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Media outlets and big political parties ignored climate change. Will they recognise their mistake, as the issue gets bigger for voters?

The post The political and media establishment ignored climate – but voters didn’t appeared first on RenewEconomy.

You may not have heard of ‘temperate mesophotic ecosystems’, but science is beginning to understand the vital role these ocean zones play – and the need to protect them. James Bell, Professor of Marine Biology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Alice Rogers, Lecturer in Marine Biology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Francesca Strano, PhD Candidate in Marine Biology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Valerio Micaroni, Postdoctoral Researcher, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Focussing on carbon dioxide alone will not keep world within 1.5C limit of global heating, warn scientists

Cutting methane sharply now is crucial, as focusing on carbon dioxide alone will not be enough to keep rising temperatures within livable limits, scientists have warned.

CO2 is the greenhouse gas most responsible for heating the planet, with most of it coming from the burning of fossil fuels. As a result, it has been the major focus of international efforts to prevent climate breakdown.

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A carbon credit ratings agency has awarded ratings to three more projects in the past week, but only one was given a high likelihood of avoiding or removing one tonne of CO2 equivalent, while the other two were given a moderate chance.

The European Commission’s idea to raise €20 billion by selling carbon allowances held in the MSR faces a fierce pushback from many EU capitals, which fear the resulting lower prices would hamper the bloc’s decarbonisation pathway while drastically lowering their ETS-derived revenues.

Soaring temperatures in subcontinent, which have caused widespread suffering, would be extraordinarily rare without global heating

The heatwave scorching India and Pakistan has been made 30 times more likely by the climate crisis, according to scientists. Extreme temperatures and low rainfall since mid-March have caused widespread suffering, including deaths, crop losses, forest fires, and cuts to power and water supplies.

The study is the latest to show the already severe impacts of global heating on millions of people, even though the global average temperature has risen only 1.2C above pre-industrial levels to date. If it rises to 2C, heatwaves as intense as the current one would be expected as often as every five years in India and Pakistan, the scientists estimated.

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Covid disruptions in China and rising costs are affecting supplies of solar panels and wind turbine parts, while domestic energy prices climb

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Supply chain delays from China and the soaring cost of steel and other materials are combining to slow the advance of renewable energy in Australia and elsewhere, a leading insurer and industry groups say.

The cost of steel for wind turbine blades had risen by 50% or more since the Covid pandemic’s start, even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted a scramble to accelerate the switch away from coal, oil and gas to clean energy alternatives, according to GCube, a global insurer of renewables that has recently opened its first Australian office in Sydney.

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Annual survey is important for understanding health of the Atlantic puffin’s breeding colonies

• The annual Farne Islands puffin count returns – in pictures

It may well be one of the least hi-tech nature counts in the UK, and involves rangers sticking their arms blindly down a hole knowing there will be one of five outcomes: they will feel either a puffin egg, a puffling, excrement, nothing at all – or the annoyed reaction of a puffin as a giant hand suddenly enters its home.

“They will quite often give you a wee nip,” said Harriet Reid, an area ranger at the National Trust, smiling. “I can show you a couple of scars … it does hurt. But I’m used to it.”

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The EU’s new REPowerEU strategy risks tapping the brakes on the upward trajectory of the bloc’s carbon permit prices, analysts have warned, thereby threatening to hinder progress on Europe’s climate objectives.

Technology voluntary emissions reductions (VERs) extended losses for a seventh consecutive week to set a new nine-month low as offsets continued to track tumbling stock markets, while nature-based credits retained their recent resilience to move sideways.

A bill is to be introduced in Parliament in two days' time to allow the commercial growing of gene-edited crops in England.

The tricky mix of scaling the voluntary carbon market (VCM) amid the machinations of international trade disputes came to the fore at a conference Monday after an Indonesian minister accused the West of double standards.

EUAs fell to their lowest in nearly four weeks as selling stretched into a fourth day amid a weak auction and continued concerns over the European Commission's intention to sell as many as 250 million EUAs to fund its shift away from Russian fossil fuels.

A Chinese province has become the first to reward shellfish farming with carbon credits, though market participants were dubious about the new units and many details remain unclear.

Vulnerable island nation split over project to dredge millions of tonnes of sand to create land for resorts and industry at Addu Atoll, made a Unesco reserve for its seagrass and mangroves

A controversial project to reclaim land on an atoll threatened by rising sea levels has been announced in the Maldives, with hopes that it may boost tourism balanced against fears that it could “choke the ecosystem”.

The low-lying island nation, one of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, has commissioned a major shore protection and land reclamation scheme using sand dredged from a lagoon, despite concerns about the impact on this Unesco biosphere reserve.

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The hardest to save will be five reptiles, four birds, four frogs, two mammals and one fish, for which there are no recent confirmed records of their continued existence. Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Hayley Geyle, PhD candidate, Charles Darwin University John Woinarski, Professor (conservation biology), Charles Darwin University Mark Lintermans, Associate professor, University of Canberra Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The banking giant has reportedly suspended its responsible investing leader Stuart Kirk.

Change of government will see a clean-out of fossil fuel industry lobbyists that held sway in the corridors of power for nearly a decade.

The post Fossil fuel industry loses its grip over Australia’s climate and energy policies appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Global Warming Policy Foundation is lobby group not charity and brings no public good, say signatories

The Global Warming Policy Foundation, a climate sceptic thinktank, has been reported to the Charity Commission by the Green MP Caroline Lucas and Extinction Rebellion.

The move comes after the Guardian revealed that the group received funding from fossil fuel interests.

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Labor needs to move quickly on climate and energy. A trip to Japan for the Quad meeting should be followed by a visit to a wind or solar farm.

The post Labor must move quickly on climate and energy: Here’s a list of things to do appeared first on RenewEconomy.