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From the merveille du jour to the burnished brass, Britain’s 2,500 species of moths are all special in their own way

• Tim Blackburn is professor of invasion biology at UCL and author of The Jewel Box: How Moths Illuminate Nature’s Hidden Rules

Let me start with a confession: I love moths. If your instant reaction to that statement is a shudder and expression of dislike (or worse), be assured that you’re not alone. It is the commonest response I get. But before you scroll on or turn the page, I hope you will give me a couple of minutes of your time to persuade you to change your mind. Moths are extremely important and beautiful creatures, and we should all love them.

Almost all of them, anyway. There’s a couple of tiny species that nibble holes in your jumpers and chew your carpets, and I’m not going to try to make you love those. Feel free to hate them with a vengeance, particularly as autumn draws in and you open your jumper drawer to find unwanted evidence of their labours. But Britain has about 2,500 other species of moths, and it would be unfair to let the clothes moths colour your perceptions of the other 99.9%. And the others really are special, in all sorts of ways.

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A non-profit in Bhutan is exploring the opportunity of generating and trading international carbon credits from tree-planting projects in the Himalayan Kingdom, according to local media.

A UN assessment of Vanuatu's proposed forest reference level (FRL), which can affect the issuance volume of sovereign REDD+ carbon units, found the country's reporting to be "transparent" and mostly in accordance with guidelines.

Two major Japanese companies and an Indonesian counterpart have agreed to a joint study on biomass energy carbon capture and storage (BECCS), hot on the heels of decarbonisation agreements signed between the governments of the two countries last week.

A Korean mobility startup has tapped into Cambodia's emerging carbon market through a project that can electrify gas-guzzling tuk-tuks in the Southeast Asian country.

New resin made using bio-derivable sugars means that wind turbine blades can be fully recycled, with the process taking just six hours per blade.

The post US researchers identify new sugar-based resin for easily recyclable wind turbine blades appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Papua New Guinea is considering not sending a delegation to the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan later this year in protest of rich nations’ failure to provide sufficient climate finance to poorer countries, Prime Minister James Marape has said, according to local media.

A new boring machine will be operational by the end of 2025 and supplied by the same company that made the "disappointing" and frequently stuck Florence.

The post Snowy buys extra boring machine to support “disappointing” Florence as testing unearths more problems appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Major report released at 4pm on Friday with no media release or a press conference from Tanya Plibersek

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A leading conservation group has accused the government of trying to “bury bad news” about the health of the Great Barrier Reef by releasing a major five-yearly outlook report on Friday afternoon.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s 600-page report said the “window of opportunity to secure a positive future” for the reef was “closing rapidly” and the outlook for the ecosystem was “very poor”.

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Queensland company whose global award-winning and Arena funded technology underpinned Australia’s largest commercial microgrid has been placed in liquidation.

The post Australian champion of two-way smart grid technology that won Arena funding placed in liquidation appeared first on RenewEconomy.

It's not all bad news for renewables, but it's all good news for gas, as the Country Liberal Party wins government in the Northern Territory.

The post Labor tossed out of government in Top End as CLP claims Beetaloo gas is “cleaner than fossil fuels” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The gas shortage that never was is over almost as soon as it began, while the government promises to find better ways to measure its real climate impact.

The post Gas shortage that never was is over as government agrees to find out how polluting it really is appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The price of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) has inched upwards in recent weeks thanks to steady demand from Safeguard Mechanism entities, however one report expects prices to continue to remain rangebound in the short term.

Today marks a historic day for how Australia measures the methane emissions spewing out of its biggest coal and gas mines. But the government response is too slow.

The post Australia wakes up to the methane fire alarm, but its response is too slow appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NSW government announces planning approval for huge solar farm that will be combined with one of the state's new eight hour battery projects.

The post Huge solar farm and eight hour battery project approved for upper Hunter appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The researchers found most emissions reduction relied on a mix of policies, rather than a single solution. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Giant North Sea offshore wind project to host floating seaweed farm.

The post Massive offshore wind project to play host to floating seaweed farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.

iodiversity markets will have a hard time establishing and attracting financing on a large scale unless insurers step in for nature, experts have told Carbon Pulse.

With no land mammals to eat and disperse them, New Zealand’s truffle-like fungi mimic fallen fruit to attract birds. But with so many of those birds now extinct, can ecosystems adapt? Jamie Wood, Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Evolution, University of Adelaide Amy Martin, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Evolutionary Ecology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Anne Gaskett, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Australian government has appointed the country’s chief scientist to lead an expert panel to advise on greenhouse gas measurement approaches that could potentially improve its fossil methane estimations, it announced Monday.