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The International Chamber of Shipping is proposing a fast-starting $50/tonne “fund and reward” carbon levy for governments to adopt at upcoming crunch UN talks to address the maritime sector’s climate impact.

Minette Batters accuses ministers of ‘dereliction of duty’ in failing to ensure safety of agricultural imports

Britain is in danger of a “disastrous” food scandal, owing to lax post-Brexit border controls on agricultural imports, the leader of the UK’s biggest farming organisation has warned.

Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, accused ministers of a “dereliction of duty” in failing to ensure food and other agricultural imports were safe. She warned that the government had failed to learn the lessons of the horsemeat scandal of 2013.

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Companies will soon be on the hook to disclose their full scope of value-chain emissions, but while many are already including these under their own climate targets, the process is riddled with technical complexities that are dampening the incentive to act.

EUAs made a modest move higher on Friday morning, reaching a new six-month high amid very light trading before sinking back as the strength of the recent rally towards €100 appeared to dissipate.

German utility Uniper reported a 15% drop in fossil fuel burn covered by the EU ETS in full-year results published Friday, also taking a €4 billion hit to revenues after losing its Russian subsidiary due to the war in Ukraine, while France's EDF posted a record loss due to extreme lows in nuclear availability.

Brazil-headquartered SocialCarbon on Friday released a methodology for public consultation that will award carbon credits for dealing with harmful algae blooms in freshwater, its latest in a growing number of carbon methodologies with strong biodiversity components.

When discussions take place about environmental protection, we are always ignored. That’s a huge mistake

This week the UK government is holding a meeting to discuss generating more finance to conserve and restore nature. This is following its adoption of a global biodiversity framework in Montreal – the so-called biodiversity Cop15 – in December. Given that it is the destruction and loss of nature that drives the biodiversity crisis, and the framework aims to protect 30% of the Earth by 2030, this all seems like good news.

But as with the discussions in Canada over the framework itself, when it comes to the money, Indigenous peoples are being left out in the cold yet again. While the meeting will bring together private, public sector and philanthropy groups, we have no seat at the table. That’s a mistake. Addressing this crisis is not simply about getting the numbers right. The question of how these funds will be spent should be part of the agenda too, including who will spend them.

Minnie Degawan is a Kakaney/Igorot activist from the Cordillera region of the Philippines and a member of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB)

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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The spot price ticked up only marginally in China’s emissions trading scheme over the past week as two block trades adding some much-needed liquidity to the market, though companies remain eager for fresh policy direction.

SSW phenomenon is linked to polar vortex, an area of low pressure across the North Pole

There has been keen interest over recent weeks in the much-anticipated sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event, which only began this week but is now well under way. The SSW phenomenon is linked to the polar vortex, an area of low pressure across the North Pole that forms within the stratosphere during autumn, as temperatures plummet in the absence of solar radiation.

SSW events are very common and occur two in every three winters. It remains unclear how climate change will affect these events in the future. As the vortex develops during autumn and into winter, westerly stratospheric winds increase in strength. But in the event of a SSW episode, stratospheric temperatures rise rapidly in the space of only a few days, leading to the weakening or even reversal of these winds. The zonal mean winds at 10hPa pressure – about 30km high – turned to an easterly direction on 15 Wednesday February, significantly displacing the polar vortex away from the North Pole. The vortex and zonal winds are forecast to stay much weaker than normal for the remainder of February and into the first half of March.

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Adelaide Festival in South Australia has partnered with developers Wilderlands to give attendees the opportunity to buy voluntary biodiversity credits from a wetlands conservation project, an early example of small-scale community events using the emerging market to help prop up nature protection.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a lucky sea eagle, a hungry monkey and a dozing panda

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A market expert has urged the Australian government to take its time to develop its nature repair market, warning that other jurisdictions pursuing similar schemes were sleep walking into a “massive greenwashing nightmare”.

Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed will criticise ministers’ attempts to repeal Human Rights Act

Labour is planning a new wave of human rights legislation to guarantee clean air quality and proper nutrition for all, the shadow justice secretary will announce on Friday.

Steve Reed will vow to fight “tooth and nail” against any attempt by the government to repeal the Human Rights Act, and instead look to roll out the “next frontier” of “fundamental freedoms”.

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South Korea's environment ministry is planning to punish companies that make forged sustainability claims with a fine of up to 3 million won ($2,300), following a string of legal complaints against large companies accused of greenwashing, including through carbon offset use.

Most of Iran is wild and beautiful, but development threatens to degrade highly-prized ecosystems. Now new research is honing in on the hotspots, to preserve biodiversity in expanded protected areas. April Reside, Lecturer, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

RHS gardeners say buds on trees suggest glorious spring blooms and season will potentially last longer

The UK is expected to have a spring of beautiful blossom, after a heatwave followed by a cold early February set the trees up for peak condition blooms.

Gardeners at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) have been studying the buds on the trees in their gardens across the country. They say buds suggest trees will be floriferous with blossom this spring because of the perfect conditions last year for bud formation, and also because early flowering has been prevented by the cold this February.

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The Papua New Guinean government has attempted to quell fears over its governance of carbon market projects in the country, following a critical investigation by Australian new programme, Four Corners.

Vast Solar’s Craig Wood on why concentrated solar power can finally have its day in the sun, plus its Port Augusta project and NY listing plans.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Will concentrated solar finally have its day in the sun? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NSW pilot program to guide how homes and communities can kick out gas and use rooftop solar and electric cookers, water and heating systems.

The post “A slam dunk for families:” Pilot launched to kick gas out of homes and communities appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Enel Green Power is making first concrete pours at its first Australian wind farm, just in time for visit of global CEO.

The post Enel boss visits energy giant’s first Australian wind farm in time for first concrete pours appeared first on RenewEconomy.