Feed aggregator

Canada’s environment ministry has watered down its proposed performance standard that is intended to mobilise the country’s electricity grid to hit net zero by 2035 following months of critical feedback.

Seventy perc ent of pregnant women in state had herbicide dicamba in their urine, up from 28% in an earlier study

Pregnant women in a key US farm state are showing increasing amounts of a toxic weedkiller in their urine, a rise that comes alongside climbing use of the chemicals in agriculture, according to a study published on Friday.

The study, led by the Indiana University school of medicine, showed that 70% of pregnant women tested in Indiana between 2020 and 2022 had a herbicide called dicamba in their urine, up from 28% from a similar analysis for the period 2010-12. The earlier study included women in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.

Continue reading...

IUCN has launched a C$30 million initiative focused on protecting marine ecosystems while supporting women, in collaboration with the government of Madagascar.

Elephant forest activity is correlated with higher levels of aboveground carbon (AGC) storage, according to a preprint of a new study, though the direction of the causal relationship, if any, remains unclear.

One of the largest Web3 firms in the voluntary carbon market is planning a rebound in tokenising carbon credits on the back of the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) stamp of high integrity.

Clean electricity will need to cover the largest share of the EU’s shift away from fossil fuels, while green hydrogen will be key in just a few hard-to-electrify sectors, according to research published on Friday.

Plans for a blended finance regenerative agriculture facility that could raise billions of dollars are underway, led by Pollination and the Green Climate Fund, Carbon Pulse has learned.

Protests against Australia’s transition to renewable power have attracted a wide coalition of interests, from mainstream parties to the wild shores of conspiracy

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

The protest signs at last week’s rally against renewables in Canberra spoke of hyperlocal concerns – but also cabals and plots of global proportion.

Some spoke of immediate worries linked to environmental policies: “Oberon betrayed by state forestry”; and “Say no to Twin Creek wind farm”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Prices of biochar carbon credits are slated to shrink over the next two years despite growing demand, mainly due to increasing supply and competition, according to analysts.

Brussels has approved billions in state aid for Germany's energy-intensive industries covered by the EU ETS to help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions in production processes.

Misguided forest restoration initiatives are damaging ancient grassy habitats in Africa and beyond due to incorrect classification of ecosystems, putting biodiversity in an area bigger than France at risk, a study has found.

EU carbon permit prices gave up all of Thursday's gains in the final morning session of the week as the previous day's short squeeze came to an end and buyers stepped back, while the slow and steady selling that has characterised the market for the last two weeks resumed.

The Swedish Energy Agency’s (SEA) Ghanaian partner has broadened the scope of its Article 6 mitigation project after realising that the original plans would produce insufficient emissions reductions, the CEO of the company told television media.

German energy company RWE has reported a huge year-on-year decline in fossil power generation covered by the EU ETS, in preliminary output data for 2023 released this week, while its renewable electricity production surged.

A nascent industry providing insurance for carbon projects and credits is gathering momentum, aiming to shore up the integrity of the voluntary carbon market by managing risk for buyers, project investors, and developers alike.

A regulation supporting South Korea's engagement in overseas forestry projects will become effective on Saturday, as Seoul seeks to secure more forest-derived carbon credits from developing countries.

Four people died after heavy rain in the Middle Eastern country, which is one of the driest in the world

Abnormally high rainfall hit Oman and the United Arab Emirates on Monday, with heavy downpours and thunderstorms rolling in from the north-east. The two countries are among the driest in the world, with large parts of both typically receiving less than 100mm of rainfall each year. However, on Monday 50-100mm of rainfall was widely reported across eastern UAE and northern Oman, with a highest total of 140mm in Dibba, a city in the far north of Oman that lies on its border with the UAE. Some thunderstorms were accompanied by hail, with a particularly heavy shower in Abu Dhabi leaving the streets blanketed in hailstones, some of which were almost the size of golf balls.

Flooding was widespread, with flash flooding proving particularly dangerous in Oman’s mountainous regions. More than 100 people had to be rescued, many from stranded vehicles, while four fatalities were confirmed. Three stages of the Tour of Oman cycling race were curtailed due to landslides on some climbs. The UAE was less badly affected, but some schools were closed, while an official visit to Dubai by Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, was scaled down.

Continue reading...

Two of the world's largest asset managers, JPMorgan Asset Management and State Street Global Advisors, have announced their departure from an investor group focused on pressuring companies to address global warming, while BlackRock is stepping back as a corporate member, they said this week.

A letter signed by multiple environmental groups has called on the Philippine government to restore mangrove forests at unproductive fishponds as mandated by domestic laws to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

Continue reading...