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The EU needs to create a business case for accelerating the rollout of green technologies including renewables, grids, electrification, and carbon capture, according to a report released Monday on how to enhance the bloc’s “crumbling” competitiveness. 

The EU's 27 foreign affairs ministers rubber-stamped two bills on Monday to protect energy markets from manipulation and ensure strategic autonomy to access critical raw materials.

Over-the-counter trade seems to have slowed in the voluntary carbon market and retirement levels have fallen ahead of the much-anticipated announcement at the end of the month of the first methodologies that will qualify for the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) stamp of high integrity.

An environmental commodities trading firm has appointed a new CEO and a non-executive board member.

A UK research and innovation programme has allocated £3 million to launch a network aimed at hastening the integration of biodiversity into the financial system.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in the EU ETS futures market are reducing their holdings of EUAs for a third consecutive year in 2024, as investors continue to shun carbon amid a price decline that has now endured for more than 12 months.

China’s Longi looks to slash costs as renewable energy sector faces tough headwinds from inflation

The world’s largest solar manufacturer has slashed nearly a third of its workforce after a cost-cutting drive that included telling staff to only print in black and white fell short and as a chill ripples through the renewable energy sector.

China’s Longi is to cut as much as 30% of its workforce, in an acceleration of cost reductions that began late last year, Bloomberg reported.

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More than 100 experts have agreed to identify biodiversity and ecosystem protection as the top priority for systemic change in a report published by French non-for-profit ChangeNow and realised in partnership with consultancy KPMG.

European carbon allowances started the week strongly, rising as much as 5% as energy prices advanced on the back of interruptions in gas production, forecasts for cooler temperatures, and an unplanned outage at French nuclear unit.

The average CO2 emissions from new cars and vans registered in Europe in 2022 fell by over a quarter compared to 2019, thanks to stricter targets and the uptake of electric vehicles, according data published on Monday.

Gold Standard has issued a guide to help firms with the development of 'beyond value chain mitigation' (BVCM) strategies that include voluntary carbon credit use.

The Malaysian government is conducting a study on its national carbon market policy which aims to support both compliance and voluntary carbon markets in the country, the natural resources and environment minister said Monday.

Appeal court says defendants’ ‘beliefs and motivation’ do not constitute lawful excuse for damaging property

One of the last defences for climate protesters who commit criminal damage has been in effect removed by the court of appeal. The court said the “beliefs and motivation” of a defendant do not constitute lawful excuse for causing damage to a property.

The defence that a person honestly believes the owner of a property would have consented had they known the full circumstances of climate change has been used successfully over the last year by protesters.

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Academic experts also criticise UN Food and Agriculture Organization for dismissing alternative proteins

The omission of meat-eating reduction from proposals in a UN roadmap to tackle the climate crisis and end hunger is “bewildering”, according to academic experts.

The group also criticised the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s report for “dismissing” the potential of alternative proteins, such as plant-based meat, to reduce the impact of livestock on the environment.

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A UK-based startup has received a fresh injection of cash to expand its carbon-sucking direct air capture (DAC) technology solution, the company announced on Monday.

Greenpeace has called for the creation of a high seas protected zone under a new UN treaty to secure a much wider area around Ecuador’s Galapagos archipelago, whose unique fauna and flora inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution

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The New South Wales state government has committed A$100 million ($65 mln) to a conservation plan designed to protect koalas while at the same time deliver housing in southwestern Sydney.

A South Korean exchange has announced that it will soon launch a carbon credit trading platform in Sri Lanka as part of the activities of a recently founded climate finance venture.

Perhaps our government imagines bulldog spirit will protect us from the dangerous substances that Europe rules unsafe

It’s a benefit of Brexit – but only if you’re a manufacturer or distributor of toxic chemicals. For the rest of us, it’s another load we have to carry on behalf of the shysters and corner-cutters who lobbied for the UK to leave the EU.

The government insisted on a separate regulatory system for chemicals. At first sight, it’s senseless: chemical regulation is extremely complicated and expensive. Why replicate an EU system that costs many millions of euros and employs a small army of scientists and administrators? Why not simply adopt as UK standards the decisions it makes? After all, common regulatory standards make trading with the rest of Europe easier. Well, now we know. A separate system allows the UK to become a dumping ground for the chemicals that Europe rules unsafe.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

Join George Monbiot for a Guardian Live online event on Wednesday 8 May 2024 at 8pm BST. He will be talking about his new book, The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism. Book tickets here

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Installations must speed up 11-fold as advisers say latest changes to scheme likely to make 2028 target even harder

The public spending watchdog has criticised the slow pace of the government’s heat pump rollout just days after ministers postponed an important scheme designed to increase the rate of installations.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that heat pump installations would need to accelerate 11-fold if the government is to reach its target for 600,000 heat pumps installed in homes every year by 2028.

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