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There is estimated 60% chance event will develop by end of July, and 80% chance of it by end of September

The chance of an El Niño weather phenomenon developing in the coming months has risen, the United Nations has said, warning that it could fuel higher global temperatures and possibly new heat records.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday that it now estimated there was a 60% chance that El Niño would develop by the end of July, and an 80% chance it would do so by the end of September.

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Single-use e-cigarettes send tonnes of valuable lithium to landfill in the UK. Why not ban them, as Australia did?

Take a walk down any busy street, and you’re bound to find dozens of candy-coloured plastic cylinders littering the ground. Millions of these disposable vapes are now thrown away every month in the UK. And hidden inside each one is a lithium battery – made of a material crucial for the transition to renewables.

Last month, I found myself buying an Elf Bar disposable vape on a night out. I try not to make a habit of vaping, but it feels far too easy to pick one up when they’re eyecatchingly displayed right next to the chewing gum in every corner shop. For weeks, the vape lay next to my bin. I knew I had to recycle it, but how do you actually go about doing that? I soon found myself falling down a blueberry smoke-filled rabbit hole.

Emma Snaith is deputy audience editor at the Guardian.

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Commodities trading firm Vitol has entered into a strategic partnership with Danish tech company ZeroNorth, through with the partners will share access to maritime optimisation and emissions reduction services.

A report published Wednesday has quantified the different reputational risk levels facing firms which undertake extractive projects close to environmentally-sensitive sites, finding that publicly-listed companies are 77% more likely to see damage to their business than those that are private.

A Brussels-based steel association has suggested that the "worst" impacts on the sector of the energy and inflation crisis is now "behind" the region but that 2023 demand for steel will be lower year-on-year, according to a release on Wednesday.

The Northern Territory government will allow the expansion fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, after the government announced it was satisfied the recommendations of an independent inquiry into the practice had been met.

A lack of policy and regulatory clarity surrounding the nature-based carbon market is making it difficult for project developers to make investment decisions, just as the fledgling biodiversity market is emerging as a potential rival, panellists told a conference on Wednesday.

Dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer and air pollution are often found in cosmetics, personal care products and cleaners

Some of the most common consumer products probably release 5,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in American homes annually, new research on the dangerous class of chemicals finds.

The research, which analyzed ingredient lists across dozens of product categories, found the most concerning levels in general purpose cleaners, art supplies and laundry detergents, while the individual product that emitted the most VOCs was mothballs.

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Oil and gas company Santos has closed four non-binding memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for storage of upwards of 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually at a CCS facility in Timor-Leste, that could seek carbon credits under Australian and international schemes.

Families in Rhyl decry ‘shameful’ lack of consultation before removal of Drift Park play area to make way for flood defences

The developer Balfour Beatty and Denbighshire council have been accused of ignoring the needs of children by ripping out a playground in the deprived Welsh town of Rhyl to make way for a £92m flood defence project.

People in the town told the Guardian they were given no warning that the popular Drift Park playground would be removed, despite the consultation process having been carried out with global engineering consultants Mott MacDonald.

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PM says he is pleased to contribute to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot as the king ‘has long championed conservation’

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Australia is gifting King Charles III a donation to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot to mark his coronation.

The government has pledged $10,000 to help conserve the critically endangered “shy and rarely seen” species in honour of the monarch, on behalf of the people of Australia.

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A blockchain carbon offsetting firm on Wednesday announced a partnership with a carbon accounting firm to provide comprehensive end-to-end solutions to clients.

Conservationists say government must stop licensing ‘unsustainable’ harvest of eggs from amber-listed birds

Licences have been issued for more than 160,000 eggs to be taken from black-headed gull nests since 2019, government data shows, as conservationists call for the eggs to be “taken off all menus”.

Each spring, thousands of eggs are collected from the amber-listed seabird’s nests and sold under licences issued by the government’s wildlife watchdog, Natural England. They are considered a delicacy in fine-dining restaurants, known for their creamy yellow yolks and beautiful speckled shells, and can sell for more than £8 each.

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Quality and reputational risk more than price are decisive factors for buyers of nature-based carbon credits, with investors seeking to ensure that such projects have the ability to deliver on meeting climate and environmental goals, a conference heard on Wednesday.

Research from a carbon project ratings agency suggests that companies that purchase and retire credits also tend to implement greater in-scope emissions cuts than those that do not, contravening criticism of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) that offset-buying distracts from direct corporate climate action.

Voters are finally furious about water pollution, but tackling it means unpicking a complex web of assaults from source to sea

I can’t help feeling a small surge of gratitude every time an environmental issue breaks the surface. That the state of England’s rivers seems at last to have become an election issue feels slightly miraculous, after so many years in which campaigners have swum against the political flow.

In wards across the country, people who are furious about the pollution of their rivers and coasts seem prepared to vote accordingly in Thursday’s local elections. The Labour party has at last smelled blood in the water. Keir Starmer has promised “real action on this scandal”, but the action doesn’t yet extend even to renationalising the water companies, though this policy would be overwhelmingly popular.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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Papua New Guinea will publicly release its carbon market regulations and REDD+ guidelines next month after they are expected to be approved by the National Executive Council in June, the country’s environment minister told Carbon Pulse on Wednesday, as the head of the country's climate authority responded to corruption allegations that have consumed the body.

Bowen says agreement has been reached with states over scale and timing of first storage auctions under new capacity mechanism.

The post “Gigawatts of storage:” Bowen says deal reached with states for first capacity auctions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Two decades of satellite data have allowed us to map fires across the country and identify areas facing high fire risks. Fire activity has increased in several major regions over the past decade. Rick McRae, Adjunct Professor, School of Science at UNSW Canberra, UNSW Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

South Korea is considering lifting the current limit on offset use for ETS compliance, which could further boost domestic demand for Article 6-aligned credits, panellists told a conference on Tuesday.