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In thrall to the oil and gas industries, wealthy nations are backing calamitous projects. But the tide is turning

• Tessa Khan is executive director of the climate action organisation Uplift

It is a delusion to believe that the world’s climate is being pushed to the brink solely by undemocratic petrostates such as Russia and Saudi Arabia. The truth is that about half of all planned oil and gas developments between now and 2050 will be sanctioned by wealthy governments that position themselves as climate leaders: the US, Canada, Australia, Norway and the UK.

It is the countries that like to think of themselves as the good guys that are driving the climate crisis – and not just because of historical emissions and the high-carbon lifestyles of our middle class. It is because our governments refuse to take one of the most obvious actions needed to stop the crisis: keeping oil and gas in the ground. As we have heard time and again, governments are planning to sanction vastly more oil and gas than can be burned in a world with a safe climate.

Tessa Khan is a lawyer and the executive director of the climate action organisation Uplift

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European carbon prices extended their gains from Tuesday, continuing to erase the last four days of losses as traders pursued the technical rally and compensated for the lack of a daily auction, while the weekly Commitment of Traders data showed a sizeable increase in speculative short positions, underpinning the gains as participants looked to test bearish conviction.

Suggestions definition of petrostate is too narrow as many rich countries that could phase out fossil fuels double down

• Wealthy countries lead in new oil and gas expansion, threatening 12bn tonnes of emissions

“Drill, baby, drill!” Donald Trump’s ominous avowal to pump up the oil and gas production of the US has horrified many people around the world about the intentions of the Republican candidate, who has also declared he wants to be “dictator for a day”. Rather than the prospective leader of the free world, the election frontrunner sounds more like the tyrant of a petrostate.

That should not be entirely surprising given the country’s recent record: it has ramped up fossil fuel production to become the world’s biggest producer. As a Guardian investigation reveals, the total number of projected licences by the US for 2024 could lead to an estimated 397m tonnes of planet-heating emissions.

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Indonesia plans a two-stage carbon tax even as its domestic carbon credit market remains illiquid and sparsely traded, a webinar heard this week according to local media.

Farmers want to force renewable energy developers to maintain the agricultural productivity of farming land, and to pay more for hosting.

The post Farmers demand more control, higher payments for wind and solar projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks failed to break a deadlock on reform aimed at strengthening rules on harmful fisheries subsidies, with the EU and the US blaming India for thwarting the deal.

Exclusive: UK campaigners say it is ‘unacceptable’ no nature assessments were made on bee-killing Cruiser SB

The Conservative government did not carry out a legally required assessment of how green-lighting the use of a banned pesticide, described as a “death blow to wildlife”, would affect some of the most important nature sites, documents have revealed.

The previous government gave emergency approval this year for sugar beet farmers to use Cruiser SB for the fourth year in a row.

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The US and the UK among countries with low dependence on fossil fuels criticized for ‘hypocrisy’ on climate pledges

A surge in new oil and gas production in 2024 threatens to unleash nearly 12bn tonnes of planet-heating emissions, with the world’s wealthiest countries – such as the US and the UK – leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion in spite of their climate commitments, new data shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals.

The new oil and gas field licences forecast to be awarded across the world this year are on track to generate the highest level of emissions since those issued in 2018, as heatwaves, wildfires, drought and floods cause death and destruction globally, according to analysis of industry data by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

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Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability has called on corporates to participate in the auction this week of carbon credits generated from a domestic project in order to support climate financing in the Southeast Asian nation, a statement released by the ministry on Wednesday said.

An Australian soil carbon developer has finalised the date of its annual general meeting where it will ask shareholders to vote on removal of a director a day after it outlined a strategy to partner on soil carbon rather than go solo, and gave a firm date for the startup of its Philippines operations.

Jiangxi has become the latest Chinese province to launch a local offsetting programme, with plans to create millions of carbon credits by the end of the decade.

Reptile’s teeth found to have covering that helps keep serrated edges razor sharp and resistant to wear

With their huge size, venomous bite and the fantastical connotations of their name, Komodo dragons seem like the stuff of legend.

Now, that status has been elevated further: scientists have discovered that their teeth are coated with a layer of iron that helps keep their serrated edges razor sharp.

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Carbon credit certification for afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects could become more common in Europe through Open Forest Protocol, which reduces upfront cost and makes smaller land areas more economically viable for carbon projects, said a project developer.

Local authorities could expose developers to exploitation from landowners, with worse outcomes for nature and housing, if they force the purchase of nature offsets nearby rather than sourcing them from more distant areas under England’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) legislation, an expert has said.

Three Brazilian organisations have unveiled a concept note on a Tropical Forests Mechanism (TFM) designed to help fund efforts to protect and grow tropical forests globally.

India has updated the list of activities that will be eligible to generate carbon credits for export under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, while also finalising a list of activities for Art. 6.4.

There is power in a (nonhuman) union

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Video posted online shows people running away to escape the explosion at Biscuit Basin, which is now closed to visitors

A surprise hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone national park has sent sightseers running for safety, after steam and dark-coloured rock and dirt shot up high into the sky.

The eruption happened around 10am local time on Tuesday in Biscuit Basin, a collection of hot springs a couple miles north of the famous Old Faithful Geyser.

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One hundred Tesla Megapacks trucked in for installation at landmark battery project in north-west Victoria.

The post Edify trucks in 100 Tesla Megapacks for final leg of landmark battery project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In a kayak off the Devon coast I witnessed the kind of entitled mindlessness that has ravaged society, and our planet

On a calm and beautiful morning off the coast of south Devon last week, I was watching a small pod of dolphins from my kayak. I had spotted them from half a mile away, feeding and playing on the surface. They were heading my way, so I sat on the water and waited.

But from round the headland, at top speed, came a giant twin-engined maritime wankpanzer. Though the dolphins were highly visible and it had plenty of time either to stop or avoid them, it ploughed towards them at full throttle. As it passed, missing them by a few metres, the driver turned and glanced at them, but never checked his speed. The dolphins dived. They briefly reappeared much farther from the coast, after which I didn’t see them again. I could hear the boat long after it disappeared: it sounded like a jetliner. God knows what distress it might have caused the dolphins, which are highly sensitive to sound.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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