Feed aggregator

The next climate finance commitment needs to address structural problems with the global borrowing framework in order to reduce the cost of capital for developing nations looking to attract investment for clean energy and climate adaptation projects, experts said Friday.

The European Parliament is sending a delegation of 15 lawmakers to the COP29 UN climate summit in Azerbaijan, with the intention to act as a "watchdog" in the negotiations involving EU member states and the European Commission, MEPs said.

The new president’s disruptive policies will challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s green goals. But with strong leadership he could enhance Britain’s global influence

Donald Trump’s electoral earthquake in America will complicate Sir Keir Starmer’s plans. Nowhere will the shock of Mr Trump’s win be more intensely felt than in environmental policy. His stance on climate – advocating a US exit from the Paris climate agreement and rallying behind “drill baby drill” – is more disruptive than constructive. This should concentrate Sir Keir’s mind as he heads to Cop29, the UN’s annual climate summit, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

At last year’s conference, world leaders agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels in a just and orderly manner for the first time. Mr Trump, however, dismisses the climate crisis as a hoax. With this year likely to be the hottest on record, the devastating effects of global heating are undeniable, as extreme weather batters the planet. Mr Trump may ignore the facts, but the trail of climate-related chaos and destruction speaks for itself.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

Most recent fatality marks 17th beluga to die at Niagara Falls, Ontario, aquarium since 2019

A fifth beluga has died at Canada’s Marineland, as questions mount over the future of both the controversial theme park and one of the world’s largest populations of captive whales.

The most recent fatality marks the 17th beluga to die at the Niagara Falls aquarium since 2019.

Continue reading...

Soaring coal capacity in Indonesia is threatening the country’s efforts to drive down emissions, a report published on Friday has found.

India’s current climate policies are already helping bend its long-term emissions curve and will contribute to the world’s third-biggest emitter reducing its GHG output by almost 4 billion tonnes of CO2e by the end of this decade, research published this week has found.

A Canadian materials producer this month announced nearly $23.8 million in investments to test a novel carbon capture technology at one of its paper mills.

Investment in cutting emissions from the US land sector, specifically targeting both forestry and agriculture, could see significant annual results based on a carbon price range of $30-60/tonne, a new study has estimated, while calling for a balanced focus and warning of diminishing returns.

For a building’s environmental footprint to be properly factored into its value, the industry needs to galvanise around a single data point, with carbon use intensity a likely forerunner, according to industry experts.

Corporate nature-related reporting significantly increased this year among large companies, with disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) more than doubled compared to 2023, a new report has shown.

Continue reading...

India’s largest offset developer has registered a renewable energy project in Azerbaijan, making it the first ever large-scale renewable energy project eligible for generating carbon credits in the COP29 host nation.

Elnur Soltanov recorded speaking with fake oil and gas group that asked for deals in exchange for sponsoring talks

The chief executive of Cop29 has been filmed apparently agreeing to facilitate fossil fuel deals at the climate summit.

The recording has amplified calls by campaigners who want the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyists to be banned from future Cop talks.

Continue reading...

Carbon project rating agency BeZero Carbon made over $20 million in losses in the last financial year, according to publicly available documents, due to the creation of 50 jobs and subsidiaries in the US and Singapore, the company said.

A San Francisco-based marine drone startup has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding to develop its technology aimed at advancing seagrass restoration.

Ukraine has adopted legislation establishing a national emission trading system (ETS) this week, which will start in 2026 with a two-year pilot phase and will become fully operational in 2029.

European carbon prices extended their late Thursday rally to climb above key technical levels amid continued buying in power and gas markets as weather forecasts called for lower temperatures in much of Europe.

UK-headquartered conservation company Environment Bank has announced a 30-year restoration and rewilding project within over 178,000 hectares of low-yielding land in North Yorkshire, England.

It could have been better designed, but Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tweak will help farmers with mud on their boots

Should multimillionaire landowners benefit from a tax break designed to help small family farms pass down their land to their children? This is a hotly contested question, given last week’s budget. Labour has reintroduced 20% inheritance tax for farms that are valued at more than £1m, meaning the children of farmers will no longer inherit land tax-free. Granted, 20% is still only half of the standard inheritance tax rate, and it probably sounds more than generous to an ex-miner, foundry worker or shipbuilder. But today, £1m would only buy you about 40 hectares (100 acres) of farmland, which is far short of a viable farm.

Farming is a long-term business that requires substantial assets and often makes only meagre returns. Farming families have not had to consider tax planning for family succession since 1992. As a second-generation farmer, I support much of the budget. But on the inheritance tax threshold, I thought, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had got it wrong. The positive reading of her decision is that she was trying to close a loophole whereby wealthy people buy up farmland and pass it, tax-free, to their children. If that was the main objective, though, the threshold should have been set substantially higher than £1m.

Guy Singh-Watson is the founder of the organic veg box company Riverford and a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK. He grows organic vegetables on 60 hectares (150 acres) in Devon and 120 hectares (300 acres) in the French Vendée. He sold Riverford in 2018 to its 1,000 employees, and the company is now 100% employee-owned

Continue reading...

Prices in China’s national emissions market hit a fresh all-time high again the past week while trading volume surged, buoyed by growing compliance demand, though a newly introduced carryover policy may complicate the price growth outlook.