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A government-appointed working group this week began grappling with legal issues flagged by economy ministry officials as potentially challenging, as Japan begins designing its mandatory emissions trading scheme slated to launch in 2026.

Investor Mirova and non-profit Rainforest Alliance have announced a partnership to scale up nature-based solutions focused on regenerative agriculture around the world.

Ocean-based CO2 removal techniques, which are attracting greater interest due to the constraints on land-based methods, may have significant knowledge gaps that could in turn affect the credibility of carbon offset schemes, according to a paper published this week.

Investments in clean energy are surging globally to reach almost double the amount going to fossil fuels in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA's) latest annual investment report, with solar PV surpassing all other energy sources combined.

Leading politicians have stepped forward to ask for the inclusion of carbon removals in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), with Poland’s climate minister and the chief ETS lawmaker in the European Parliament joining calls to address a looming liquidity crunch to avoid “market manipulation”.

A France-headquartered nature-based project developer is piloting biodiversity credits in a large area in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest to boost funding towards conservation efforts, as it expects the first transactions to happen by the end of the year.

The high-integrity Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) label may now be used for an estimated 27 million credits, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) announced Thursday, although with a warning the science behind some of the quantification needs to improve.

Addiction, anxiety and sex reversal have been reported in species by researchers as a range of substances contaminates ecosystems

From brown trout becoming “addicted” to methamphetamine to European perch losing their fear of predators due to depression medication, scientists warn that modern pharmaceutical and illegal drug pollution is becoming a growing threat to wildlife.

Drug exposure is causing significant, unexpected changes to some animals’ behaviour and anatomy. Female starlings dosed with antidepressants such as Prozac at concentrations found in sewage waterways become less attractive to potential mates, with male birds behaving more aggressively and singing less to entice them than undosed counterparts.

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A voluntary carbon credit services firm has added a substantial number of soil carbon removal credits to the US marketplace, issued under a regenerative agriculture programme run by a major pharmaceutical.

A Sydney-based fund manager has been ordered wound up by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) over unpaid debts after recently going into administration, leaving a litany of bad carbon project development deals in its wake.

Australia is likely to have a new environmental data agency. Here’s what it’s for – and why we need it. Hugh Possingham, Professor of Conservation Biology, The University of Queensland Jaana Dielenberg, University Fellow in Biodiversity, Charles Darwin University Michelle Ward, Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A massive investment in renewable energy in the Sunshine State will fund green power, storage and transmission projects and aim to save regional jobs.

The post Queensland promises $26 billion renewables splurge in state budget appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The decision to extend life of Australia's biggest coal plant adds to the uncertainties that will complicate bidding in the country's largest ever renewable tender.

The post Eraring extension may burn a big hole in Australia’s biggest renewable energy tender appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Do solar farms cause cancer? Will wind turbines send me deaf? A handy list of articles to help you sort fact from renewables fiction.

The post Sorting fact from renewable fiction: Handy resources for debunking solar and wind myths  appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New study models the economic and environmental benefits of making it mandatory for new-build homes and businesses to be all-electric – and finds no down-sides.

The post “High rewards, no regrets:” Council gas bans could save new-build home owners $600 a year on energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Trees are supposed to grow faster as a result of increased CO₂ in the atmosphere - but this research suggests there are many exceptions to the rule. Kristine Crous, Senior Lecturer, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University Belinda Medlyn, Distinguished Professor, Ecosystem Function and Integration, Western Sydney University David S Ellsworth, Professor of Plant Eco-physiology, Western Sydney University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The world’s first insurance solution was launched Thursday to protect against the risk of an ITMO credit losing its Article 6 authorization due to the corresponding adjustment (CA) not being made by the host country.

Equipment being trialled in Scotland extracts warmth from nearby water sources to provide homes with heating

Scientists in Edinburgh have developed a home heating system that draws its energy from the world’s most abundant resource: water.

The equipment can use sea water, rivers, ponds and even mine water to heat radiators and water for baths and showers, using the same technology as in air source heat pumps.

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Fossil fuel firms are biggest beneficiaries of investor-state dispute settlement courts which have awarded $114bn of public money

More than $100bn of public money has been awarded to private investors in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) courts, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet.

The controversial arbitration system which allows corporations to sue governments for compensation over decisions they argue affect their profits is largely carried out behind closed doors, with some judgments kept secret. But, according to a global ISDS tracker which launches today, $114bn has so far been paid out of the public purse to investors – about as much as rich nations provided in climate aid in 2022.

A $15bn compensation suit by TC Energy against the US government for cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline which would have carried 830,000 barrels of highly polluting tar sands oil to the US coast every day. The permit was withdrawn by Joe Biden on his first day in office after a long campaign by Indigenous Americans, farmers and climate activists. The pipeline had been championed by ex-president Donald Trump and became a touchstone culture war issue.

Ruby River Capital’s claim for “no less than $20bn” after the Quebec government cancelled a natural gas liquefaction plant on the St Lawrence River. An environmental impact assessment had found that the plant would increase greenhouse gas emissions, hurt Indigenous Canadian communities and destroy biodiversity. RRC’s claim was the largest ever under the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

The most lucrative ISDS claim currently being heard is Zeph Investment’s $200bn case against Australia over a huge planned mine in Western Australia which, Zeph Investment claims, the Australian government had “effectively destroyed”, in breach of the Asean free trade agreement.

Avima Iron Ore is seeking $27bn from the Republic of the Congo, after it revoked iron ore mining licenses for three Australian-owned firms, handing them instead to a small Chinese investment group. The sum is almost twice as much as the country’s GDP last year.

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National Australia Bank (NAB) will provide A$80 billion ($53 bln) in climate-related finance by 2030 and has set interim decarbonisation targets for certain lending sectors. according to its climate disclosures report published Thursday.