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An anticipated red wave was more of a ripple in the US midterm election on Tuesday as the Republican Party appeared to have come up short in its ability to limit the Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) $370 billion in climate initiatives, while state-level victories by Democrats preserved market-based carbon reduction programmes across the country.

While we race to decarbonise, we must also recognise is something wrong with the system that drives our economy and guides our lives.

The post Ross Garnaut thinks Australia can be a low-carbon superpower – but should this be our goal? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California regulator ARB presented a stronger potential 2030 carbon intensity reduction goal for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) on Wednesday, which was more stringent than two targets published earlier this year, with some of those scenarios limiting the ability of credit generation from renewable natural gas (RNG) and crop-based biofuels.

A global group of securities regulators has launched dual consultations into compliance and voluntary carbon markets, seeking feedback on the role of financial watchdogs can play in increasing the resilience of these schemes while also leveraging the experience gained from wider financial markets.

A carbon credit ratings agency has downgraded is score for major VCS-certified African REDD project on concerns that it may have been awarded too many credits.

Brookfield, the one time bid partner with Mike Cannon-Brookes for AGL, is now leading a consortium making an $18.4 billion offer for Origin Energy.

The post Brookfield leads $18.4bn bid for Origin, plans to spend another $20bn on renewable transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The European Parliament is expected this week to vote in line with several of its committees over the bloc's REPowerEU package to exit Russian fossil fuels, several sources told Carbon Pulse on Wednesday, teeing up a tussle with member states on several issues including sources of carbon allowance funding.

South Australia has delayed the date for the introduction of new rules to pave the way for “flexible exports” of rooftop solar.

The post South Australia delays flexible solar export rule change, as industry scrambles to prepare appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A new global carbon market concept pushed by the US on Wednesday is bracing to battle at least three thorny issues that have plagued carbon credit markets in the voluntary space over the years, including their use towards net zero targets, preventing carbon leakage, and benefiting the most vulnerable.

Leaders, activists and other delegates rub shoulders at UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

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This year’s climate talks have been overshadowed by rising international tensions, energy crises and war. But that doesn’t mean climate action is dead. Hao Tan, Associate Professor, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle Alexander M. Hynd, PhD candidate, UNSW Sydney Elizabeth Thurbon, Scientia Associate Professor in International Relations / International Political Economy, UNSW Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Constructing and running buildings accounts for roughly a third of global energy use and emissions. So it’s alarming that a report to COP27 shows the sector is veering off course for net zero by 2050. Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Georgia Warren-Myers, Associate Professor in Property, The University of Melbourne Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Negotiations move behind closed doors and China confirms ‘informal’ talks with US

After the leaders’ speeches of the first couple of days, most of the negotiations have now moved behind closed doors. The big discussions today were all around finance, and there does appear to have been some movement on this, as Damian Carrington reported, with positive momentum potentially starting to build on a pivotal issue as the UK said it would allow some debt payment deferrals, while Austria and New Zealand put forward funding for loss and damage.

Other developments included:

The family of the jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah demanded proof of life for the third day in a row

A Kulkalgal activist from the Torres Strait Islands said the way the world often treated Indigenous people was an insult and that he was at the conference “fighting for our home”

Bill McKibben, a US environmentalist and founder of 350.org, told an audience: “This year we’ve fully understood the link between fossil fuels and fascism. Putin could not have invaded Ukraine without the profits from oil and gas, or [cowed] the west with threats of turning off the taps.”

The World Bank president, David Malpass, said he was not a “climate denier”. The Donald Trump appointee previously said he did not “even know” if he accepted climate science.

Protesters staged rallies inside the central conference area, ignoring Egypt’s attempts to keep displays of dissent out of sight.

Almost half of young people in Africa say they have reconsidered having children due to the climate crisis, according to a Unicef poll.

China’s envoy said the US had “closed the door” to climate talks and needed to reopen it. Xie Zhenhua said Beijing and Washington were having “informal talks”. Xie also hinted that China may contribute to a “loss and damage” fund.

John Kerry, the US climate envoy, announced a global carbon credit trading initiative that he said would be “critical” in helping developing countries transition to cleaner forms of energy. That has received a mixed reaction from environmental groups.

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A Kulkalgal activist from the Torres Strait Islands has said the way the world often treats Indigenous people is an insult and he is attending the Cop27 conference in Egypt 'fighting for our home'.  Yessie Mosby, who in September was part of a group of claimants who made history in a landmark legal case that found the Australian government should compensate Torres Strait Islanders over climate crisis failures, said: 'Whether it's us in the saltwater, people of the Pacific Islands, or the people of the plains and the mountains, the swamps, who are facing climate change, we really want our voices to be heard. And we really need action.'

• Cop27 global climate summit: latest updates

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Experts have urged the supervisory body on Article 6.4 to ensure the proposed grievance process, or mechanism, has teeth, is designed by landholders, and has key transparency assurances, as efforts are underway to establish it in time for the beginning of credit issuances in 2025.

Many oil and gas facilities around the world are emitting three times more greenhouse gases (GHG) than claimed, a new report states.

Next year's planned introduction of a reporting system for the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is likely to suffer a "small delay" as the legislators are still negotiating the proposal, the European Parliament's lead lawmaker on the issue said on Wednesday.

The US will focus on five strategic areas to support nature-based solutions (NBS) and achieve the country’s 2030 GHG reduction targets, President Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday on the sidelines of COP27.

Critics question plan’s value in dealing with climate crisis and its potential to ‘harm communities and undermine human rights’

The US government has unveiled a new voluntary carbon trading market scheme with the aim of boosting private investment in clean energy projects in developing countries.

John Kerry, the US’s climate envoy, said the new initiative, called the energy transition accelerator, will be created in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund to help deliver the trillions of dollars of investment needed to help poorer countries transition to renewables and stave off disastrous climate impacts.

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A platform showing forestry data across every country and jurisdiction in the world, including degradation levels, was launched at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday.