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Emma Pinchbeck will take over as chief executive of Climate Change Committee next month

The government’s official climate watchdog has appointed the head of the energy industry’s trade association to lead its work helping to drive the UK’s emissions to net zero by 2050.

Emma Pinchbeck, the head of Energy UK, will take up the role of chief executive of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) from early next month after four years at the helm of the trade association.

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A UK-based mining company said Tuesday that it is developing new methodologies for blue carbon projects that aim to increase the carbon sink capacity of Chilean coastlines.

To function smoothly, carbon markets need increased transparency and more fungible assets, a Chilean official from the Ministry of Finance said at Chile Carbon Forum in Santiago on Tuesday.

Chile has nearly a dozen Article 6.2 projects in various stages of development, including an imminent issuance, and is working to develop an official taxonomy of priority project types, Carbon Pulse heard at the Chile Carbon Forum in Santiago on Tuesday.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced funding for anaerobic digesters, a biomass plant, and an ethanol production project as part of a large $104 million package of clean energy awards to spur economic development in rural areas.

All of human civilisation emerged during unusually benign climate conditions. As temperature records fall and climate damage intensifies, we are beginning to see what happens when we leave it behind. Thomas Newsome, Associate Professor in Global Ecology, University of Sydney William Ripple, Distinguished Professor and Director, Trophic Cascades Program, Oregon State University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The predicted range of future warming remains stubbornly wide. But trying to land on a precise number diverts effort and attention from the climate impacts we’re already seeing. Jonny Williams, Climate Scientist, University of Reading Georgia Rose Grant, Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Paleontology, GNS Science Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Most voluntary carbon market (VCM) investors are now only looking at projects expected to fit within regulated regimes, like CORSIA or Article 6, according to the head of a carbon project ratings agency.

The UK may use Article 6 credits for “above and beyond” mitigation, pending a decision on how to approach its next set of UN climate goals, with the country's lead Article 6 negotiator hopeful for a breakthrough in talks at the upcoming COP29 meeting, a conference heard Tuesday.

A US-based carbon credits standard has registered the first project under its biochar methodology, the company said in a press release.

Investors want detailed data and long-term investment strategies to navigate future carbon pricing scenarios, as they prepare to work in a context with fewer free allowances in compliance markets.

RGGI states will offer a similar volume of permits at their Q4 sale as the prior quarter, according to a Tuesday announcement, even as RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices in the secondary market have declined 27% since the September auction. 

The UK government is considering key reforms to the next renewables auction in 2025 including on reference price reform, longer contracts, and capacity targets, an official said on Tuesday.

Chile’s environment ministry aims to double the carbon tax liability ‘paid’ in carbon credits next year and businesses are on board, Carbon Pulse heard from an official at the Chile Carbon Summit in Santiago on Tuesday.

The war in Ukraine dominated the 27 EU finance ministers’ meeting on Tuesday, relegating discussions on the new global climate finance target (NCQG) to a secondary role, with only five weeks to go until the COP29 UN climate talks.

The English biodiversity net gain (BNG) small sites exemption should be expanded, as minor developers are disproportionately affected, a consultant told Carbon Pulse, contrasting calls to move in the opposite direction.

A UK shipping trade association is calling for a £700 million government investment in the country's upcoming budget, as part of a roadmap to carry the sector to net zero emissions by 2050.

Record emissions, temperatures and population mean more scientists are looking into possibility of societal collapse, report says

Many of Earth’s “vital signs” have hit record extremes, indicating that “the future of humanity hangs in the balance”, a group of the world’s most senior climate experts have said.

More and more scientists are now looking into the possibility of societal collapse, says the report, which assessed 35 vital signs in 2023 and found that 25 were worse than ever recorded, including carbon dioxide levels and human population. This indicates a “critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis”, it says.

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Tanya Plibersek claims Labor is protecting 52% of its ocean territory, but experts say that is ‘misleading’

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Scientists have challenged Tanya Plibersek’s claim that Australia is protecting more than half of its oceans and has “blitzed” a 30% target, arguing industrial longline fishing will still be allowed in some areas the government says it is conserving.

The environment minister told a “global nature-positive summit” in Sydney on Tuesday the government had quadrupled the size of the sub-Antarctic Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve, a world heritage area about 4,000km south-west of Perth.

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An Amsterdam-based carbon removal accelerator has selected its first cohort of Indian climate startups to scale carbon removal solutions across the country, marking its entry into the Asian market, it announced at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday.