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Chris Packham joins environmental activists in mock funeral procession
BBC nature presenter delivers eulogy at protest aimed at ‘scaring people a bit’ about the loss of biodiversity in the UK
The BBC nature presenter Chris Packham has joined hundreds of environmental activists in a mock funeral procession for nature to spotlight biodiversity loss in the UK.
The procession aimed to sound “code red for nature” and highlight the UK’s position as “one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world”, organisers said. It was planned to coincide closely with Earth Day on 22 April.
Continue reading...Developer, local council sign carbon trading deal to protect 250k hectares of forested land in Tanzania
Sunak has ‘set Britain back’ on net zero, says UK’s climate adviser
Chris Stark, head of the Climate Change Committee, says Tories’ decision to dilute key green policies has had huge diplomatic impact
Rishi Sunak has given up Britain’s reputation as a world leader in the fight against the climate crisis and has “set us back” by failing to prioritise the issue in the way his predecessors in No 10 did, the government’s green adviser has warned.
Chris Stark, the outgoing head of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), said that the prime minister had “clearly not” championed the issue following a high-profile speech last year in which he made a significant U-turn on the government’s climate commitments. The criticism comes after Sunak was accused of trying to avoid scrutiny of Britain’s climate policies by failing to appoint a new chair of the CCC.
Continue reading...A heedless dash for net zero will waste cash and, later, votes | Phillip Inman
Keir Starmer must learn from the Tories’ failures and ensure green projects are well planned and resourced
In the energetic pursuit of net zero, billions of pounds could be squandered needlessly. That’s the lesson from countries as diverse as Italy, the US and UK, where the rush to subsidise green projects suggests vast sums are at risk. Worse, they could be lining the pockets of multinational businesses and City financiers.
In the UK, 14 years of austerity has left the public sector struggling to make coherent, strategic decisions. When a decision is finally made, it is a panic measure that quickly unravels. The fallout could be that voters become disenchanted with green tech, especially if the dash for net zero leads to higher taxes and higher borrowing while early adopters unwittingly pay for costly mistakes.
Continue reading...Guyana first small island state to report biennial climate action progress under Paris Agreement
Sunak has set us back, says climate watchdog head
Scientists’ experiment is ‘beacon of hope’ for coral reefs on brink of global collapse
Recordings of healthy fish are being transmitted to attract heat-tolerant larvae back to degraded reefs in the Maldives
An underwater experiment to restore coral reefs using a combination of “coral IVF” and recordings of fish noises could offer a “beacon of hope” to scientists who fear the fragile ecosystem is on the brink of collapse.
The experiment – a global collaboration between two teams of scientists who developed their innovative coral-saving techniques independently – has the potential to significantly increase the likelihood that coral will repopulate degraded reefs, they claim.
Continue reading...‘Dirty secret’: insiders say UK water firms knowingly break sewage laws
Exclusive: Whistleblowers point to broader sewage scandal, with wastewater systems manipulated to divert sewage
Whistleblowers say UK water companies are knowingly failing to treat legally required amounts of sewage, and that some treatment works are manipulating wastewater systems to divert raw sewage away from the works and into rivers and seas.
It is well known that water companies are dumping large volumes of raw sewage into rivers and seas from storm overflows but an investigation by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations reveals that the industry’s “dirty secret” is bigger, broader and deeply systemic.
Continue reading...EU earmarking €28.5 mln for industrial carbon removal, CCUS projects under LIFE programme
Energy Transition Accelerator announces steps forward, US to introduce offset guidance soon
SBTi boss “regrets distress” caused by proposed change to carbon offset use policy
RGGI emitters are sole buyers this week, while traders reduce exposure across North American carbon markets
Supplier sues CO2 pipeline developer for scrapping contract
Restoring coastal habitat boosts wildlife numbers by 61% – but puzzling failures mean we can still do better
Drone video shows Western Australia’s forests dying in heat and drought – video
Video shows trees and shrubs along Western Australia's south-west coastline turning brown after Perth recorded it hottest and driest six months since records began. There were similar scenes in the state's south-west eucalypt forests in 2010 and 2011 – a major die-back event that prompted more than a dozen studies. Drought-hit forests were hit by fire years later
Continue reading...FEATURE: G20, not COP29, key to meeting global climate finance needs
FEATURE: Europe accused of hijacking int’l carbon markets with removal certification
For the first time in decades, the elusive call of the ‘bunyip bird’ returns to Tasmania’s Lagoon of Islands
Experts celebrate discovery of secretive and endangered Australasian bittern in recently restored wetlands
The “bunyip bird” – named after a mythological river-lurking, human-eating monster – is as elusive as its namesake. Also known as the Australasian bittern, it is heard more often than it is seen.
It means that when bittern expert Geoff Shannon discovered the bird at Tasmania’s recently restored Lagoon of Islands – the first time it had been seen there in 40 years – it was a “very special moment”.
Continue reading...Western Australia’s eucalypt forests fade to brown as century-old giant jarrahs die in heat and drought
Dead and dying shrubs and trees – some of which are found nowhere else on Earth – line more than 1,000km across the state’s south-west
A couple of weeks ago, Joe Fontaine stood in the middle of one of Western Australia’s eucalypt forests on another hot and dry day that was stripped of the usually raucous backing-track of bird calls.
“I could hear this scratching-crunching noise coming from the trees,” says Fontaine, a forest ecologist at Perth’s Murdoch University.
Continue reading...EPA moves to make US polluters pay for cleanup of two forever chemicals
Superfund law requires industries responsible for PFOA and PFOS contamination in water or soil to pay for cleanup
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday designated two forever chemicals that have been used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances, an action intended to ensure quicker cleanup of the toxic compounds and require industries and others responsible for contamination to pay for their removal.
Designation as a hazardous substance under the Superfund law does not ban the chemicals, known as PFOA and PFOS. But it requires that release of the chemicals into soil or water be reported to federal, state or tribal officials if it meets or exceeds certain levels. The EPA then may require cleanups to protect public health and recover costs that can reach tens of millions of dollars.
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