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Norway and Switzerland signed an agreement on Friday to strengthen ties on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR), with the Alpine nation eyeing Norway's vast carbon capture potential to help it reach net zero emissions by mid-century.

Flowers are experiencing a second bloom this year due to the unseasonable temperatures, experts say.

A global offset project developer and carbon market investor has made further inroads into the Argentinian market by signing a second partnership this month with a regional government in the country.

Colombian offset project development may slow after the government halved the credit usage limit against the national carbon tax this month, but the simultaneous expansion of the $4/tonne fee to coal and interest from voluntary market buyers could help sustain demand, stakeholders told Carbon Pulse.

EUAs rose for a second day as traders eyed a key technical level in early trade, before sinking back amid profit-taking in a quiet session, as US traders were expected to be absent for a second day.

Wildcat expert recruited with view to releasing animals in England for first time in hundreds of years

Wildcats could be released in England for the first time in hundreds of years as the Wildlife Trusts recruit an expert to help introduce them back into the wild.

After being hunted to extinction, the European wildcat is now the UK’s rarest native mammal. They are larger than the domestic cat, which are bred from the wildcats of Africa. It has not been spotted in southern England since the 16th century, but now it looks possible that the animal will be found stalking the landscape once more.

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The world’s biggest single-building pig farm has opened in Hubei province, but critics say it will increase the risk of larger animal disease outbreaks

On the southern outskirts of Ezhou, a city in central China’s Hubei province, a giant apartment-style building overlooks the main road. But it is not for office workers or families. At 26 storeys it is by far the biggest single-building pig farm in the world, with a capacity to slaughter 1.2 million pigs a year.

This is China’s answer to its insatiable demand for pork, the most popular animal protein in the country.

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Despite ambitious green goals, the country’s over-reliance on Russian gas has forced it back to coal and expensive imports

Say what you will about Vladimir Putin, but his war on Ukraine did open European eyes to some long-underrated truths. One is that even after more than 70 years of relative peace on the continent, neglecting military security poses grave dangers. Another is that the “green dream” of modern economies powered exclusively by renewable energies remains out of reach – and reliable access to cheap energy supplies remains essential.

While the first truth became starkly apparent as soon as Russian troops crossed into Ukraine on 24 February, the second has only gradually penetrated public awareness. In fact, many have called for an embargo on European imports of Russian gas, arguing that this would not only undermine Moscow’s ability to wage its war, but also accelerate progress toward green Nirvana – all at minimal cost to Europe in terms of lost GDP.

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Mammals were downgraded from endangered to threatened in 2017, even as pollution and habitat loss drive starvation

The deaths of almost 2,000 manatees in Florida’s coastal and inland waterways over the last two years has provoked an alliance of environmental groups to demand an urgent reclassification of the species to officially endangered.

The advocates, led by the non-profit Center for Biological Diversity, insist the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) made a critical error in 2017 by prematurely downgrading the status of the giant aquatic mammals from endangered to merely threatened.

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A group of companies have urged the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to adopt more robust requirements for the use of permanent carbon removal technologies in the organisation’s corporate net zero standard, a document which aims to steer corporates on an emissions reduction pathway that aligns with a 1.5C scenario.

Trading volume in China's national emissions trading scheme continued to increase over the past week as thermal plants began to sell extra allowances to cover their financial losses, while the offset market remained depressed amid severely limited supply.

Some project developers fear that Australia’s biodiversity credit market could become a commercial failure under the proposed framework, while observer groups have expressed concerns over potential perverse outcomes.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a fox squirrel, a Balkan lynx and wild turkeys

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Governments in the Indo-Pacific should invest in blue carbon demonstration projects in order to provide proof to private investors that they can deliver financial returns, according to an Australian-funded regional report.

The number of bears in the Italian Alps is gradually increasing after a successful rewilding project that involved bringing bears from Slovenia. Photojournalist Luca Rotondo visited Trentino to take a look at what was happening

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A major Japanese oil company has secured its first forward offtake deal of forestry-based J-Credits, and will seek to roll out forest conservation initiatives across the country, it announced on Friday.

‘This does not bode well,’ reef scientist says, as highest November temperatures reached since 1985

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Ocean temperatures over parts of the Great Barrier Reef have reached record levels this month, sparking fears of a second summer in a row of mass coral bleaching.

Data from the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) shows sea surface temperatures over the northern parts of the reef have been the highest for any November on a record going back to 1985.

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Here are four reasons their victory is so significant. Justine Bell-James, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Chinese renewables giants Goldwind and China Three Gorges say they have produced the world's largest offshore wind turbine, at 16MW per-unit capacity.

The post World’s biggest offshore wind turbine rolls off production line appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia’s carbon capital has a 10-year plan to transition to clean energy. Next Economy’s Amanda Cahill, who helped guide the Gladstone council, explains how and why.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Australia’s carbon capital has a transition plan appeared first on RenewEconomy.