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Investor-State Dispute Settlements are legal, huge and often hush-hush – and fossil fuel firms and others are using them to hold the planet to ransom

• How a US mining firm sued Mexico for billions – for trying to protect its own seabed

What do you get if you cross the planet’s richest 1%, a global legal system adapted to their investment whims, and the chance to squeeze billions from governments? The answer is “Investor-State Dispute Settlements”, or ISDS, alternatively dubbed “litigation terrorism” by Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel prize-winning economist. ISDS is a corporate tribunal system, where a panel of unelected lawyers decides whether a company is owed compensation if the actions of national governments leave its assets “stranded”.

In hearings, which are often held behind closed doors, ISDS documents, claims, awards, settlements – even the content of cases – need not be made public, regardless of any public-interest considerations.

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Injecting sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere could significantly curb sea level rise induced by global warming, according to researchers behind a new geoengineering study - who also question the reliability of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The consultation and planning around the energy rollout has been lacking – so let’s knock the edges off and get investment that works for our communities

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I recently discovered the chest freezer in our shearer’s huts had blown up in a lightning strike. The power had been out for two weeks. It felt like a CSI plot: I’m the woman with the torch, pushing the creaky shed door open to find a cloud of blow flies hovering around a bad smell.

The little bastards had found a tiny breach in the freezer seal. I did my best rendition of Brad Pitt in Se7en – What’s in the box? When I opened the lid, even the maggots had gone to fly heaven. The vestiges of splendid homegrown lamb were a grey mush at the bottom of the freezer.

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EU carbon prices extended their losses for a fourth consecutive session on Monday, dropping to yet another 23-month low and breaching a key technical level as selling pressure sliced through buying interest before finding some support.

Optimism for the role of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in the EU’s future energy system abounds, but, with the nuclear technology still far from ready for the market, some warn that it may prove to be a "dangerous distraction".

A carbon project developer has teamed up with a Brazilian fertiliser company to scale enhanced rock weathering (ERW) removals, the firms said Monday.

An Australian startup on Monday said it is able to make near-zero emissions steel from lower grade iron ore.

The huge leaks of the potent greenhouse gas will doom climate targets, experts say, but stemming them would rapidly reduce global heating

• ‘It’s impossible to breathe’ – life by Delhi’s towering landfills

There have been more than 1,000 huge leaks of the potent greenhouse gas methane from landfill waste dumps since 2019, the Guardian can reveal.

Analysis of global satellite data from around the world shows the populous nations of south Asia are a hotspot for these super-emitter events, as well as Argentina and Spain, developed countries where proper waste management should prevent leaks.

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The US Department of Interior has announced a $157-million spending package on ecosystem restoration projects in a bid to support nationwide efforts to drive funding towards degraded lands and waters and advance climate resilience.

One of the world's largest shipping container companies has become the first in the industry to have its emissions reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for a 1.5C-aligned pathway.

Indonesia goes to the polls Wednesday to decide its new president after two-term President Joko Widodo steps down, with former Suharto ally Prabowo Subianto the front runner.

Nearly half of the species listed under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) are showing population declines while more than one in five are threatened with extinction, a landmark UN report revealed Monday.

A UK-based blockchain marketplace for carbon removals trading has launched an investment accelerator for new projects, it said Monday.

Human activity is leaving some migratory species like green turtles facing extinction, a UN report says.

Migrating animals are at risk from pollution, the spread of invasive species and the climate crisis, first report of its kind reveals

More than a fifth of migratory species under international protection are threatened with extinction, including nearly all nomadic fish, according to the first UN expert assessment.

From humpback whales to Dalmatian pelicans, each year, billions of animals journey with the seasons over oceans, on land and in the skies. But a new report by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has found that many migratory species are at risk of disappearing, threatened by human pollution, the spread of invasive species and the climate crisis.

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Owners of a giant four-hour battery project on the outskirts of Melbourne say they have closed the "largest" non-recourse debt financing package for an Australian grid scale battery.

The post Giant four-hour battery lands “biggest”debt financing for an Australia big battery appeared first on RenewEconomy.

One of the world’s biggest infrastructure consulting firms has released a statement backing the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and committing to helping clients achieving nature positive outcomes.

Australian oil and gas producer Woodside has been taken to task over its net zero aspirations, with an environmental group describing them as nothing more than greenwashing.

Australia’s First Peoples have a strong and continuing connection to the land. Their determination to maintain this connection provides important opportunities for conservation. Our new research explored… Amanda Lilleyman, Adjunct associate, Charles Darwin University Jack Pascoe, Research fellow, The University of Melbourne Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

It’s hard work saving birds from extinction, but we have the evidence of successful interventions to show we can avoid further losses. John Woinarski, Professor of Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University Sarah Legge, Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Australian National University Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.