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Kenya’s President has called for African countries to join a new partnership that aims to boost renewable energy development across the continent by mobilising finance, providing technical assistance and capacity building, and engaging the private sector.

A study from the University of Leeds found that forests in South America, including the Amazon rainforest, stopped storing carbon and began releasing it during the 2015-16 El Nino event, the findings published in scientific magazine Nature showed on Monday.

Their five jaws are arranged in a shape Aristotle described as a ‘lantern’ but should have called a ‘horrible beak’

Sea urchins are as sinister as they appear. Ten years ago, in California’s vast, wavy kelp, sea urchins started to eat and breed, and eat and breed, and over seven years destroyed most of the underwater forests. Then they settled on the floor of their wasteland, forming spiny purple carpets, clicking urchin barrens along 150km of coastline. A major marine heatwave had damaged the kelp and a “sea star wasting syndrome” killed the urchins’ main predator, sunflower sea stars.

Could they be eaten by us or by otters? They could not. They had entered a zombie state and contained very little uni, the rich meat inside the urchin’s shell. And they are prepared to stay that way: dormant, alone – until they spot any kelp sprout that dares to breed out of the dead land and eat it before another urchin can. They are method actors performing The Waste Land, and we are students in an English lesson late on a hot afternoon, trying not to fall asleep as we listen to the poet’s voice on the scratchy recording, a recording that sounds like it was made in a room full of urchins, faintly clicking their spines:

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water.

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The UK should link its ETS with that of the EU and implement an equivalent EU-style carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in order to prevent any negative impacts on Northern Ireland trade as the EU CBAM enters into force on Oct. 1 and companies look to circumvent the impact of paying higher customs tariffs on carbon-intensive goods, according to a study published on Monday.

National response urgently needed to prevent further extinction of native flora and fauna, advocates say

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Advocates are calling for an urgent and coordinated national response to the threat of invasive species after the co-authors of a major international report identified it as the leading driver of biodiversity loss in Australia.

The report, from the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), was produced by 86 experts from 49 countries and details the impacts of invasive flora and fauna on ecosystems globally.

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A Seoul-based forest-focused intergovernmental organisation will receive funds of nearly $100 million from a Dutch cooperative bank to promote carbon offset initiatives in Asia. 

Hundreds of millions of dollars were pledged to support Africa’s voluntary carbon market on Monday, the first day of the inaugural African Climate Summit in Nairobi that hopes to kick start a flood of climate change investment into the continent.

Oil-producing African nations argue they should be able to use fossil fuel resources for economic growth

African leaders and campaigners are at odds over the way forward for the continent as a critical climate summit begins in Nairobi.

Some countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa, have been expanding their renewable energy access and leading transition efforts on the continent, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

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A Nairobi-based blockchain carbon credit platform has launched with a futures transaction of more than two million credits sourced from one of its founding partners.

The invasive insect threatens to get a foothold, with nests found in East Sussex, Kent, Devon and Dorset.

Alien invaders are penetrating the borders of every country in the world. Now the full extent of the problems and potential solutions have been exposed, in a new United Nations report. Andy Sheppard, Research Director CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, CSIRO Melodie McGeoch, Professor, La Trobe University Philip Hulme, Distinguished Professor in Pest Management and Conservation, Lincoln University, New Zealand Phill Cassey, Australian Research Council Industry Laureate Fellow, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A global panel of scientists and experts on Monday sounded a planet-wide alarm over the staggering economic and environmental cost of invasive species in a report that has been approved by 143 governments.

At least 3,500 harmful invasive species recorded in every region on Earth spread by human activity, says UN report

Invasive species are costing the world at least $423bn every year and have become a leading threat to the diversity of life on Earth, according to a UN assessment.

From invasive mice that eat seabird chicks in their nests to non-native grasses that helped fuel and intensify last month’s deadly fires in Hawaii, at least 3,500 harmful invasive species have been recorded globally in every region, spread by human travel and trade. Their impact is destructive for humans and wildlife, sometimes causing extinctions and permanently damaging the healthy functioning of an ecosystem.

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Open letter backs student-led campaign for vegan catering to fight climate crisis

More than 650 academics have called on British universities to commit to 100% plant-based catering to fight the climate crisis, saying that the institutions have “for centuries, been shining lights of intellectual, moral, and scientific progress”.

The open letter, organised by the student-led Plant-Based Universities campaign, likened the move to meat-free food to the fossil fuel divestment to which 101 UK universities have already committed.

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Sharp rise in sightings of the invasive species this year prompts fears for native bees on which they prey

It is likely the Asian hornet has become established in the UK, conservationists fear, as a record number of nests have been found.

There has been a sharp rise in sightings of the invasive species in the UK this year; the previous two years only had two sightings each, whereas there have been 22 confirmed so far in 2023. In total there have been 45 sightings since 2016.

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European carbon prices fell to their lowest in three weeks after finally breaching a key technical support as traders began to react to the resumption of larger auction volumes, while energy prices were weaker amid healthy gas stocks.

Reports of abusive behaviour towards Japanese citizens in China in response to wastewater release at nuclear site

Fake news and state-backed disinformation are fuelling Chinese anger at Japan over its release of treated wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.

In the last week, there have been reports of rocks and eggs thrown at Japanese schools in two Chinese cities, abusive phone calls to Japanese businesses and social media campaigns to boycott Japanese products including cosmetics. It has prompted Japan’s government to summon the Chinese ambassador and urge caution among its China-based citizens.

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Climate change could undermine sustainable forest management efforts in Quebec's boreal forests, but promising strategies could mitigate the impacts of natural disturbances and help bolster resilience.

It is hoped the Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover will reawaken when the next lunar day starts.

Hollow bricks are ‘easy win’ to help several endangered species, say experts and Zac Goldsmith who is tabling amendment

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An amendment to make swift bricks mandatory in new housing will be debated in the House of Lords this week in what campaigners call a “golden opportunity” for the government to halt wildlife decline.

The change to the controversial levelling up bill is being tabled by the Conservative peer Zac Goldsmith, who resigned from government over Rishi Sunak’s “apathy” towards environmental issues.

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