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New Zealand infrastructure investor and Australia's politicians' super fund establish a new wind, solar and storage developer.

The post Institutional investors Mint a new wind, solar and storage developer in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The efforts, including restoring grassland in the Georgian steppe, will work in cooperation with local communities to repair biodiversity hotspots

From the wilderness of the Finnish boreal forest to the busy Solent estuary, seven landscape restoration projects across Europe have been boosted by more than $26m (£21m) from the Endangered Landscapes Programme (ELP).

The projects cover an area 18 times the size of Greater London and include returning nature to the Iberian Highlands, restoring grassland in the Georgian steppe, and replacing coniferous plantations with natural riverine and deciduous forests in the Rhodope mountains in south-east Bulgaria.

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The Australian government has delayed the release of its final policy proposal to overhaul the Safeguard Mechanism, due to its focus on its energy price legislation that has now been legislated by parliament.

The New Zealand government on Thursday announced the country’s emissions trading scheme price settings between 2023-27, keeping much of the existing architecture in place and making only a marginal increase to the Cost Containment Reserve trigger price despite the recommendation from the Climate Change Commission to more than double it.

Scientists behind car number plate study say ‘potentially catastrophic’ decline must be reversed

The number of insects splattered on vehicle number plates in Britain fell by 64% between 2004 and 2022, according to a survey.

Each summer citizen scientists record the number of insect splats on their number plates on an app after a journey. The latest Bugs Matter report, produced by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, found another drop in 2022 compared with 2021, with the long-term decrease jumping by five percentage points.

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Post-pandemic relaxation of restrictions could weaken animal protection and pose a hazard to public health, say experts

China appears to be weakening its post-Covid restrictions on the farming of wildlife such as porcupines, civets and bamboo rats, which raises a new risk to public health and biodiversity, warn NGOs and experts.

Before the pandemic, wildlife farming was promoted by government agencies as an easy way for rural Chinese people to get rich. But China issued an outright ban on hunting, trading and transporting wildlife, as well as the consumption as food, after public health experts suggested the virus could have originated from the supply chain.

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Chronically stressed and diseased koalas in clinical care are often euthanised, rather than released back into the wild. Edward Narayan, Senior Lecturer in Animal Science, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Gas price cap passes parliament, electricity futures prices plunge and Greens hail "the end of gas" with a package designed to take the fossil fuel out of homes.

The post Electricity prices plunge as Greens hail cap and “beginning of the end of gas” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

AEMO’s head of system design, Merryn York, on the engineering roadmap to 100 per cent renewables. Plus: The gas price cap debate.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: The road to 100 per cent renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The forthcoming annual report from the California Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC) will examine how no-trading zones for cap-and-trade facilities located near overburdened communities could work, as well as numerous other carbon market reform elements that could include significantly altering allowance supply.

A consultancy and an analytics firm have teamed up to introduce a new offset ratings service for nature-based projects in the voluntary carbon market.

Equinor to collaborate on the offshore wind plans of Australian renewables company Nexsphere to build a 1GW project 30km off the coast of north-east Tasmania.

The post Norway oil giant backs gigawatt-scale offshore wind farm and green hydrogen in Tasmania appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New report reveals Russia's invasion of Ukraine has delivered Australia's coal exporters windfall profits of up to $45 billion, with gas exporters reaping almost as much.

The post Australian coal exporters reap tens of billions of dollars in super profits from Russia’s war appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Major new ANU report uses “heat maps” to identify which sites across Australia are – and are not – suitable for large-scale wind and solar projects.

The post Australia needs much more solar and wind power, but where are the best sites? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Washington's progress in achieving transportation sector emission milestones will be a key determinant of carbon market prices in the state, but allowance values will still skyrocket to the programme's price ceiling regardless of this outcome, analysts said at a webinar held Wednesday.

Compliance offsets minted by California regulator ARB this week reversed course after falling for two consecutive periods, according to government data published Wednesday, while the price premium for credits with direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs) climbed to a new all-time high. 

An alliance set up to bring clarity and scale a biodiversity crediting market, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), will formally launch at a side event at the UN's biodiversity summit in Montreal on Friday, a member told Carbon Pulse.

A large group of developing countries walked out of COP15 UN biodiversity negotiations in the early hours of Wednesday morning, pointing to continued struggles related to money.

Snowy 2.0 contractor buys out crippled partner, but questions remain over fate of some other key projects including a transmission link and a gas generator.

The post Snowy 2.0 contractor snaps up assets of collapsed partner at bargain price appeared first on RenewEconomy.