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Global mapping reveals hotspots for untracked vessels in west Africa, the coast of Argentina and the north-west Pacific

Up to 6% of global fishing activity is hidden because commercial vessels disable their tracking systems, a practice that can be used to hide illegal fishing, according to a new study.

Ships use automatic identification systems (AIS), tracking beacons that enable them to be located on global shipping maps. Researchers applied a machine learning algorithm to a dataset of fishing vessel activity compiled by the non-profit Global Fishing Watch, which included more than 3.7bn AIS messages from fishing vessels between 2017 and 2019.

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Two more cookstove-based carbon credit projects have been added to the “watch” list by a ratings agency in the week that ESG platform Xpansiv announced it was launching a new standardised spot contract for the household devises sector in December.

A group of over 600 investors, representing almost $42 trillion in assets under management, have submitted a letter to global governments ahead of the COP27 UN climate talks calling on them to strengthen policies to address the climate crisis.

The Congo Basin's massive 30 billion tonne peatland carbon sink could be at risk of leaking if the vast African region continues to face drought as a result of climate change, according to research published on Wednesday that identified a similar pattern thousands of years ago.

Vast carbon store may be close to point where it could flip from absorbing CO2 to releasing it, research shows

The Congo peatlands are a huge carbon “timebomb” that could be triggered by the climate crisis, research has shown.

The peatlands flipped from storing carbon to releasing it into the atmosphere when the climate became drier 5,000 years ago, the study showed, before returning to accumulating carbon 2,000 years ago.

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Banaba in the central Pacific is a microcosm of what has happened to this planet. It’s a place that cannot be brought back into balance without focused and collaborative care

• Before it is lost is series of essays from the Pacific islands

Some years ago, an Australian friend gave me a necklace with a beautiful and distinct pendant.

The pendant had been in Helen Pilkinton’s family for decades and there were two more from a set of three that were given to each of her sisters.

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It is not likely any credits will be issued under the Paris Agreement's Article 6 before the targeted end of 2023 due to a heavy workload and lack of remaining time, a carbon market expert said Wednesday, as he requested clarity on key pieces of terminology that are due to be discussed at the COP27 UN climate summit next week.

Downing Street had argued the prime minister was too busy preparing for the budget.

Research comes as treasurer acknowledges ‘an appetite in the community’ to strengthen petroleum resource rent tax

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A majority of Australians, including Coalition voters, support taxing the super profits of the booming oil and gas industry, according to an authoritative annual survey.

The latest Climate of the Nation survey of voters – now in its 15th year and managed by the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute – shows 61% of 2,691 respondents would back a windfall tax. The proposal captures majority support across all age, state, gender and voting intention demographics, with the exception of One Nation voters.

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Trend of faster warming over last 30 years likely to cause exceptional heat, wildfires and floods, warn scientists

Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average in the last 30 years, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The effects of this warming are already being seen, with droughts, wildfires and ice melts taking place across the continent. The European State of the Climate report, produced with the EU’s Copernicus service, warns that as the warming trend continues, exceptional heat, wildfires, floods and other climate breakdown outcomes will affect society, economies and ecosystems.

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Most Australians support a phase-out of coal-fired power stations, a windfall tax on fossil fuels, and policies that favour EVs, bikes and public transport.

The post Most Australians want coal power phased out, and no new fossil fuel projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

European carbon prices were little changed at midday after two days of sharp losses, with the market moving in a narrow band in thin trading as data revealed that investment funds had closed a significant portion of short positions in the previous week.

UK prime minister says he will now attend talks in Egypt next week

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Rishi Sunak is to attend the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt next week after No 10 previously said he was too focused on the domestic economy to attend and banned King Charles from going.

Sunak announced the U-turn on Twitter, making no reference to his previous reluctance, saying: “There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change. There is no energy security without investing in renewables. That is why I will attend Cop27 next week: to deliver on Glasgow’s legacy of building a secure and sustainable future.”

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Australia has spent more on fossil fuel subsidies and done less on climate disclosure. Will the new government change this?

The post Australia’s carbon report card smeared in red ink as climate action goes backwards appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Shenzhen municipal government has proposed introducing the use of green power trading credits in its pilot emissions trading scheme, the first time a Chinese jurisdiction has considered linking the green power trading programme with a carbon market.

Energy companies dominate the list of top 50 firms by volume that have retired carbon credits, according to analysts, with several South African and Columbian corporates having purchased a substantial volume of credits for cancellation against domestic carbon tax policies, and large oil majors also accounting for a large proportion of units retired.

The share of the world’s largest companies committing to a net zero target has increased to one-third, but some 93% of them will miss their long term climate goals if they do not at least double the pace of their emissions reduction by 2030, a report has found.

Alaa Abd El-Fattah has been on hunger strike for six months and will refuse water from 6 November, the first day of the climate summit

The majority of living Nobel prize for literature laureates have called on world leaders attending the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt this week to help free thousands of political prisoners in the country, including the writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah who is six months into a hunger strike and “at risk of death”.

The letter, organised by Abd El-Fattah’s UK publishers Fitzcarraldo Editions and Seven Stories Press, has been signed by 13 Nobel prize for literature winners: Svetlana Alexievich, JM Coetzee, Annie Ernaux, Louise Glück, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Kazuo Ishiguro, Elfriede Jelinek, Mario Vargas Llosa, Patrick Modiano, Herta Müller, Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka and Olga Tokarczuk.

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The UNFCCC is seeking a NDC/LT-LEDS regional expert for Asia and the Pacific, to be based in Bangkok.

Carbon credits from a major Pakistan-based blue carbon project traded publicly for the first time on Wednesday at a near 300% premium compared to other nature-based credits, providing a bullish sentiment for blue carbon projects, according to the seller.