Feed aggregator

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

Dismayed locals and Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson are calling on palace to reconsider large fees

For those living in south London, a stroll next to the colourful flowerbeds in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace was until recently a free weekend activity all could enjoy.

But 18 months ago, locals were horrified to find the gates shut, as they were told they would have to pay up to £29 to visit the gardens in future.

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Exclusive: Environment Agency finds ‘very persistent, mobile and toxic’ PFAS in effluent legally discharged near Wyre estuary

A chemicals company is releasing large quantities of a “forever chemical” described as being “very persistent, mobile and toxic” into the River Wyre in Lancashire each year, and is not breaking any rules.

Earlier this year, the Guardian and Watershed Investigations revealed that effluent coming from the site of AGC Chemicals Europe in Thornton-Cleveleys could contain about 700 types of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS).

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EU member states handed out a total of 56 million EUAs to industrial plants over the last two weeks, bringing the total issuance to just over 87% of this year's maximum, with just two countries yet to begin issuing.

The Global Carbon Lead role is high impact, it is front facing and it is integral to the success of the Low Carbon Strategist organization within Trading Analytics and Insight at BP.

Q4 net credit generation in California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) slightly backed off from recent highs, though substantial volumes of renewable diesel (RD) and electricity outweighed declines in biodiesel and ethanol to push the surplus bank to another all-time high, according to government data published Friday.

A Brazilian non-governmental organisation on Friday launched a new platform that extends its existing CO2 measurement system to forest restoration projects.

Financial entities stepped back from North American carbon markets across the board as allowance prices dipped, while compliance players took the opportunity to raise their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) and RGGI Allowance (RGA) net holdings, data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed Friday.

The ongoing third RGGI programme review should result in significantly tighter annual allowance budgets to reflect ambitious climate targets from member states, and also overhaul the prices and design of the power sector carbon market’s two reserve mechanisms, green groups and business organisations said in public comments published Thursday.

Standards body Verra on Friday said it is implementing a new carbon credit project review process that will shorten evaluation requests, while the organisation separately announced an agreement to help foster climate action in Zambia.

European Commission proposals on new “ecodesign” rules, including a 2029 phase out of sales of fossil fuel boilers, are likely to clash with national laws, it emerged from a consultation with member states this week.

A summary of legislative, regulatory, and policy action on carbon, clean fuel standard, and clean energy markets at the US federal and subnational levels this week, including New York incorporating cap-and-trade in its "conceptual agreement" on the budget, the rescheduling of a hearing for a bill to strengthen California's 2030 GHG target, and the Texas House of Representatives passing a carbon offsets bill. 

The portfolio of one of the world's largest private equity companies emitted 277 MtCO2e over the 10-year period to 2021, according to an investigative report published this week that calls for greater disclosure regulation of unlisted firms and recommends ways to stem the flow of dirty assets into private hands.

Standard Chartered has toughened its target for curbing greenhouse gas emissions associated with its loans to oil and gas companies, as the bank seeks to align with the IEA's net zero 2050 emissions scenario.

European oil and gas producers are set to face an obligation to help store CO2 at an annual rate of 50 million tonnes by 2030, as in the recently-proposed Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).

Rising interest rates and inflation, increased supply chain costs, and a lack of consistent government tenders could be an obstacle to offshore wind development in the EU, despite widespread political backing and industry willingness, according to industry experts.

From LA to La Paz, citizen scientists will document plants and animals for the City Nature Challenge

Hundreds of cities are competing this weekend to collect the most plant and wildlife observations in an urban “bioblitz” as part of a global citizen science challenge.

From Dundee windowsills to San Francisco parks, people are being urged to document whatever flora and fauna they can spot around them in urban areas and upload the photos to the iNaturalist app to help identify rare species.

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The Kent Wildlife Trust has outlined an ambition to increase wildlife abundance and climate resilience across 30% of Kent in new 2030 strategy, to be partly financed by nature-based solutions such as carbon credits, as well as potentially those which fall under upcoming countrywide biodiversity-supportive regulation, it said Friday.

Farmers express concern for their livelihoods after series of deadly attacks on farm animals

German farmers, conservationists and politicians have met at a wolf summit to discuss the animal’s future amid concerns that its population is out of control.

The farmers’ union is calling for a relaxation of rules over when wolves, strictly protected under EU law, can be shot, after a series of highly publicised deadly attacks on farm animals.

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Suella Braverman flags statutory instrument to public order bill as climate protesters renew campaign

Suella Braverman is to give police the power to ban slow walking in traffic by protesters, as Just Stop Oil enters the fifth consecutive day of using the tactic in the latest phase of its climate protest campaign.

The home secretary said a statutory instrument to the public order bill, which passed its final stages in parliament on Wednesday, would stop what she described as the “selfish disruptive protesters [who] are wreaking havoc in people’s everyday lives across the country”.

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