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German energy firm shaves €3bn from spending plans for next financial year to €7bn

A German energy firm has said that Donald Trump’s election victory has increased the risks of investing in offshore wind projects – but his return to the White House could help bolster Britain’s renewables sector, according to UK developer SSE.

Germany’s RWE has cut its spending plans and warned that, as a result of the US election, “the risks for offshore wind projects have increased”.

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Six draft methodologies proposed by the European Commission in October under the EU's Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation need “considerable improvement” to comply with best practices in carbon crediting, according to a German think tank.

Negotiations over the new global climate finance goal remain wide open after the first COP29 draft dropped on Wednesday, described by observers as a "sprawling" and messy text, despite a subtle sign from China that it may be open to contributing.

Turkiye’s ETS will see installations required to report their emissions in 2025, and purchase allowances in 2026, the country’s deputy director of climate change told Carbon Pulse at COP29, where the country also presented its long-term strategy for how it plans to hit carbon neutrality by 2053.

Sydney was worst-ranked Australian city at 150th, receiving a poorer score than London

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Three Australian cities are among the top 10 global cities with the lowest levels of air pollution, according to analysis of nearly 400 cities worldwide.

Hobart (third), Darwin (fourth) and Canberra (10th) topped the list, based on air pollution data analysed by Auto Trader, an online vehicle trading site.

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A developer of clean cooking and clean water projects in Rwanda and Ghana expects to achieve its first letter of authorisation over the next few months to begin trading carbon credits under Article 6.2, and is in advanced talks with multiple international governments, its CEO told Carbon Pulse.

Ghana has announced a step forward under its agreement with Singapore on carbon markets by operationalising the digital trading and settlement of ITMOs under Article 6.2, according to a Wednesday announcement.

European carbon prices dipped on Wednesday morning, even as the weekly positions data showed that investment funds cut their bearish bets to the smallest in more than a year, while natural gas prices struggled amid reports that additional supply may soon be finding its way to Europe.

South Pole has announced the appointment of a new chief risk officer, hailing from a global bank, who will join the company in the new year.

Verra and the government of Amazonas have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Wednesday on the sidelines of COP29 to collaborate on strengthening the Brazilian state's engagement with carbon markets.

From olive oil to butter, extreme weather is pushing up the cost of living and having a dramatic political impact. Economists need a solution

In the US, where Donald Trump swept the board last week, it was the experience of sharply increasing essentials prices, from food to energy, that glued together the Republicans’ new electoral coalition. About 75% of those voting Republican reported that they had faced “hardship” or “severe hardship” as a result of price rises; only 25% of Democrats said the same. When Trump asked if Americans felt better now than they did four years ago, the answer for most was a clear no.

Price surges are having political impacts. In elections this year in three of the world’s largest economies, incumbent parties were hammered by voters angry about their helplessness in the face of the steeply rising cost of essentials.

James Meadway is director of the Progressive Economy Forum

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A Germany-based nature tech company raised €1.6 million in pre-seed funding to scale its automated biodiversity monitoring platform, it announced on Wednesday.

South Korea’s latest monthly CO2 permit auction was again oversubscribed with an increase in the clearing price, while sentiment in the spot market continues to improve partly due to the relaxation of the carryover rules. 

The world’s leading companies are eyeing nearly $5 trillion in potential gains from climate action, more than doubling since 2018, according to analysis released Wednesday.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has registered the nation’s second blue carbon project, which restores and enhances blue carbon ecosystems at a site that is part of a vast network of crucial habitats for migratory birds across East Asia and the Pacific.

Over 40% of reef-building coral species are at risk of extinction worldwide, according to a new assessment released Wednesday during the ongoing COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan.

Edi Rama goes off-script, saying speeches ‘change nothing’ and calling for ‘common political will’

Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, has joined a chorus of leaders using their speeches to call for more money to reach their climate goals - and specifying that they need grants rather than loans that saddle them with more debt.

“Without climate justice, there can be no real resilience,” he said. “I wouldn’t want other countries to face the fight Pakistan faced in 2022.”

Pakistan was devastated by floods two years ago, shortly before Cop27. The disaster added a sense of urgency to that year’s negotiations that helped pressure rich countries to set up a fund to pay for the losses and damages borne by poor countries. (You can read more on that from my colleague Nina Lakhani here.)

“Two years, I warned at the top of my voice that the future would never forgive our inaction,” said Sharif. “Today, I echo the same warning with greater urgency and fullest energy at my command.”

25 countries have announced a commitment to swift and ambitious climate action.

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A survey of over 100 companies has underscored the willingness of investors in carbon markets to pay strong premiums for Article 6-aligned credits.

Japan is preparing to add an offset methodology for direct air capture (DAC) projects to its national voluntary J-Credit programme. 

The new NSW benefit sharing guidelines have thrown up a potential problem for renewable and storage projects: Did they just cap developer contributions to community funds?

The post Renewable energy developers raise questions about apparent cap on community funds in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.