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Marine sediments are the world’s largest store of carbon, and fiords in particular are a massive sink. But New Zealand doesn’t even have an oceans policy to develop blue carbon climate policy. Rebecca J McLeod, Senior Research Fellow in Marine Ecology, University of Otago William Austin, Professor in marine geology, University of St Andrews Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Despite several cold snaps in May that brought early dustings of snow, a warmer start to winter has meant most of that has now melted

• Bureau of Meteorology puts Australia on ‘El Niño alert’
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Australia’s ski season will start with no skiing, no snowboarding, no snow – and a drying El Niño may be to blame.

Due to a “lack of snow,” Thredbo Resort has closed its mountain to skiing and snowboarding this long weekend, a spokesperson said – just as it kicks off its official winter season.

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ACT votes on law to ban new gas connections for homes and businesses, in a major coup for electrification and a new blow to the fossil fuel lobby.

The post ACT passes first law in Australia banning gas in new homes, as fossil empire strikes back appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Two states will soon end logging of native forests, but what about the other states? The federal government has powers to intervene but also faces obstacles to nationwide protection of these forests. Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Spain expected to surpass 50% average renewables mark on its grid this year, beating neighbouring EU powerhouses to the milestone.

The post Spain on track to pass 50 pct renewable energy generation in 2023 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

ACT consumers face minimum rise in electricity bills thanks to its 100 pct renewable policy as households in other states blown away by soaring costs of fossil fuels.

The post Low cost wind and solar protect ACT consumers from bill shock once again appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

The governor of Kenya's Kajiado has ripped up all carbon offset deals signed with projects in the county on grounds they were too opaque for local communities, local media reported, in another signal of growing government intervention in the global voluntary market.

Singapore-based carbon Climate Impact X (CIX) on Thursday launched its planned spot trading platform for voluntary carbon credits, CIX Exchange.

Wind and solar combined produced more electricity than fossil fuels in May across in the EU for the first time, a new report has revealed.

A Virginia regulatory board on Wednesday voted to rescind the state’s RGGI-linked cap-and-trade regulation after considering the legal implications of doing so during an unprecedented closed-door session of a public meeting, with the final repeal headed to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s (R) desk for review amid the spectre of probable lawsuits in the coming months.

Spot carbon credit prices under Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regime inched down in May as the programme’s annual true-up neared, with newer vintage credits attracting a slight premium, according to a report published Wednesday.

When the rainforests burned, the leaf litter did too – and with it, billions of invertebrates vital to healthy ecosystems. Heloise Gibb, Professor, La Trobe University Nick Porch, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Earth Science, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A public survey found 86% of people want more space for nature in the city. The city council is already taking steps to add green space and increase biodiversity, which should boost public wellbeing. Matthew Selinske, Senior Research Fellow, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The EU’s flagship emissions trading scheme (ETS) led to a reduction of carbon emissions of around 10% between 2005-12 with no adverse impact on employment, according to a recent study.

The second current vintage auction of Washington state’s WCI-modelled cap-and-trade programme sold all allowances above the scheme’s lower reserve tier trigger price, though the first advance sale settled well below that, according to results published Wednesday.

COP28 UN climate talks host UAE on Wednesday backed an EU-led effort to set near-term global clean energy goals, taking a further step to bolster efforts to wean the world off fossil fuels despite the Gulf state's reluctance to explicitly call for an end to oil and gas use.

The UAE on Wednesday launched an alliance to advance carbon market involvement as a means of supporting the nation’s transition to a green economy, with a voluntary carbon market (VCM) exchange named as a founding member.

Brazil's Amazonas state has called on public conservation units to submit applications to create carbon credits from avoided deforestation projects, while Tocantins state formalised its previously-announced deal with commodity trader Mercuria to certify hundreds of millions of jurisdictional REDD+ units.

Majid Al Suwaidi says governments not in agreement yet over whether issue should be on agenda

UN climate talks this year might skirt the vital question of whether and how to phase out fossil fuels, as nations have not yet agreed to discuss the issue, one of the top officials hosting the talks has said.

Majid Al Suwaidi, director-general of the Cop28 climate talks for its host nation, United Arab Emirates, said governments were not in agreement over whether the phase-out of fossil fuels should be on the agenda for the conference, which begins in November.

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