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There are major issues with how science-based targets are set by companies and governments alike, including basic misinterpretation and over-simplification, scientists have warned.

A global crop nutrition company and a green fertiliser firm have signed an agreement for the offtake of a calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertiliser project in Villeta, Paraguay. 

Researchers uncover ‘remarkable new way in which trees provide a vital climate service’ by reducing emissions

Microbes in the bark of trees play a vital role in removing methane from the atmosphere, scientists have discovered.

The greenhouse gas is a product of agriculture and the burning of fossil fuels and is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. However, it remains in the atmosphere for a shorter time.

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Global consumption of coal will remain unchanged through 2025 due to the rising demand for electricity in major economies, despite a rapid expansion of renewables, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Wednesday.

The fossils hold clues as to how mammals that lived in the shadow of dinosaurs evolved to dominate the world.

Clear Sky, an investment company specialising in aviation sustainability, announced two sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) partnerships on Wednesday. 

The new ‘Clean Industrial Deal’ outlined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week should include a reform of EU electricity market rules, so that heavy industries can benefit from low-cost renewable and nuclear energy, EU trade association Eurofer told Carbon Pulse in an exclusive interview.

The country has long been the world’s biggest market – but the government’s interest is more geopolitical than environmental

When Kenzi, an advertising worker in Shanghai, bought an electric vehicle in November she wasn’t even thinking about the environmental benefits. She had read Elon Musk’s biography and thought the Tesla 3 looked good. She also knew that if she bought an EV she could bypass the long wait and cost of getting licence plates, which are rationed by the government.

“It’s not easy to get a licence plate in Shanghai, but you get a licence for free when you buy an EV,” she said.

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India’s leading carbon credit developer and supplier EKI Energy Services has posted a net profit of 8.4% or INR 348.3 lakh ($0.42 million) in the quarter ending June, on the back of increased income from its venture into power trading, the company announced Tuesday.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the country’s landmark Climate Change Bill, imposing emissions caps on major polluters, the government announced on Tuesday.

The Climate Action Reserve (CAR) standard has released a draft version of the Argentina Livestock Protocol, aiming for greater coherence in the accounting and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions in Argentina's livestock sector. 

Australia could mend much of its degraded landscapes by directing A$7.3 billion ($4.8 bln) in funding per year, equivalent to 0.3% of GDP, a group of scientists said in ‘first-of-its-kind’ in-depth investment analysis on Wednesday.

In thrall to the oil and gas industries, wealthy nations are backing calamitous projects. But the tide is turning

• Tessa Khan is executive director of the climate action organisation Uplift

It is a delusion to believe that the world’s climate is being pushed to the brink solely by undemocratic petrostates such as Russia and Saudi Arabia. The truth is that about half of all planned oil and gas developments between now and 2050 will be sanctioned by wealthy governments that position themselves as climate leaders: the US, Canada, Australia, Norway and the UK.

It is the countries that like to think of themselves as the good guys that are driving the climate crisis – and not just because of historical emissions and the high-carbon lifestyles of our middle class. It is because our governments refuse to take one of the most obvious actions needed to stop the crisis: keeping oil and gas in the ground. As we have heard time and again, governments are planning to sanction vastly more oil and gas than can be burned in a world with a safe climate.

Tessa Khan is a lawyer and the executive director of the climate action organisation Uplift

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European carbon prices extended their gains from Tuesday, continuing to erase the last four days of losses as traders pursued the technical rally and compensated for the lack of a daily auction, while the weekly Commitment of Traders data showed a sizeable increase in speculative short positions, underpinning the gains as participants looked to test bearish conviction.

Suggestions definition of petrostate is too narrow as many rich countries that could phase out fossil fuels double down

• Wealthy countries lead in new oil and gas expansion, threatening 12bn tonnes of emissions

“Drill, baby, drill!” Donald Trump’s ominous avowal to pump up the oil and gas production of the US has horrified many people around the world about the intentions of the Republican candidate, who has also declared he wants to be “dictator for a day”. Rather than the prospective leader of the free world, the election frontrunner sounds more like the tyrant of a petrostate.

That should not be entirely surprising given the country’s recent record: it has ramped up fossil fuel production to become the world’s biggest producer. As a Guardian investigation reveals, the total number of projected licences by the US for 2024 could lead to an estimated 397m tonnes of planet-heating emissions.

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Indonesia plans a two-stage carbon tax even as its domestic carbon credit market remains illiquid and sparsely traded, a webinar heard this week according to local media.

Farmers want to force renewable energy developers to maintain the agricultural productivity of farming land, and to pay more for hosting.

The post Farmers demand more control, higher payments for wind and solar projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks failed to break a deadlock on reform aimed at strengthening rules on harmful fisheries subsidies, with the EU and the US blaming India for thwarting the deal.

Exclusive: UK campaigners say it is ‘unacceptable’ no nature assessments were made on bee-killing Cruiser SB

The Conservative government did not carry out a legally required assessment of how green-lighting the use of a banned pesticide, described as a “death blow to wildlife”, would affect some of the most important nature sites, documents have revealed.

The previous government gave emergency approval this year for sugar beet farmers to use Cruiser SB for the fourth year in a row.

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The US and the UK among countries with low dependence on fossil fuels criticized for ‘hypocrisy’ on climate pledges

A surge in new oil and gas production in 2024 threatens to unleash nearly 12bn tonnes of planet-heating emissions, with the world’s wealthiest countries – such as the US and the UK – leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion in spite of their climate commitments, new data shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals.

The new oil and gas field licences forecast to be awarded across the world this year are on track to generate the highest level of emissions since those issued in 2018, as heatwaves, wildfires, drought and floods cause death and destruction globally, according to analysis of industry data by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

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