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Seaweed farming can be a powerful tool to capture carbon and transform regional economies in the EU but it is being hindered by an overly-complicated and costly regulatory process, according to a report prepared for the European Commission and published on Friday.

Norway-based Chooose on Friday announced a $15 mln capital raise from several venture capital firms to expand its climate tech platform that provides access to carbon offsets, removals, and sustainable aviation fuels.

The UK should set out a clearer pre-and post-2030 pathway for its ETS and give assurances for industry on carbon leakage risk, according to a government-commissioned review of the nation's net zero strategy published on Friday that also called for voluntary carbon market regulation within two years.

The safeguard mechanism has been largely pointless – it’s unclear whether the changes will be a strong deterrent for fossil fuel companies

There are three issues that will determine whether the major climate announcement the Albanese government made this week can deliver the transformational change Australia needs.

The details can be mind-numbing, but a quick summary for those still enjoying a summer break: on Monday the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, released a review into Australia’s carbon credit system. It followed expert allegations the scheme is “largely a sham” as it has failed to deliver real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

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Wild camping on part of a Devon moor has been ruled illegal by the High Court unless permission given.

EUAs fell to their lowest levels since the start of the week on Friday morning, as energy markets continued to drop amid bearish fossil fuel generation conditions and carbon's short term price correlation with natural gas rose to its highest level in a year.

A luxury cruise has been hailed as the start of a new age of Indian tourism. But conservationists fear the impact of increased river traffic and pollution

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has officially launched the “world’s longest river cruise” from the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The luxury voyage will last 51 days, travelling 3,200km via Dhaka in Bangladesh to Dibrugarh in Assam, crossing 27 river systems.

The three-deck MV Ganga Vilas, with 18 suites, is the latest venture in a trend for cruise tourism in India being promoted by the government. Modi hailed the cruise industry on the Ganges as a “landmark moment”, which will herald a new age of tourism in India.

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The government is urged to take 25 actions by 2025 and phase out gas boilers within a decade.

Wealthy landowner Alexander Darwall wins case against national park after arguing right to pitch tent on moors did not exist

The right to wild camp on Dartmoor has been overturned after a court case brought to the high court by a wealthy landowner.

Dartmoor was the only place in England and Wales where there was a right to camp under the stars without seeking permission from the landowner.

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It’s been very wet in San Francisco and parts of New Zealand, while extreme cold has swept across Russia

Over the past couple of weeks, California has seen the effects of a persistent atmospheric river bringing in constant spells of rain from the Pacific across the state. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service (NWS) have released rainfall totals for some areas of California over the course of 16 days from 26 December 2022 through to 11 January 2023. Over the 16-day period downtown San Francisco received 345mm and in nearby Oakland totals reached 327.7mm, breaking their 16-day rainfall record. The significance of the flooding is only increased by having had extremely dry soils through the summer and autumn with severe droughts, therefore preventing soils from easily soaking up the intense rainfall that has occurred over recent weeks.

Tropical Cyclone Hale affected the North Island of New Zealand on 9-12 January. Severe thunderstorms brought 156.5mm to Hikuwai in Gisborne in the space of 12 hours, and more than 100mm to other places around Gisborne in the same period. Over the course of 18 hours, 219mm was recorded at Pinnacles in the Coromandel ranges and in Whitianga aerodrome on 10 January, making it the fifth wettest January day on record.

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Lobbying industry flexed muscle to ensure bills that aimed to set stricter standards on PFAS compounds went nowhere

All legislation aimed at regulating toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” died in the Democratic-controlled US Congress last session as companies flexed their lobbying muscle and bills did not gain enough Republican support to overcome a Senate filibuster.

The failure comes after public health advocates and Democratic lawmakers expressed optimism at the legislative session’s outset that bills that would protect the public from dangerous exposure to the chemicals could gain sufficient bipartisan support.

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Asian banks are increasingly recognising nature-related risks as important, but are making little headway in converting that recognition into clearly stated expectations from their clients, WWF Singapore’s annual Sustainable Banking Assessment (SUSBA) has found.

The price for Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) ended trading up 2.8% Friday as the market continues to react positively to the Safeguard Mechanism reforms, while total voluntary Kyoto-era carbon credit retirements for 2022 reached a record 17.3 million.

Campaigners warn ‘breathtaking conflict of interest’ could jeopardise climate negotiating process

Sultan Al Jaber, the government minister for United Arab Emirates who will preside over this year’s crucial UN climate talks, will retain his roles as head of the country’s oil company and sustainable energy businesses, UAE has confirmed.

Campaigners have been angered by the decision, revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday and confirmed on Thursday by the UAE government, which they see as a clear conflict of interest, with some likening it to putting a tobacco company head in charge of an anti-smoking treaty, and warning it could jeopardise the negotiating process and hasten climate breakdown.

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Volumes continued to drop in China’s emissions market over the past week, with price levels remaining rangebound while analysts expect trading activity to be stalled this quarter given holiday factors and the lack of regulatory updates from the central government.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including grazing goats, a recovering griffon and relaxing monkeys

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The Australian Greens are laying the groundwork for a fight with the government over the Safeguard Mechanism once parliament resumes, centred on how coal, oil, and gas facilities covered by the scheme are treated.

Climate campaigners accuse leaders of hypocrisy as flights emit as much CO2 in a week as 350,000 cars

Private jet emissions quadrupled as 1,040 planes flew in and out of airports serving Davos during the 2022 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.

Climate campaigners accused the rich and powerful of hypocrisy in flying in on private jets to a conference discussing climate breakdown.

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Rising numbers of people are taking air pollution measurements to push authorities to take action

More and more people are making their own air pollution measurements and using these to press for action from national and local governments.

Last year Mark Tebbutt installed Chorley’s seventh air pollution monitor. Since 2013 Tebbutt, his family and friends have been buying and operating their own air pollution instruments. These are mounted on garden fences and on the sides of houses across the Lancashire town. You can find their data online alongside those from more than 30,000 citizen scientists around the world.

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Tens of thousands of ships from every era lie undisturbed at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Some of the world’s most advanced underwater photography now reveals how miraculously the cold, brackish water has preserved them

• Extracted from the book Ghost Ships of the Baltic Sea by Jonas Dahm and Carl Douglas, published by Max Ström

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