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In an era when clubs have become the playthings of billionaires, fans are left pondering the question: how do you prefer your sportswashing?

When Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani withdrew from the race to buy Manchester United last month, you could almost hear the sighs of relief emanating from the press department on Sir Matt Busby Way.

A Qatari takeover, despite the appeal and simplicity of Sheikh Jassim’s all-cash offer, would be sure to face fierce criticism – not only on the basis of Qatar’s enduringly appalling human rights record, but as further proof of oil money’s deepening incursion into global soccer’s most sacred places. With this ethical conundrum out of the way, the path is now clear for a much easier publicity sell: Manchester United looks set to fall into the care of a footballing humanitarian who presents the unique advantage of being both obscenely rich and unimpeachably English. Finally, the self-styled biggest club on the planet will be yanked away from the pesky Americans, snatched from the slick hands of the Gulf, and come to nestle at the top of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s corporate crown – pending a final buyout of the Glazers remaining 75% stake. A victory, at last, for clean money, good money, English money.

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Dr Gail Bradbrook found guilty of criminal damage to Department for Transport building in 2019

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The co-founder of Extinction Rebellion has been found guilty of criminal damage for breaking the window of a government department in a protest against the environmental impact of HS2.

Dr Gail Bradbrook was convicted on Wednesday by a jury after 45 minutes, after a two-day trial at Isleworth crown court.

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Failure to identify commercial risks could constitute a breach of duty of care and diligence, according to new legal opinion

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Company directors who fail to foresee the impacts their companies have on nature, and the commercial risks those effects pose, can be held personally liable and fined, according to lawyers.

A new legal opinion advises that company directors need to identify anywhere their business is dependent on or has an impact on nature and consider the potential risks this poses to the company.

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Mid-air fights, jabbering gang-gangs and villainous magpies are some of the 68 finalists from more than 6,000 entries in this year’s competition, with the winner to be announced in November. All proceeds go towards bird conservation across the country

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European carbon prices briefly rallied on Wednesday after data released by ICE and EEX showed investment funds continued to amass short positions last week, triggering a burst of buying that pushed EUAs to a key technical and psychological level.

Danish company’s CEO cites escalating costs in global offshore wind industry as shares fall

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Denmark’s Ørsted has cancelled two big offshore windfarm projects in the US at a cost of more than £3bn amid surging costs facing the global wind industry.

Shares in the world’s biggest wind power company fell 20% on Wednesday after it told investors it had no choice but to take a 28.4bn Danish kroner (£3.3bn) impairment charge and stop the developments off the New Jersey coast.

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A landmark Australian legal opinion released Thursday has found that company directors who fail to adequately consider, disclose, and manage nature-related risks could be held personally liable.

Attendance in UAE confirmed a year after Truss government advised Charles not to attend Egypt event

King Charles is to attend the opening ceremony of the Cop28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates, one year after he was advised by Liz Truss’s government not to attend the Cop27 summit in Egypt.

Charles will deliver the opening address at the world climate action summit, a gathering of global leaders at the start of Cop28, in his first major speech on the climate crisis since becoming monarch.

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A group of not-for-profits on Wednesday launched a free platform that gives financials access to comparable data on deforestation in the portfolios of more than 2,000 major companies worldwide.

Sustainable finance researchers have estimated huge financial returns for businesses across Europe if they align with the upcoming Nature Restoration Law and called for them to take action to capitalise on opportunities.

Removing leaves will mean they can be replanted or shredded for animal feed and could reduce emissions

The pineapple has been dethroned: Sainsbury’s has announced it will start selling a crownless version of the tropical fruit from Wednesday.

The spiky, green leaves that grow from the top of the plant are a unique feature of the exotic fruit. But, says the supermarket, they are typically thrown away by customers, contributing to up to 700 tonnes of food waste a year.

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Ørsted has become the first offshore wind company to begin trialling giant autonomous drones to transport cargo to giant wind turbines.

The post Giant autonomous drones now lifting cargo to offshore wind turbines appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Indonesia has left the retirement of its captive coal-fired power stations off its energy transition plans and said Wednesday it would need more time to develop a strategy to shut them down and replace them with clean sources under its $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

Kevin Jordan, whose home is 5 metres from the cliff edge in Norfolk, says government’s shortcomings breach his human rights

When Kevin Jordan bought his seaside home in Hemsby, Norfolk, he was told it would be safe for a century. In the decade since, 17 of his neighbours’ homes have had to be demolished, or have been swept away into the waters of the North Sea. His is now just 5 metres from the fast-crumbling cliff, isolated and unreachable by car after part of the road collapsed into the North Sea.

The people of Hemsby would seem to be natural beneficiaries of official policies to adapt to the climate crisis. Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the government is required to produce a national adaptation programme every five years, setting out plans protect communities in the UK from the extreme heat, flooding and coastal erosion expected as the climate breaks down.

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The Shanghai government sold 1 million carbon allowances under its emissions trading scheme at this week's auction, with the auction clearing a shade above current secondary market levels but well above the sale's price floor amid robust demand.

The EU has confirmed that two North African ports will be excluded from calculating emissions obligations for ships under the bloc’s ETS, part of detailed rules adopted this week for including maritime in the bloc’s carbon market from next year.

Pakistan along with international partners has launched the Supporting Preparedness for Article 6 Cooperation (SPAR6C) programme to help build the country’s carbon market and facilitate access to international carbon finance.

A major trading company in Japan has teamed up with a Singapore-based project developer to secure carbon credits from mangrove plantations in Indonesia, as part of a broader plan to expand its global carbon portfolio.

As another big climate conference looms and global ‘loss and damage’ takes hold, we must keep pressure on the biggest emitters

• Prof Saleemul Huq died on 28 October, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was 71. This is his final piece of writing

Prof Saleemul Huq OBE and I wrote and submitted this article before his untimely death on Saturday 28 October, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Huq was a visionary and steadfast leader on climate justice, a champion of developing countries at climate negotiations, an advocate for the global poor, and a source of inspiration to thousands worldwide. He continually pushed for “loss and damage” measures, whereby the nations that emit the bulk of greenhouse gasses help address the needs of lower-emitting nations who nonetheless bear the brunt of the climate crisis. A loss and damage fund was finally achieved at Cop27, but it needs strong advocates to ensure it is followed and expanded.

His sudden death is a blow to the global south, and to all those who work towards climate justice. Here, we touch on our concerns for the upcoming Cop28 summit, and the future of the loss and damage project, and call for greater concerted efforts on climate accountability. Farhana Sultana

Farhana Sultana is a professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York

Saleemul Huq was the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University, Bangladesh

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A company linked to the royal family in Dubai has entered into a strategic partnership to promote a Brazilian startup that issues environmental tokens to landowners encompassing soil, water, biodiversity, and carbon.