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CSIRO report says Australia could lead world in re-use and recycling of lithium-ion batteries, generating potential billion-dollar industry, and helping to push down costs of EVs and battery storage.

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

Oregon officials are considering potential revisions to the state's Clean Fuels Programme (OCFP) that would align more closely with potential changes to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), a meeting heard on Monday.

The rest of the world should retaliate against the US’ escalating trade tariffs with carbon border adjustments rather than tit-for-tat countermeasures, according to researchers.

This is an opportunity to work at the centre of the Victorian Government's ambitious climate change policy agenda to shape the implementation of a new, system-based approach to adaptation in Victoria. The new hire will be expected to bring their skills and experience in climate change adaptation, capacity building and research and analysis to support the implementation of key commitments under Victoria's Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2017-2020.

Working from our office in Covent Garden, you will bolster CHN’s coverage of the global politics and impacts of climate change. This is a full-time role, reporting to the editor-in-chief.

The lightweight Zephyr aircraft could be used in communications and remote sensing.

A chance discovery of some kelp that floated for 20,000km before washing up on an Antarctic beach has opened up a new chapter in our understanding of the currents that swirl around the Southern Ocean. Adele Morrison, Research Fellow, Australian National University Andy Hogg, Associate Professor, Australian National University Ceridwen Fraser, Senior lecturer, Australian National University Erik van Sebille, Associate Professor in Oceanography and Climate Change, Utrecht University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Allocations of free carbon allowances to new and expanding companies in the EU ETS continue to stagnate, with just over two years to go until the potentially hundreds of millions of unused EUAs are moved a step closer to cancellation.

European carbon prices dropped back on Monday to settle below €16 for the first time in over a week as a weak auction dissuaded buying in another quiet session.

Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples calls for a new, rights-based approach to conservation

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, has released a report highly critical of the global conservation movement and calling for indigenous peoples and other local communities to have a greater say in protecting the world’s forests. Titled Cornered by Protected Areas and co-authored with the US-based NGO Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), the report is an explicit condemnation of “fortress conservation.”

What exactly is meant by that? It is “the idea that to protect forests and biodiversity, ecosystems need to function in isolation, devoid of people,” the Rapporteur told the Guardian. “This model - favoured by governments for over a century - ignores the growing body of evidence that forests thrive when Indigenous Peoples remain on their customary lands and have legally recognised rights to manage and protect them.”

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AEMO says 70TWh of coal is to retire by 2040, and the cheapest way to replace it is with solar, wind and storage, and just a tiny bit of gas. And no coal. But it wants more transmission lines and renewable zones to manage this transition.

Shanghai will offer 2 million carbon allowances in an additional auction on July 31 to help local emitters comply with the municipal cap-and-trade programme amid a dearth of supply.

The EU and China on Monday signed a strategic partnership that included a renewed commitment to cooperate on carbon markets, a further sign that China intends to go ahead with its national emissions trading scheme despite delays and government restructuring.

Government’s top climate adviser warns policymakers will be judged harshly by future generations if they don’t act now

The government’s official climate change adviser says politicians and policymakers are failing to rise to the challenge of a rapidly warming planet and will be judged harshly by future generations unless they act now.

Lord Deben, chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), said “anyone who read the news” could see mounting evidence of alarming trends – from melting polar ice to record heatwaves and rising sea levels. He called on politicians to “make the connections” between these events and act with more urgency.

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But global warming will.

Eleven teams participated in a recent Stanford Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) project, examining the economic and environmental impacts of a carbon tax. The studies included “revenue recycling,” in which the funds generated from a carbon tax are returned to taxpayers either through regular household rebate checks (similar to the Citizens’ Climate Lobby [CCL] and Climate Leadership Council [CLC] proposals) or by offsetting income taxes (similar to the approach in British Columbia).

Among the eleven modeling teams the key findings were consistent. First, a carbon tax is effective at reducing carbon pollution, although the structure of the tax (the price and the rate at which it rises) are important. Second, this type of revenue-neutral carbon tax would have a very modest impact on the economy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). In all likelihood it would slightly slow economic growth, but by an amount that would be more than offset by the benefits of cutting pollution and slowing global warming.

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Baby spiders were abandoned in pots and RSPCA says witness saw parents scuttling away

Two tarantulas may be on the loose in a village after three of their babies were found abandoned in a car park.

The RSPCA said it had rescued the baby Brazilian bird-eating spiders after they were found discarded in pots in Derbyshire.

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Road builders planning a bypass in Sussex have been urged to find a way that doesn't cause damage to ancient woodland.

The world's biggest battery, a ground-breaking greenhouse project to grow tomatoes in the desert and a solar schools challenge in Western Australia are among the finalists announced in the 2018 Clean Energy Council Awards.

FREE webinar Tuesday 17 July 2018, at 10:30am (AEST). Find out the latest on the National Energy Guarantee and small-scale solar.