Feed aggregator

For two years, Australia had a carbon price. Now we have a shadow price which won’t be paid by any emitter. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Chiltern Off-Grid Living Festival blew up on social media and Sky News over the use of a diesel generator, but the real story is that going off-grid means leaving behind a set-and-forget mindset.

The post Chiltern off-grid festival hits back at Sky News’ latest slap down of renewable tech appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The continued growth of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) holdings by Safeguard entities and intermediaries has caused ANZ to downgrade its 12-month forecast price, but the bank noted there would still be some upside pressure.

Debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps could free up more than $100 billion to spend on restoring nature and climate mitigation and adaptation, according to updated analysis based on a 2022 report by the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

If a new declaration based on customary concepts of tikanga and mana is recognised by the courts, it could potentially give interest groups the legal standing to sue on behalf of whales. Rachael Evans, Lecturer, Kaupeka Ture | Faculty of Law, University of Canterbury Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Intense heat and no rain in southwest Western Australia are causing widespread tree and shrub die-offs. Joe Fontaine, Lecturer, Environmental and Conservation Science, Murdoch University George Matusick, Director, Center for Natural Resources Management on Military Lands, Auburn University Jatin Kala, Senior Lecturer and ARC DECRA felllow, Murdoch University Kerryn Hawke, Lecturer in Atmospheric Science, Murdoch University Nate Anderson, PhD candidate, The University of Western Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Hairy-nosed otters and cats that catch fish are among the startling diversity of creatures making their home in threatened habitats

One of the most comprehensive biodiversity surveys ever carried out in a mangrove forest has revealed that an astonishing array of wildlife makes its home in these key, threatened habitats.

Hundreds of species – from bats to birds and fish to insects – were identified during the study of the Peam Krasop sanctuary and the adjacent Koh Kapik Ramsar reserve in Cambodia. Hairy-nosed otters, smooth-coated otters, large-spotted civets, long-tailed macaques and fishing cats, as well a wide range of bat species, were among the residents recorded by the survey, which was funded by the conservation group Fauna & Flora International. The variety of wildlife has staggered biologists.

Continue reading...

Paris agreement negotiator Todd Stern attacks premiers who say that decarbonisation programmes are unrealistic and should be slowed down

Political leaders who present themselves as “grownups” while slowing the pace of climate action are pushing the world towards deeper catastrophe, a former US environment chief has warned.

“We are slowed down by those who think of themselves as grownups and believe decarbonisation at the speed the climate community calls for is unrealistic,” said Todd Stern, who served as a special envoy for climate change under Barack Obama, and helped negotiate the 2015 Paris agreement.

Continue reading...

The legal repression of activism has been fast and frightening, yet it won’t make protesters disappear and only sows division

Years ago, when Dr Sarah Benn recognised the scale of the climate crisis, she made sure that she was doing all the right things. She recycled, she went vegan, she stopped flying, she voted Green, she signed petitions. It was because she didn’t see real change happening, despite doing all those things, that she then went further. She glued her hand to a building. She sat down in front of an oil terminal. And she stood on a grass verge with a handwritten sign, saying, “Stop New Oil”.

Benn’s story will be pretty familiar to anyone with a passing interest in the current wave of climate protest. This wave grew out of deep frustration with existing avenues for change. And it did feel, for a time, as if these protests might be a catalyst for the wider shift that so many people recognised was urgently needed. The marches and sit-downs sparked so much sympathy and curiosity, even with politicians from Michael Gove to Dawn Butler. I remember walking along a street on an Extinction Rebellion march in 2019 and people were cheering from their windows. A big part of all the early protests was outreach, with protesters talking to people on the streets, in communities and workplaces, and finding eager responses.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk

Continue reading...

The marine mammals are increasingly endangered as warmer waters push them into ship traffic and fishing gear

A North Atlantic right whale has been spotted entangled in rope off New England, worsening an already devastating year for the vanishing animals, federal authorities said.

Right whales number less than 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships. The entangled whale was seen on Wednesday about 50 miles (80km) south of Rhode Island’s Block Island, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

Continue reading...

Bulldozed tracks and informal byways in tropical forests and palm-oil plantations ‘almost always’ an indicator of future deforestation, say researchers

A vast network of undocumented “ghost roads” is pushing into the world’s untouched rainforests and driving their destruction in the Asia-Pacific region, a new study has found.

By using Google Earth to map tropical forests on Borneo, Sumatra and New Guinea islands, researchers from James Cook University in Australia documented 1.37 m kilometres (850,000 miles) of roads across 1.4m sq kilometres of rainforest on the islands – between three and seven times what is officially recorded on road databases.

Continue reading...

Climate Change Authority says up to 75 pct emissions cuts by 2035 are achievable, but any more could risk economic and social disruption.

The post Climate Authority says 75 pct cut in emissions “achievable” as Australia mulls 2035 target appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Carbon dioxide removals achieved through enhanced weathering (EW) can be heavily influenced by the soil to which the pulverised crushed rock is added, new research has found.

A bill introduced in Colorado that aims to expand the state’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission’s (CECMC) regulatory authority on carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations passed a legislative committee Thursday with significant amendments.

Covered entities were the only group to increase RGGI Allowance (RGAs) holdings recently, while speculators reduced net length across all three North American carbon markets, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed Friday.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) prices sold off following ARB's Tuesday release of public workshop materials, with market participants disappointed at the regulator's proposed choice of a 30% carbon intensity (CI) reduction target for 2030, while traders pondered ARB's rationale given the programme's outsized surplus bank.

A Florida-headquartered methane offset developer is looking to raise C$3 mln in an initial public offering in Canada, after this month listing two orphaned oil and gas well projects on a US-based voluntary carbon registry.

Company is fighting Dutch court ruling that says it must emit 45% less CO2 by 2030 than in 2019

Shell has argued that it “lobbies for, not against, the energy transition” on the final day of its appeal against an important climate ruling.

The fossil fuel company is fighting the decision of a Dutch court in 2021 that forces it to pump 45% less planet-heating CO2 into the atmosphere by 2030 than it did in 2019. In court on Friday, Shell argued the ruling is ineffective, onerous and does not fit into the existing legal system.

Continue reading...

The engineering team has a two-year $2 million grant to help Nasa study the Moon's surface.

Another carbon market ETF will start to liquidate its holdings this month, the third such fund to close this year.