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Not long ago, the humpback was almost wiped out, now its numbers are booming in what conservationists say is a ‘wonderful success story’

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People across Australia’s east coast are catching an earlier than expected first glimpse of breaching humpback whales as they migrate north, and scientists say the reason why is a conservation success story.

Whale watchers were treated to a spectacular show in Sydney on Monday as two humpback whales surged from the water metres from their boat. Dr Wally Franklin, director of the Oceania Project, said sightings have also been reported off the coast of Merimbula, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads, the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay, as the whales journey north from the Antarctic to the Great Barrier Reef.

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Australia’s new minister faces difficult challenges fixing laws, creating an EPA and curbing an extinction crisis

There was surprise last week when Tanya Plibersek was announced as Australia’s new environment and water minister. The portfolio, which had been held by Terri Butler in opposition before she lost her seat, comes with a long list of unaddressed challenges.

Here are five that Plibersek will face as she gets up to speed in her new role.

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Our values of decency and tolerance, and confidence in a secure green future, make Labour the party of patriotism now

As we come together as a nation to celebrate the Queen’s remarkable platinum jubilee, we also unite around our bunting and flags in a moment of pure British patriotism. Being patriotic isn’t something that Labour has always looked comfortable with, but progressive politics has been at its most successful and transformational when it captures the best of British values, nurtures our world-famous institutions and instils a belief that our best days lie ahead of us, not just in the past.

A quick survey across British politics today tells us that it’s not the Conservatives that enshrine these patriotic principles but Labour.

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US farmers’ struggles for the right to fix their own, now highly computer-controlled equipment, have implications for us all

It was one of the few pieces of cheery news to emerge from the war in Ukraine. Russian looters, no doubt with the assistance of Russian troops, stole 27 pieces of John Deere farm equipment, worth about $5m, from a dealership in Melitopol. The kit was shipped to Chechnya, where a nasty surprise awaited the crooks. Their shiny new vehicles had, overnight, become the world’s heaviest paperweights: the dealership from which they had been stolen had “bricked” them remotely, using an inbuilt “kill-switch”.

This news item no doubt warmed the cockles of many a western heart. But it would have raised only hollow laughs from farmers in US states who are customers of John Deere and are mightily pissed off, because although they have paid small fortunes (up to $800,000 apparently) for the firm’s machinery, they are unable to service or repair them when they go wrong. These gigantic vehicles are no longer purely mechanical devices, but depend on lots of electronic control units (ECUs) to operate everything from the air conditioning to the driver’s seat to the engine. The ICUs run software that is essential to the operation, maintenance and repair of the machine. But only John Deere has access to that computer code and without employing a company technician the tractor’s software won’t even recognise (let alone allow) replacement parts from another manufacturer.

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Wasps are ecologically and economically important – and they don’t want to sting you, they just want your sugar and sausages

Every summer, with the predictability of hay fever and impromptu barbecues, I am asked by friends, family, strangers and the media: “What’s the point of wasps?”

Although some people will be starting to worry about wasps as they set out their jubilee picnics this bank holiday weekend, wasp complaint season usually kicks off in mid-August in the UK. It’s my summer holiday calibrator, and generally peaks just about the time when I’ve started to unwind from the busy chaos of my life as an academic. I’m not grumbling (my family does that for me); I never turn down the chance to evangelise about wasps. But I am beginning to sound like a stuck record.

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Last year the government asked for ‘big ideas’ on access to green space. Now it is refusing to publish the responses

When countryside campaigners were invited to meet government ministers and share “big, creative ideas” for “structural and systemic changes” around access to green spaces, they thought it could be too good to be true. Was the government listening, and were England’s archaic laws on countryside access about to change?

Last summer, groups representing more than 20 million people who are active outdoors, including ramblers, canoeists and mountaineers, were asked to speak to officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Treasury to explain how people are shut off from accessing green space because of trespass laws and other barriers.

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

Lawmakers from the EU’s major political groups have proposed amendments to limit investor access to the bloc’s carbon market and to implement stricter price control measures ahead of a major European Parliament vote on the ETS reforms next week.

The US EPA on Friday finalised long-delayed biofuel quotas for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that were largely similar to preliminary volumes this winter, while the agency also rejected dozens of outstanding programme waivers filed by small refiners.

Compliance entities reduced their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) net length after last week’s record Q2 WCI auction settlement and as the May contract expired, while speculators added to their holdings by the largest level since this winter, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

The European Parliament is set to vote on several key climate policy bills next Wednesday, against the backdrop of a heavily-altered geopolitical landscape that is upping political pressure to ensure energy supplies.

RGGI auctions continued their run of record settlement prices during the June sale, though fell short of releasing more carbon permits by just one cent, according to results published Friday.

Switzerland has agreed a bilateral agreement with Thailand that will allow it to import international carbon units from the Southeast Asian nation under the Paris Agreement, while Sweden said it had made similar outline deals with two countries.

Toxic particles from tyre wear almost 2,000 times worse than from exhausts as weight of cars increases

Almost 2,000 times more particle pollution is produced by tyre wear than is pumped out of the exhausts of modern cars, tests have shown.

The tyre particles pollute air, water and soil and contain a wide range of toxic organic compounds, including known carcinogens, the analysts say, suggesting tyre pollution could rapidly become a major issue for regulators.

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Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives have won a second majority government in Ontario, in an expected result to Thursday's election that comes after weeks of polls indicating incumbent Premier Doug Ford would stay on.

We calculate that this project will add about 41 megatonnes per year to Australia’s national emissions from around 2030. Bill Hare, Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator and its largest soil carbon developer have rejected the findings of a research study questioning the viability of soil carbon practices, describing the science behind the methodology as cutting edge and world leading.

As the Ukraine war and climate crisis act as a wake-up call for the industry, one UK farm is leading the way

Lettuces are sprouting, the wildflowers are in bloom and a buzzard is circling above the meadow on a sunny spring day at Huxhams Cross Farm near the village of Dartington in Devon. From the top of a hill, Marina O’Connell can survey most of the 15 hectares (37 acres) she has dedicated the past six years to transforming.

When she took over running the farm in 2015, she recalls, the farm contractor called this a “miserable bit of land”. Now the fields and hedgerows buzz with wildlife, and young farm workers chat as they sow carrot seeds and plant out early spinach. Further downhill, chickens peck about near polytunnels full of vegetables and soft fruit.

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The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a rock goby, a fox-chasing crow and a frolicking Icelandic horse

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Trina Solar has been ranked ‘AAA’, the highest category in the latest PV ModuleTech Bankability report published by PV-Tech.

The post Trina Solar ranks ‘AAA’ in latest PV Tech Bankability Report appeared first on RenewEconomy.