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The Danish commentator has been accused of continuing to misrepresent findings about the costs of cutting emissions, despite pleas from scientists

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If you like your YouTube content to have plenty of references to global elites, industrial complexes, “freedom” and the conservative conspiracy theory of a “Great Reset”, then the British comedian and actor Russell Brand’s channel might be for you.

Brand has more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube and this week his channel turned to the Danish political scientist, Bjørn Lomborg, for a “debate” (not really a debate) on climate change.

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European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen and lawmakers spoke positively about the bloc's Green Deal Industrial Plan as the MEPs gathered for their monthly meeting in Strasbourg on the eve of the expected publication of proposals for key elements. 

French investment firm Mirova has raised $171 million for its first closing of the Mirova Gigaton Fund, a blended debt finance vehicle that aims to accelerate the energy transition in the developing world.

Verra has halted offset issuances at a soil carbon project in Africa that has been subject to scathing criticism from an environmental group regarding additionality and leakage. 

Two climate disclosure bills which would compel corporations in California to publish their impacts on the environment passed the state's Environmental Quality committee, pushing them forward to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

New Zealand should focus on cutting emissions at home rather than rely on international carbon credits to meet its 2030 NDC, a carbon analyst told a conference on Wednesday.

A US federal judge this week set a trial date for a natural gas-fired power generator’s legal challenge to Washington cap-and-trade regulation, while both the electricity generator and state government requested earlier oral arguments on a motion to dismiss the case.

A California Senate committee on Wednesday endorsed legislation to ratchet up the ambition of the state’s 2030 climate target, but lawmakers are also mulling the future incorporation of measures into the bill that would strengthen the programme’s WCI-linked cap-and-trade system and address environmental policy shortcomings in the Scoping Plan.

Shocking scenes of scorched koalas in the 2019-20 bushfires sparked research into cultural burns for wildlife. A two-year study on the world’s second-largest sand island suggests it’s the way to go. Romane H. Cristescu, Researcher in Koala, Detection Dogs, Conservation Genetics and Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast Darren Burns, Community Land & Sea manager at Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, Indigenous Knowledge Kye McDonald, PhD Candidate, University of the Sunshine Coast Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Chancellor silent on home insulation, oil and gas windfall tax, and onshore windfarms – but freezes fuel duty

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The government’s latest budget will do little to meet the UK’s net zero carbon goals, missed opportunities to create a green economy, and would saddle households with high energy bills driven by fossil fuel prices, green campaigners and experts have said.

Jeremy Hunt, chancellor of the exchequer, was a self-styled “green Tory” as a backbencher, and in his speech gave a nod towards the UK’s green ambitions with a boost for nuclear power and for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

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After 40 years Nasa's astronauts finally get a spacesuit upgrade for their next mission to the Moon.

A voluntary carbon market (VCM) data aggregator this week published its second corporate buyers guide that ranks firms according to the share of emissions offset, the price per tonne paid, and the average vintage of credits bought, increasing the number of companies covered and better accounting for carbon removal forward agreements.

Up to 1.2m butts to be diverted from landfill to a laboratory where scientists will work to transform the byproduct into a polystyrene replacement

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Up to 1.2m cigarette butts could be consumed by oyster mushrooms that break down toxins and microplastics as part of a trial funded by the Victorian government.

Up to 9bn plastic cigarette butts are discarded in Australia each year, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, seeping harmful microplastics and chemicals such as arsenic into waterways and soil.

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A Danish ministerial event taking place next week aims to rekindle political interest in the UN climate change negotiations, with a heavy agenda expected over the next nine months for global governments ahead of the COP28 climate talks in the UAE.

European carbon prices were sharply lower in volatile trading amid a persistent "risk-off" mood across markets on Wednesday, as big losses among bank stocks dragged down equity indices in Europe.

Gas demand is falling quickly in Australia, but the market operator frets that not enough supply will be available when it is really needed.

The post AEMO sounds warning as it manages tricky balancing act on gas generation appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A project with outdoor gear company Patagonia and NGOs will protect the Vjosa, one of the continent’s last free-flowing waterways

One of the last wild rivers in Europe, home to more than 1,000 animal and plant species, has been declared a national park by the Albanian government, making the Vjosa the first of its kind on the continent.

The Vjosa River flows 168 miles (270kms) from the Pindus mountains in Greece through narrow canyons, plains and forests in Albania to the Adriatic coast. Free from dams or other artificial barriers, it is rich in aquatic species and supports myriad wildlife, including otters, the endangered Egyptian vulture and the critically endangered Balkan lynx, of which only 15 are estimated to remain in Albania.

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Scores of trees destroyed in a few hours on Tuesday night despite petition to save them signed by 16,000 people

More than 100 mature trees have been cut down in the centre of Plymouth in a move campaigners said was reminiscent of the needless felling of thousands of trees in Sheffield.

Despite widespread opposition from local people, the Conservative council in the Devon city cordoned off the trees with metal fencing, sent in security guards and destroyed more than 100 using chainsaws in a few hours. The move came within days of a highly critical report on the needless destruction of trees by Sheffield city council – known as the “chainsaw massacre”. An inquiry report found the council was guilty of “a serious and sustained failure of strategic leadership”.

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Gujarat accused of being possessive after conservationists pleaded for more of the endangered lions to be moved to other areas

Lion conservation efforts in the Indian state of Gujarat have been so successful that a new sanctuary will be opened to house the abundant numbers of big cats.

Gir national park is home to the world’s only Asiatic lion population and the only place outside Africa where a lion can be seen in its natural habitat.

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