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Party has vowed to end sewage scandal if it wins power, but experts say it will have to act quickly and ambitiously

Since the UK’s general election was called, the Labour party has been seeking to capitalise on voters’ fury over the sewage filling England’s rivers and seas.

The debt-ridden, leaking, polluting water industry, owned largely by foreign investment firms, private equity and pension funds, has overseen decades of underinvestment and the large-scale dumping of raw sewage into rivers. It has become one of the touchstone issues of this election, with voters across the political spectrum angry at the polluting of waterways treasured by local communities. Groups have sprung up to look after rivers and lakes; protests pop up most weekends along the coast.

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Cocaine traffickers have put two-thirds of Central America’s key habitats for threatened birds under threat, study finds

Cocaine consumption is threatening rare tropical birds as narco-traffickers move into some of the planet’s most remote forests to evade drug crackdowns, a study has warned.

Two-thirds of key forest habitats for birds in Central America are at risk of being destroyed by “narco-driven” deforestation, according to the paper, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Sustainability.

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New gigawatt scale wind project planned for cattle grazing land in central Queensland awaits EPBC decision.

The post RWE’s gigawatt scale wind project in Queensland awaits EPBC decision appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A Malaysian federal government fund has partnered with a Kuala Lumpur-based renewable energy company to explore the development of nature-based solutions (NbS) projects in the Southeast Asian country.

The committee steering Japan’s J-Credit programme is considering adding two new methodologies to the domestic voluntary programme, encouraging industrial companies to shift towards greener manufacturing processes.

In developing the framework to authorise Article 6 projects, the Philippines may allow developers to generate ITMOs as long as they also support the country in meeting its NDC by generating a secondary project for the domestic market.

Big batteries - acting as virtual transmission - can boost capacity of existing grids, compensate for project delays and to reduce impacts on regional communities.

The post Virtual Transmission: We need more battery storage to lift capacity of existing grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A developer of direct air capture (DAC) technology is partnering with a carbon storage business in the Mediterranean to use its technology to capture CO2 and store it in a saline aquifer off the shores of Greece.

Winning projects in latest Dutch "zero subsidy" offshore wind tender will include floating solar farms, artificial reefs and a green hydrogen facility.

The post Netherlands awards 4GW of offshore wind in zero-subsidy tender appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Taiwan may consider implementing a dual-track carbon pricing scheme, which could include the introduction of a cap-and-trade framework to regulate the total amount of emissions, according to local media reports.

The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Council is set to approve a spending package of over $700 million next week, including the first-ever projects supported by the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), amid mounting debate over the fund's potential to effectively address the financing gap on biodiversity.

Head of major energy utility says the only way to kick out coal is to lock in gas as back-up to renewables "for the foreseeable future."

The post Utility giant says paying to extend life of “fragile” coal plants has a limit, but digs in on gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.

AEMO boss decries misreporting of market operator documents, and says response to summer storms had boosted confidence in energy transition.

The post “We’re not predicting blackouts:” AEMO boss says storm response builds confidence in green transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Frontier says it's in the "fortunate position" where the costs of both solar and storage have fallen significantly since the release of the last feasibility study.

The post Frontier expands solar and battery project as tender underlines falling cost for modules and storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An Australian biochar and carbon dioxide removal project developer has formed a partnership with a Japanese agri-tech firm to focus on scaling the global biochar market, they announced Wednesday.

A 95MW off-grid system comprised mostly of wind, solar and battery power switched on to power new lithium mine.

The post Lithium miner switches on Australia’s biggest off-grid hybrid renewables system appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A US-headquartered soil carbon startup has signed an agreement with the Mongolian government to introduce regenerative agriculture and provide carbon finance to farmers and herders and with Mitsubishi for a JCM project in the country.

State reportedly arrested at least 25 journalists and activists in last year as it prepares for September climate summit

Azerbaijan’s government has been accused of cracking down on media and civil society activism before the country’s hosting of crucial UN climate talks later this year.

Human Rights Watch has found at least 25 instances of the arrest or sentencing of journalists and activists in the past year, almost all of whom remain in custody.

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Origin is juggling its portfolio of gas, battery and renewables projects to take advantage of a "messy" transition. But its biggest play is tapping into the assets of its retail customers.

The post Origin reckons it sitting pretty for “messy and volatile” transition with coal deal, gas, big batteries and VPP appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Prices in the EU’s second emissions trading system could jump more than four-fold within the first four years of the market’s operation as an initial excess in allowance supply is rapidly replaced by a deficit as an early market-priming initiative gives way to strong demand, according to analysts.