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Future UN conferences should only be held in countries that show support for climate action, urge influential group

• Over 1,700 coal, oil and gas lobbyists granted access to Cop29, says report

Future UN climate summits should be held only in countries that can show clear support for climate action and have stricter rules on fossil fuel lobbying, according to a group of influential climate policy experts.

The group includes former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and the prominent climate scientist Johan Rockström.

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Fossil fuel-linked lobbyists outnumber delegations of almost every country at climate talks in Baku, analysis finds

• Cop summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’, say leading climate policy experts

At least 1,773 coal, oil, and gas lobbyists have been granted access to the United Nations climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, a new report has found, raising concerns about the planet-heating industry’s influence on the negotiations.

Those lobbyists outnumber the delegations of almost every country at the conference, the analysis from the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition shows, with the only exceptions being this year’s host country, Azerbaijan, next year’s host Brazil, and Turkey.

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The UK is pledging nearly £80 million of funding to help developing countries roll out clean energy and shift away from fossil fuels, with a package of support that it said will position the country as a clean tech innovation leader.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday announced $20.2 million in funding to support research and development efforts to convert algae into low carbon fuels and bioproducts.

A Texas-based CO2 removal (CDR) company announced on Thursday that it raised $32.3 million in Series A funding after a full year of operation.

The Canadian province of Alberta announced on Wednesday a C$40 million ($28.5 mln) investment that seeks to advance early- and late-stage low emissions products expected to increase the competitiveness of manufacturing and resource sectors in the region.

Australia's big battery projects are getting very big, with none of the operating batteries making the list of the top 10 by size.

The post Graph of the Day: Australia’s biggest battery projects by connection and storage capacity appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New research reveals a third of Australia’s freshwater fishes are at risk of extinction. That means 35 species should be added to the national list of 63 threatened species, bringing the total to 98. Mark Lintermans, Adjunct associate in freshwater fisheries ecology and management, University of Canberra Jaana Dielenberg, University Fellow in Biodiversity, Charles Darwin University Nick Whiterod, Science Program Manager, Goyder Institute for Water Research CLLMM Research Centre, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Analysis lays bare huge challenge of mismanaged waste on eve of UN plastic treaty talks in Busan

Global plastic production must be reduced to tackle the immense challenge of plastic pollution, according to an analysis published on the eve of crucial talks to hammer out the world’s first legally binding treaty on plastic waste.

Mismanaged plastic waste, which leaches into the environment and can be harmful to health, will double to 121m tonnes by 2050 if limits are not placed on the production of plastic, according to Samuel Pottinger, the lead author of the research.

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Quebec will publish draft amendments to its cap-and-trade programme in early 2025 on request of a delay from California, the Quebec environment minister told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of COP29.

The Madagascar government is planning to sign its first-ever bilateral agreement under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement to generate Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) with South Korea soon, as it plans to operationalise its Article 6 regulatory framework by Jan. 2025, an official told Carbon Pulse.

Brazil's national development bank has formally launched a climate investment platform that it said already has up to $10.8 billion in capital that could be mobilised, in support of its newly updated Paris Agreement pledge.

Transition credits could be a viable way to finance the early phase-out of coal-fired power plants in Asia, but familiar risks around project permanence, and buyer appetite are seen as major barriers to scaling up the practice, a panel discussion heard at COP29.

When infestations affect Notting Hill billionaires, it reminds you that it’s the little winged bastards who truly own this city

While reading of the case of the super-rich couple suing the previous owners of their west London mansion over its moth infestation, one particularly detail prompted warm memories. Iya Patarkatsishvili and Yevhen Hunyak had to tip away glasses of wine after discovering moths floating in them, Hunyak told the court. Ah yes, I thought, I too have found a moth taking a little dip in my tipple, though I’ll admit that I simply fished him out rather than waste a glass. Worse, mine only contained Tesco’s finest wine, as opposed to, you know, the world’s.

Moths, it seems, pay no attention to social class. Whether you are a lowly renter in a poky flat, such as I, or the daughter of a Georgian billionaire; if you live in London, they are coming for you. Moths, like mice in the tube, are simply a fact of living in this city, so commonplace as to be almost unremarkable. Even when waging daily battle against them, you sort of forget about them; their soft fluttering wings are a kind of inaudible mood music, until someone who has recently moved here says, “What’s with all the moths?”, and you remember the bastards that truly own this city.

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist and author

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A report has found that expansion of carbon trading systems will see emissions covered by pricing mechanisms rise to 34% over the next five years.

Fourteen countries, including the US, France, and the UK, issued a statement at COP29 in Baku on Thursday affirming their commitment to scale up finance for forests, based on 'high-integrity' carbon markets.

A White House official said Thursday that the US has had active and productive negotiations with Chinese delegates over reducing non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHG), adding that Beijing has signalled interest in implementing regulatory controls over non-CO2 gases similar to those in the US.

Some 5% of recent planning applications have complied with England’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules, in a positive sign the legislation is working, a lawyer has said.

Alberta government and industry were sceptical of the viability and effectiveness of Canada’s emissions cap on its oil and gas sector, highlighting instead the success of provincial emissions reductions efforts on the sidelines of COP29.

Low- and middle-income economies invested $2.3 trillion in their energy systems last year, yet only 14% of that spending outside China went towards low-carbon solutions, a new report has found.