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Items containing ‘forever chemicals’ linked to cancer risk, lower fertility and developmental delays

A new law coming into effect in Colorado in July is banning everyday products that intentionally contain toxic “forever chemicals”, including clothes, cookware, menstruation products, dental floss and ski wax – unless they can be made safer.

Under the legislation, which takes effect on 1 July, many products using per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances – or PFAS chemicals linked to cancer risk, lower fertility and developmental delays – will be prohibited starting in 2026.

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Carbon credits to compensate for loss of revenue in the early closure of coal plants will be an integral part of achieving coal phaseouts in developing countries, said stakeholders during a high-level dialogue on phasing out coal hosted in London.

Disruptive demonstrations are decried by the press, but given acres of coverage. This is the new conundrum of public protest: the only way to be talked about is if you’re demonised

When Just Stop Oil covered Stonehenge with orange cornflour last week, Keir Starmer was called upon to decry the act, which he dutifully did, even though anyone with even a very slight knowledge of geology will know that the marks won’t last. But that wasn’t what the Labour leader was being asked. Rather, the question was whose side was he on, between “respectable” people and disruptive ones?

A respectable person, who cares about the environment – and this, in theory, is all respectable people, because to not care about the survival of everything you love would make you unhinged – shouldn’t throw things in protest, they should peacefully march. Happily, they did: 100,000 of them at the weekend, fighting for nature. It made some news reports; it didn’t make the bulletins. No radio host gave over their phone-in to the question of whether or not this sort of thing should be allowed. This is the new conundrum of public protest; the only way to be talked about is if you’re demonised. Grab yourself a “hate march” moniker because one person got arrested, and you’ll get all the coverage of your wildest dreams, but it will be unjust, because that one person was actually a counter-protester, and there are more arrests at your average football match.

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EU plans to boost semiconductor manufacturing could see the sector rival those of chemicals and steel as a source of emissions, according to a study published on Monday.

The summer drought extended for another week in the voluntary carbon market, leaving one major exchange and several participants describing activity levels as torporific, although there was a bounce in Phase 1 CORSIA price assessments and continued interest in the carbon removals (CDR) sector.

Gas grids in Europe should be progressively shut down to avoid costs for consumers spiralling out of control, according to a study published on Monday.

New policy drivers are needed if the world is to develop the required carbon removal (CDR) capacity to abate residual emissions by mid-century, especially the integration of credits within compliance carbon markets and leakage mechanisms, according to a new report.

The opposition claims Australia is an outlier in the developed world in not having nuclear, yet Germany and Italy have closed their plants

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So much has been said by the Coalition about what nuclear energy could do for Australia, with so little evidence to back it up, that it can be hard to keep up with the claims.

The key assertion by Peter Dutton and Ted O’Brien is that nuclear would lead to a “cheaper, cleaner and consistent” electricity supply. None of this has been supported.

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The European Commission has disbursed €2.967 billion from emissions trading revenues to support 39 clean energy projects in less-developed EU member states, in what is the largest disbursement of this kind to date, the EU executive announced on Monday.

Reef escapes being classed ‘in danger’ for now but the government must submit a progress report to World Heritage committee by February 2025

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Unesco has urged Australia to set more ambitious climate targets for the Great Barrier Reef in a list of recommendations to preserve its status as a world heritage site.

The report, published in Paris late on Monday, did not recommend the reef be placed on a list of sites “in danger” – a threat that has hung over the reef for years – when the 21-country world heritage committee meets next month.

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An international sustainability standard-setter has unveiled a new two-year plan to help bring together the various corporate climate disclosure requirements, also formalising several partnerships with other organisations in the field.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have launched the 'Enhanced Cooperation Framework for Climate Action' with Madagascar as the first beneficiary.

The EU should press ahead with plans to extend its ETS to the incineration of municipal waste, while ensuring that rubbish isn't diverted to landfills to avoid the carbon price, an NGO recommended on Monday based on new analysis.

The next UK government could protect thousands of jobs at the Port Talbot steelworks and expand British steelmaking by investing in low-carbon technology over the next five years, according to a climate think-tank.

The EU’s anti-deforestation regulation is a “bureaucratic monster” that must be revised, alongside the 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, says Peter Liese, a German lawmaker who is environment spokesperson for the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) that won the EU elections this month.

European carbon prices fell to their lowest in more than seven weeks on Monday morning as natural gas prices declined for a third day and the outlook for demand worsened amid rising temperatures in northern Europe and a persistently negative clean dark spread.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) should improve its biodiversity standard, as recent changes to its environmental policy are not sufficient to ensure the bank does not finance nature-damaging projects, a campaign group has said.

A global coalition consisting of some of the world’s biggest corporations, cities, and regions was launched Monday to push governments worldwide align their national climate goals with the Paris Agreement.

China's steel industry should explore more financing options for its decarbonisation plans, especially potential ones linked with emerging power and carbon markets in the country, a report has said. 

A Swedish startup has raised $5.5 million to help verify nature-based carbon removal credits, it announced Monday, using the funding to launch tokens based on blockchain technology.