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RSPB says figures distorted by failure to examine raptors caught in avian flu outbreak for signs of shooting or poisoning

Confirmed incidents of the illegal persecution of birds of prey have fallen to their lowest levels for more than a decade, according to the latest RSPB Birdcrime report.

But the conservation charity warned that the reduction in incidents to 61 in 2022 is distorted by a failure to examine dead raptors caught in the avian flu outbreak for signs of illegal killing.

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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Canada's federal government amended its ‘backstop’ output-based pricing system (OBPS) Wednesday to increase the stringency of covered entities’ GHG emissions per unit of output, now set to decline at a fixed tightening rate with no end date, resulting in estimated net benefits that offset the costs to Canadian household welfare.

Global GHG output may reach its peak this year, meeting an IPCC deadline, but emissions could still exceed the IPCC's 2030 GHG target deemed necessary to limit global warming to 1.5C, according to a report by a climate think-tank.

The Board of Executive Directors at the World Bank has approved a recommendation to investigate the lender's own development project in Tanzania after allegations that more than 20,000 people are being violently evicted and their cattle illegally seized to make way for the expansion of the Ruaha National Park.

Global Carbon Council (GCC) has received letters of authorisation from Oman and the UAE for projects to offer correspondingly adjusted (CA) carbon credits on its registry, as part of expansion plans that involve adding a CCS methodology and gaining eligibility for phase one of CORSIA, a senior executive at the carbon credit certifier has told Carbon Pulse.

Australian freshwater turtles are a vital part of healthy waterways, but we don’t know enough about them. A new roundup of turtle research aims to buck the trend. Deborah Bower, Associate Professor in Zoology and Ecology, University of New England Donald McKnight, James Cook University Eric Nordberg, Senior Lecturer (Applied Ecology and Landscape Management), University of New England James Van Dyke, Associate Professor in Biomedical Sciences, La Trobe University Michael B Thompson, Emeritus Professor in Zoology, University of Sydney Ricky Spencer, Associate Professor of Ecology, Western Sydney University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Pollution caused twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, with updated understanding of dangers of PM2.5

Coal-fired power plants killed at least 460,000 Americans during the past two decades, causing twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, new research has found.

Cars, factories, fire smoke and electricity plants emit tiny toxic air pollutants known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5, which elevate the risk of an array of life-shortening medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, low birth weight and some cancers.

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The EU contributed €28.5 billion in climate finance to developing nations from public sources last year, up from €23 bln in 2021, according to figures approved by the Council of member states on Thursday that also outlined a further €11.9 bln mobilised from private sources. 

Carbon credit certifier Gold Standard on Thursday launched a consultation on a new methodology for phasing out coal power while ensuring a just transition to clean energy, adding to the voluntary carbon market initiatives seeking to accelerate the world's exit from the emissions-intensive fossil fuel.

A twice-weekly summary of our biodiversity news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).

Forests managed by Indigenous and local communities have better outcomes for carbon, biodiversity, and livelihoods than tree planting alone, a study published on Thursday in a scientific journal has found.

Global conferences such as the upcoming Cop28 may seem like staid and ritualistic affairs. But they matter

Stare at a climate map of the world that we expect to inhabit 50 years from now and you see a band of extreme heat encircling the planet’s midriff. Climate modelling from 2020 suggests that within half a century about 30% of the world’s projected population – unless they are forced to move – will live in places with an average temperature above 29C. This is unbearably hot. Currently, no more than 1% of Earth’s land surface is this hot, and those are mainly uninhabited parts of the Sahara.

The scenario is as dramatic as it is because the regions of the world affected most severely by global heating – above all, sub-Saharan Africa – are those expected to experience the most rapid population growth in coming decades.

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A UAE-based stock exchange will debut a pilot programme for trading carbon credits at COP28 aimed at institutional investors, according to a release Thursday.

Campaigners say Southern Water outflows into protected wildlife site are an ‘assault on the environment’

Raw sewage has been discharged into Chichester harbour for more than 1,200 hours in the past month, in what campaigners described as “an assault on the environment”.

The protected harbour in West Sussex, which is a designated area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), has been subjected to the discharges since 24 October.

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An English farm has committed almost all of its biodiversity net gain (BNG) units in sales to local housing developers, Carbon Pulse has learned.

A Brazilian food producer was found to have by far the most negative impact on global deforestation rates, according to a global corporate ranking released Wednesday that also awarded negative scores to several major financial institutions for their lending policies.

The European Commission launched its first EU green hydrogen auction on Thursday with €800 million up for grabs for European projects, while also opening up this year's €4 billion call for proposals for net zero technologies under the bloc's ETS-financed Innovation Fund.

An organisation representing the UK’s 15 national parks is looking to secure fresh partnerships with the private sector for nature restoration opportunities and investment, as new research suggests that the price of UK nature-based carbon credits could rise to £150 ($188) per tonne by the end of the decade.

European carbon permits traded around their recent support levels on Thursday morning as an "arm-wrestle" between bulls and bears focused Dec-23s in a narrow channel, while energy markets were modestly firmer amid a lack of strong demand indications even as temperatures seem set to decline.