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A committee brought together by the French government gathered this week to lay the groundwork for expanding the national biodiversity credit market, with five organisations ready to generate units over the next couple of years.

Ambitious UK project aims to forecast climate catastrophes using fleets of drones, cosmic ray detection, patterns of plankton blooms and more

An ambitious attempt to develop an early warning system for climate tipping points will combine fleets of drones, cosmic ray detection and the patterns of plankton blooms with artificial intelligence and the most detailed computer models to date.

The UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), which backs high-risk, high-reward projects, has awarded £81m to 27 teams. The quest is to find signals that forewarn of the greatest climate catastrophes the climate crisis could trigger. Tipping points occur when global temperature is pushed beyond a threshold, leading to unstoppable changes in the climate system.

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Some 200 million credits currently available in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) are likely to be eligible for CORSIA Phase 1 (2024-26), according to analysis published on Tuesday by a ratings agency.

A voluntary carbon integrity initiative has opened a call for proposals to help it evaluate its support programme for host countries that are looking to scale international market engagement.

A carbon removal standard has unveiled a series of updates to its registry and certification platform, including new durability labels on issuances.

European carbon prices continued their downtrend on Tuesday, breaching several key technical support levels, as the weight of the ongoing TTF gas market sell-off kept pressure on EUAs, with speculators said to locking in profits amid a meeting between the US and Russia to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine.

Marine biodiversity credits are attracting a lot of interest from market actors, though transaction values are growing slowly, a Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) executive has said.

No country has so far released a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) that meets all the requirements for conserving and restoring 30% of lands and waters by 2030 as required under UN targets, a study has shown.

Early monitoring, reporting, and verification findings for a marine carbon removal project suggest "minimal" environmental impact from the removal process, although further large-scale testing is needed, according to the California-based developer.

A carbon standards-setter has approved three new digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) pilot projects aimed at enhancing transparency, efficiency, and access to climate finance in its projects, it announced on Tuesday.

A UK waste management company will launch a carbon capture pilot at an energy recovery plant in preparation for the full-scale deployment of new carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at another facility, which will be the first of its kind in the country.

A French oil and gas major has teamed up with a gas technology firm to decarbonise its refineries with green hydrogen, in a bid to reduce its CO2 emissions by 450,000 tonnes annually, the companies announced on Tuesday.

The EU’s industrial policy choices must reflect evolving geopolitical dynamics and could be used as a platform to develop relations with like-minded nations when it comes to trade in clean technologies and transition minerals, a think tank has said.

A carbon market veteran on Tuesday launched a new mobile app that will allow retail investors to participate in what has historically been a corporate-dominated market.

Japan has approved three sets of policies that will shape the trajectory of the country's emissions trends and energy development through 2040, including finalising its next Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.

European imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) decreased by 19% in 2024 as gas demand reached an 11-year low, according to fresh data published on Tuesday, suggesting the EU’s gas demand reduction measures adopted in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war are working.

The European Commission on Tuesday put forward a draft decision allowing Finland to unilaterally expand the scope of its Emissions Trading Scheme for road transport and heating fuels (ETS2) to new sectors.

The EU and its member states are still lagging behind in establishing the policies and funding mechanisms needed to scale up carbon removals in line with reaching net zero emissions by 2050, according to new research.

The chemical compounds that block UV rays may lead to bleaching of coral and a decrease in fish fertility

Urgent investigation is needed into the potential impact sunscreen is having on marine environments, according to a new report.

Sunscreens contain chemical compounds, known as pseudo persistent pollutants, which block the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays and can lead to bleaching and deformity in coral or a decrease in fish fertility.

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It could be wildfires, a pandemic or a financial crisis. The super-rich will flee to their bunkers – the rest of us will have to fend for ourselves

Though we might find it hard to imagine, we cannot now rule it out: the possibility of systemic collapse in the United States. The degradation of federal government by Donald Trump and Elon Musk could trigger a series of converging and compounding crises, leading to social, financial and industrial failure.

There are several possible mechanisms. Let’s start with an obvious one: their assault on financial regulation. Trump’s appointee to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russell Vought, has suspended all the agency’s activity, slashed its budget and could be pursuing Musk’s ambition to “delete” the bureau. The CFPB was established by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis, to protect people from the predatory activity that helped trigger the crash. The signal to the financial sector could not be clearer: “Fill your boots, boys.” A financial crisis in the US would immediately become a global crisis.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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