding in the Dartmoor national park without landowner permission, Timothy Morshead KC told a supreme court hearing on Tuesday.

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A spike in the electricity price at the end of August in New Zealand forced an urgent review of the power sector and helped hasten a possible return of gas, via reversing a ban on new exploration permits put in place in 2018 by the then-Jacinda Ardern led Labour government.

An Australian climate tech company has raised A$100 million ($67 mln) from the nation’s oldest bank and its clean energy financier for investment into a range of decarbonisation areas, it said Tuesday.

The government of Quebec, in Canada, has announced a C$922 million ($676 mln) action plan to advance nature protection and restoration across the province.

European carbon allowance prices came under renewed pressure on Tuesday morning amid continued gloomy macroeconomic and geopolitical sentiment, but found support above Monday's six-month low.

An industrial ceramics producer that is facing significant additional costs under the EU ETS if it doesn’t decarbonise fast enough views capturing carbon and converting it into useful products as vital to its continued business offering in Europe.

Two bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) projects have passed the 'deliverability assessment' as part of the UK government's HyNet cluster expansion process, putting them on track to become operational by 2030, the developer announced on Tuesday.

A French NGO has partnered with a business accelerator managed by BNP Paribas to launch an impact loan facility for scaling blended finance towards marine conservation efforts in the Global South, aiming to raise $35 million.

Geopolitical risk must be put at the heart of government and business decisions for Europe to retain its climate leadership and succeed in bringing down emissions, a German climate, energy, and security expert told Carbon Pulse.

Two scientists share the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on machine learning.

One of Australia's oldest operating coal generators has been refused bank guarantees and is seeking a crucial rule change or exemption to allow it to continue operating.

The post One of Australia’s oldest coal generators refused bank guarantees, operating status under threat appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Singapore has opened its decarbonisation plans for public comment beginning Tuesday, as it begins work on its upcoming Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), due in 2025.

Critically endangered flowers get stay of execution after local environmental group threatens legal action against Victorian government

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A critically endangered orchid has received a late reprieve after a local environmental group threatened legal action against the Victorian government, prompting officials to cancel a planned burn of its habitat.

The bald-tip beard orchid – a species with fewer than 10 plants remaining in the Australian wild – was thought extinct until rediscovered in 1968 at a site near Whroo, in central Victoria, where the last surviving wild population has persisted.

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Taiwan is planning to introduce its own version of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as a supplementary measure to an upcoming carbon levy programme.

Harvesting in Bulga state forest, inland from Port Macquarie, is just 400km from global nature-positive summit the government is hosting

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Forest campaigners have accused the federal government of hypocrisy for hosting a global nature-positive summit in Sydney while logging resumed in public forest 400km away in mid-north New South Wales.

The NSW Forestry Corporation has started its harvesting operations in Bulga state forest, inland from Port Macquarie. The area is a stronghold for threatened species including endangered koalas and the endangered greater glider – Australia’s largest gliding possum.

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A proposed biodiversity measuring metric initiative needs to factor in the interplay of climate change and proposed actions, rather than simply focusing on observing changes, an expert told the Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney Tuesday.

Exclusive: Environment groups urge government to stick to its promises and refuse pesticide application

UK ministers are considering allowing the use of a bee-killing pesticide next year despite promising during the election to ban it.

Neonicotinoids are banned in the EU because they are toxic to bees, but have been authorised for use every year in the UK since 2021.

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