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Boardrooms around Australia will be noting what shareholders can do if you don’t take climate change issues seriously

Mike Cannon-Brookes and his collaborators have succeeded in sending shock waves throughout the boardrooms of major companies around Australia. His campaign, via shareholder activism, has resulted in a mass clean-out of the board of directors of Australia’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, AGL Energy. Perhaps more importantly it has resulted in AGL management substantially accelerating their exit out of coal.

AGL’s decision to close Loy Yang A power station by 2035 probably helped precipitate the decision of the Victorian Labor party (facing an election on 26 November) to commit to seeing all coal power closed by 2035, and an expansion of renewable energy to 90% of the state’s power supply.

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When it comes to loss and damage, COP27 negotiations seem likely to reach a dead end. But as we enter the final days of the summit, anything can happen. Jacqueline Peel, Director, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Launceston Airport considers proposal to build an on-site solar farm and install an electrolyser to producer green hydrogen.

The post Launceston looks at making green hydrogen on-site with solar farm on airport land appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday challenging the validity of the state’s power sector cap-and-trade regulation, but the lengthy timeline of outstanding decisions on the case and expected appeals could jeopardise its potential to participate in next year’s first RGGI auction, according to experts.

Evidence doesn’t back former editor Chris Mitchell’s assertions in his effort to undermine the nature of global heating

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International climate summits always spark a flurry of reports, analysis and stock-takes on the climate crisis. They’re also a cue for some conservatives to signal their own virtues.

In segments on Sky News Australia, the Cop27 talks in Egypt – now in their final days – were variously described as “performative art”, a “global centre of virtue signalling” and a “religion” of “climate madness”. Australia’s pledge to cut emissions was a “highway to hell”.

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"Give us more load." It's not an instruction you hear every day, but it has been the "cri de coeur" from AEMO this week in South Australia.

The post Give us more load! Why South Australia is trying to switch off everyone’s rooftop solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California regulator ARB will hold a workshop this month to gather input on its compliance forest offset protocol, the first step in the agency’s forthcoming cap-and-trade rulemaking process.

AGL brings its 250MW/250MWh Torrens Island battery is one step closer to "full functionality" as a “virtual synchronous machine.”

The post AGL begins process of powering up Torrens Island battery, biggest in South Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Flow Power inks deal to supply wind and solar power to three councils in New South Wales.

The post Three NSW councils join forces to source wind and solar power appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Battery project billed as Australia's biggest has been redrawn, resized and relaunched, but is still to land its first customer contract.

The post Australia’s “biggest battery” project resized, reshaped, renamed and relaunched appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The EU's second-highest court on Wednesday annulled a decision of the European Commission to approve compensation for early closure of coal fired power plant in the Netherlands. 

Stark findings add pressure on Cop27 negotiators to deliver meaningful funding to vulnerable countries

The heavy rain behind recent devastating flooding in Nigeria, Niger and Chad was made about 80 times more likely by the climate crisis, a study has found.

The finding is the latest stark example of the severe impacts that global heating is already wreaking on communities, even with just a 1C rise in global temperature to date. It adds pressure on the world’s nations at the UN Cop27 climate summit in Egypt to deliver meaningful action on protecting and compensating affected countries.

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EU legislators are hoping to finalise negotiations on three ETS-related bills over three separate days in December, ditching plans to hold a single 'jumbo' trilogue over one day, an EU source said on Wednesday. 

California regulator ARB will commence a public process to evaluate the annual allowance caps and other elements of its WCI-linked cap-and-trade programme, as the state’s final 2022 Scoping Plan published Wednesday aims to hit more ambitious GHG reduction targets.

Most decisions on a new UN carbon credit mechanism are set to be delayed for a year as time runs out at COP27 talks, according to draft text released on Wednesday that includes a divisive loophole to double claiming provisions that is seen as likely to grind the negotiations to a halt.

A tide of plastic debris from all over the world has washed up on Ascension Island, says researchers.

Most single-use plastics produced worldwide since the 1970s have ended up in landfills and the natural environment. Recycling is not a silver bullet. Anya Phelan, Lecturer, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Bats host many viruses dangerous to humans. But it’s only when their habitats are destroyed that we’re at risk. Alison Peel, Senior Research Fellow in Wildlife Disease Ecology, Griffith University Peggy Eby, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Sydney Raina Plowright, Professor, Cornell University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) stepped up plans Wednesday to become a hub for voluntary carbon market (VCM) trading after the country’s sovereign investment company, Mabudala, took a strategic stake in the Singapore-based marketplace AirCarbon Exchange (ACX).