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Exclusive: Independent MPs and Lidia Thorpe tell PM that environment law reforms under negotiation must remove exemptions for native forest logging

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Independent MPs and a crossbench senator are trying to increase the pressure on the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to remove Howard-era exemptions that allow native forest logging to operate outside national environment laws.

The government has been negotiating over reforms to the laws in the Senate, where Greens and crossbenchers David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe have been pushing for an end to the exemptions for logging covered by regional forest agreements.

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Showing climate delivery can be done effectively and fairly would be an extraordinary climate legacy for Keir Starmer

A well-intentioned but badly designed and poorly communicated energy policy from the German government, and more recent protests by farmers in France and the Netherlands, have knocked the confidence of European political leaders that environmental progress can be delivered in a way that works for people and enjoys democratic support. Unashamedly popular climate policies from Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband offer the chance to reshape European climate politics and confound these sceptics.

Showing climate delivery can be done fairly, effectively, affordably and with strong public support would be an extraordinary climate legacy for Starmer. It would build on Britain’s relatively strong record of having halved its climate footprint already, and it would offer hope amid all the gloom.

Joss Garman is executive director of the European Climate Foundation

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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Ecover, backed by activist model Lily Cole, calls for fewer washes to reduce microplastics and other sources of water pollution

A company that sells cleaning products is giving customers some surprising advice: wash your clothes less.

Ecover is calling for a change in our laundry habits after research found people felt under societal pressure to wash their clothes more frequently, and were unaware that this could damage the environment.

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The Rev Sue Parfitt has lost right to conduct religious ceremonies after her arrest at a Just Stop Oil demonstration

An 82-year-old retired priest has spoken of her pain at losing her right to conduct religious ceremonies because of her participation in Just Stop Oil protests.

The Rev Sue Parfitt was arrested in May after causing damage to the glass around Magna Carta at the British Library in London as part of a protest with the climate action group. She is still awaiting trial.

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Guardian Australia’s photographer-at-large Mike Bowers captures a burst of yellow on NSW’s south-west slopes

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Financial entities once again favoured V25 California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) while producers preferred the current year vintage, and both trimmed net length in RGGI allowances (RGA), according to data published Friday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

A Japanese trading house has entered into a joint venture with a US carbon capture and storage (CCS) developer to sequester up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually across North America by 2030, according to reports.

US-based Constellation Energy plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, which was closed in 2019, under a 20-year deal with Microsoft to supply carbon-free energy to its data centres.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will fund up to $1.8 billion of mid-scale and large-scale direct air capture (DAC) facilities, according to a Notice of Intent (NOI) issued on Friday. 

The hearings have included new video and insights from those who worked on the Titan that day

Climate Asset Management (CAM) has secured over $1 billion to invest in natural capital initiatives such as regenerative agriculture, as investor demand for projects aimed at improving soil health, planting trees, and rehabilitating land continues to grow, the firm’s CEO has said.

The majority of automakers in Europe and North America have not set targets for integrating fossil-free steel, according to a report released Wednesday. 

The California-Quebec joint WCI auction in November will offer a higher volume of allowances this quarter following Q3's year-to-date nadir, according to a Friday notice from California regulator ARB.

Pennsylvania plant was site of most serious nuclear meltdown and radiation leak in US history in 1979

A nuclear reactor at the notorious Three Mile Island site in Pennsylvania is to be activated for the first time in five years after its owners, Constellation Energy, struck a deal to provide power to Microsoft’s proliferating artificial intelligence operations.

The plant was the location of the most serious nuclear meltdown and radiation leak in US history, in March 1979 when the loss of water coolant through a faulty valve caused the Unit 2 reactor to overheat. More than four decades later, the reactor is still in a decommissioning phase.

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Four protesters against North Sea oil and gas licences have charges of criminal damage thrown out

Four Greenpeace activists who staged a “no new oil” protest on the roof of Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire manor house have had charges of criminal damage thrown out.

The activists said “justice and common sense” had prevailed after a judge on Friday ruled the evidence against them was “tenuous” and they had no case to answer.

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An offshore aquaculture company based in the Faroe Islands has received €2.5 million from a fund managed by the investment arm of a Dutch bank.

The carbon removals (CDR) market needs offtake agreements with built-in de-risking measures to scale and offer attractive credit prices, a dealmaker told Carbon Pulse.

A ban on exporting offshore gas was lifted in WA this week, and the Greens say two of the ‘biggest winners’ were the massive resources companies

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Western Australian gas companies Mineral Resources and Woodside gave more than $20,000 to WA Labor while it was considering changes to its domestic gas policy that allowed more gas to be exported from the state.

On Thursday the state government lifted a ban on onshore gas being exported, allowing 20% to go overseas until 2031, in a change the premier, Roger Cook, said would boost the state’s gas industry.

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Verra is damaging investor confidence in the voluntary carbon market through its “presumption of guilt” when handling investigations, warned stakeholders in the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project (SCRP) that says it lost more than $30 million in revenue during a 14-month long probe.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved final guidance Friday regarding the listing for trading of voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts.