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

Investment in climate tech is down 40% on the year as economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions dent investor confidence, according to research published Tuesday, though the report found that this is more a reflection of overall market conditions than a move away from climate tech.

Environment ministers from the 27 EU member states on Monday agreed on a negotiating mandate for the year-end COP28 UN climate talks with an updated nationally determined contribution (NDC), while settling on a collective position on a directive to revise up CO2 targets for heavy-duty vehicles. 

As EU ministers try to reach a united position on the bloc's divisive electricity market design reforms this week, provisions for the bloc's heavy industry are increasingly featuring in the talks alongside efforts to shield citizens from higher costs and make prices less dependent on fossil fuels. 

RGGI Allowances (RGAs) held steady once again over the week amid a continued dearth of volatility, with market participants reporting uncertainty from numerous directions, though they expressed a split over whether a pre-Q4 auction lull was hindering further gains.

The Brazilian Amazon is seeing greater numbers of wildfires this year despite lower deforestation rates, threatening progress to conserve the biome, researchers said in a letter published Monday.

Holding global temperature increases to below 1.5C would save hundreds of trillions of dollars in benefits, while nearly 1 quadrillion in climate damages would result if Paris Agreement targets are not met, according to analysis published Monday.

Record-setting wildfires in Canada this year have released significant volumes of CO2 into the atmosphere, but experts gave Carbon Pulse different opinions as to whether the country should alter its existing emissions reporting practices to account for this.

Australian is experimenting with marine cloud brightening to cool and shade the Great Barrier Reef. Here’s how it works. Daniel Patrick Harrison, Senior Lecturer, Southern Cross University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The rapid changes in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica highlight the urgency of better direct observations and measurements, beyond satellite monitoring and modelling. Craig Stevens, Professor in Ocean Physics, University of Auckland Natalie Robinson, Marine Physicist, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Exclusive: Plan to outlaw all but the most vital of harmful chemicals is not included in leaked policy proposals

The EU has abandoned a promise to ban all but the most vital of toxic chemicals used in everyday consumer products, leaked documents show.

Other legislation to be dropped includes a ban on the export of outlawed chemicals from Europe to the rest of the world, a ban on caged farming and a sustainable food systems framework that the European Commission once described as “a flagship” of its farm to fork strategy.

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The prices of most standardised voluntary carbon credit contracts fell over the past week, with several slumping to lows last seen in June, as the market continues to wait for integrity initiatives to complete ongoing work, while exchange-based spot activity picked up as market sources cited seasonal corporate buying as part of 2023 emissions buying programmes.

A German biotechnology company has announced plans to help smallholder farmers shift to a regenerative rice cultivation method in India and the Philippines, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A leading offshore wind developer has launched a competition calling for innovations in the realm of floating offshore wind that support biodiversity enhancement and help ensure that wind farms co-exist peacefully alongside other sea users.

We wake up and look outside, practising cloud divination

Clouds have so much to do with how the day feels, with what the day seems like. Clouds, more than any other weather that touches your skin – the snow, the cold, the rain, the sun, the wind – talk to your insides. As though somewhere in your chest (or is it your head?) vapour is forming, changing shape, dissipating and forming again. It’s why people need water: to feed their interior cumulus.

A cloud below the clear blue of your head, and above your gloomy heart. Thunder and lightning in your mind, and the rest of you soaked through. Something wispy and white happening in your stomach – delight, nervousness.

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Minister Tanya Plibersek should strengthen ‘trigger’ protection to ensure projects are assessed for impact on water resources

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The Greens say the Albanese government has indicated it could be a year before promised environment laws are passed, a delay that potentially pushes the revamp close to the next federal election.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said last year she planned to introduce legislation in 2023 to reform the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act after major reviews found the law was failing and Australian nature was in poor and deteriorating health.

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CEFC announces first investment in the $19 billion Rewiring the Nation program, a $100 million loan to provide finance for renewable infrastructure projects in NSW.

The post CEFC makes first Rewiring the Nation investment with loan for NSW push beyond coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

European carbon prices slumped on Monday morning, tracking a weaker energy complex where traders unwound some of last week's substantial gains amid forecasts for slightly milder temperatures and some profit-taking.

Trillions of dollars in economic value are at risk in water-dependent sectors, according to environmental not-for-profit WWF, which has shined a spotlight on freshwater resource challenges in a new report.

The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) will publish additional guidance on Nov. 28 to supplement its 'Claims Code of Practice', a set of recommendations to help corporates with their use of voluntary carbon credits, following stakeholder engagement and further research since the initial release of its initial guidelines in June.