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Scientists have detected a 30% slowdown of the deep ocean currents that form in Antarctica, with profound consequences for Earth’s climate, sea level and marine life. Kathy Gunn, CSIRO Matthew England, Scientia Professor and Deputy Director of the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), UNSW Sydney Steve Rintoul, CSIRO Fellow, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Q2 California-Quebec current vintage carbon auction settled at its highest point since Q2 2022, nearly matching secondary market levels, according to government data published Thursday.

Rising carbon prices in Europe would have a “rather limited impact“ on the euro zone economy, though the increase would not be enough to drive the emission reductions needed to meet the bloc’s 2030 climate target, the European Central Bank has found.

Redrawing the relationship between ship owners and charterers could lead to a 15-20% reduction of maritime-related emissions, according to a white paper published on Thursday by a technology software company and one of the world’s largest shipping association.

A trove of biodiversity has been catalogued by scientists in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast area of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico, which has been targeted by deep-sea mining companies keen to exploit its mineral wealth

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A venture capital firm, which focuses investment in climate technology companies active in urban environments, on Thursday claimed its portfolio removed or reduced nearly 500,000 tonnes of carbon last year.

Ruling by conservative-dominated court shrinks scope of landmark law to protect America’s waterways

The scope of a landmark law to protect America’s waterways has been shrunk by the US supreme court, which has sided with an Idaho couple who have waged a long-running legal battle to build a house on wetlands near one of the state’s largest lakes.

In a ruling passed down on Thursday, the conservative-dominated court decided that the federal government was wrong to use the Clean Water Act, a key 50-year-old piece of legislation to prevent pollution seeping into rivers, streams and lakes, to prevent the couple building over the wetland beside Priest Lake in Idaho.

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Thousands of 'otherworldly' animals live beneath the ocean in an area that may be mined for metals.

A wealth of biodiversity has been found in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area earmarked for exploitation by mineral firms

Scientists have discovered more than 5,000 new species living on the seabed in an untouched area of the Pacific Ocean that has been identified as a future hotspot for deep-sea mining, according to a review of the environmental surveys done in the area.

It is the first time the previously unknown biodiversity of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-rich area of the ocean floor that spans 1.7m sq miles between Hawaii and Mexico in the Pacific, has been comprehensively documented. The research will be critical to assessing the risk of extinction of the species, given contracts for deep-sea mining in the near-pristine area appear imminent.

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A Berlin-based startup has raised €2.5 mln in a funding round as it looks to develop a digital solution for the shipping sector to manage and reduce its carbon emissions, as well as engage in the EU ETS.

A France-based carbon startup has launched a new platform to help firms report on their environmental and climate impact, specifically preparing companies for compliance rules due to come into force under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

We need to know more about what goes into plastics in the first place and better regulation of how recycled products are used

• Dr Charlotte Lloyd is a researcher in environmental chemistry at the University of Bristol

Sometimes it feels like we are simply drowning in plastic. Over the past five decades plastic products have found their way into almost every aspect of our daily lives. Global plastic production has reached a total of 8bn tonne – that’s 1 tonne for every person currently on the planet – with plastic pollution expected to triple by 2060.

Current best estimates are that only about 10% of plastic ever produced has been recycled. Despite this, the idea of circular economy in the plastics industry is often cited as the magic bullet: we will simply reuse the plastic we have already made and reduce the impact of plastic pollution. But new evidence points to the flaws in this plan. A report by Greenpeace has found that recycled plastic can be even more toxic, and is no fix for pollution.

Dr Charlotte Lloyd is a researcher and lecturer in environmental chemistry at the University of Bristol

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One explanation is that their behaviour is a reaction to past trauma inflicted on one member of the pod by humans

Recent accounts of “attacks” on vessels by orcas off the Iberian peninsula are challenging the way we expect the natural world to behave. Increasing in number since 2020, from northern Portugal to the strait of Gibraltar, these incidents suggest the need for a cetacean scene investigation team. On 4 May, in one of the most extreme events, orcas sank a yacht.

“There were two smaller orcas and one larger,” the skipper Werner Schaufelberger told German magazine Yacht. “The little ones shook the rudder at the back while the big one repeatedly backed up and rammed the boat with full force from the side.”

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The detailed prototype of an open-source metadata system was unveiled this week, demonstrating how users will be able to more easily navigate carbon markets on a single platform, with data collected from across the diverse landscape of carbon registries.

European carbon dropped sharply on Thursday morning, reaching its lowest in four months as traders offloaded length after prices had dropped through a key technical level in the previous session and natural gas prices extended heavy losses for a fourth session.

Government minister pushes back against EU and US calls for removal of Sultan al-Jaber as head of COP28.

An Oslo-headquartered engineered removals company has signed an agreement with a provider of durable mineral carbon storage as they target the launch of a 100,000-tonne direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) plant in Iceland in 2027.

Fears biodiversity proposals could be abandoned amid opposition from lobby groups and some countries

MEPs have been accused of whipping up “a culture war against nature” after the fisheries and agriculture committees voted against the EU’s biodiversity restoration law.

Last June, the European Commission revealed proposals for legally binding targets to restore wildlife on land, rivers and the sea for member states. The nature restoration law was announced alongside separate legislation proposing a crackdown on chemical pesticides with the aim of reversing the catastrophic loss of wildlife on the continent.

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A 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).

Investment in clean energy technologies is significantly outpacing spending on fossil fuels as affordability and security concerns triggered by the global energy crisis strengthen momentum, the IEA said in a report published on Thursday.