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Exclusive: critics say stripped-down Environment Agency has not levied a fine in 12 years so no point to higher cap

The government’s pledge to raise the cap on the amount of money the Environment Agency can fine water companies for sewage pollution to £250m has been described as “hot air”, as the Guardian can reveal the regulator has failed to levy any such penalties since it was given powers to do so 12 years ago.

Variable monetary penalties (VMPs) were introduced in 2010 to enable the Environment Agency to directly levy fines for serious environmental offences without having to go through expensive and lengthy court proceedings, but to date the agency has not levied a single VMP against water companies.

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

Conversations around missing demand echoed in the hallways of London's Royal Institution on Friday, the final day of this year's Carbon Forward conference, where navel-gazing voluntary carbon market (VCM) participants opined over the possible reasons, which ranged from a souring global economy, to the increased reputational risk linked to using offsets, to confusion and frustration over a reforming process to meant to make the market less confusing and frustrating.

Eels are tracked to the Sargasso Sea on an epic migration, helping in their conservation.

The surplus of voluntary offsets globally could be quickly whittled away by a rising tide of companies seeking to compensate commodity shipments, a conference heard Friday.

Compliance entities reversed course and padded their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) holdings this week, while financial players shortened their WCI positions but lengthened in RGGI, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

EUA prices are expected to take four years to recover to recent levels as the EU grapples with a darkening economic outlook and record energy costs, as well as an expected shift in supply towards the front of the curve as the bloc sells more allowances, according to an updated analyst forecast.

A group of progressive US senators on Thursday called on the US Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to implement strong accountability, robust standards, and rules governing the voluntary carbon market, as well as to investigate current VER futures contracts.

A minimum price of $20/tonne would be required across the voluntary carbon market for there to be high integrity climate impact from quality projects, according to analysts speaking at the Carbon Forward conference Friday.

A European energy and carbon market intelligence firm will start providing insight on US carbon markets, adding to the growing list of analysts dissecting North America's  programmes.

In times of climate emergency and with unprecedented uncertainty in global energy markets, emission trading systems are increasingly important policy tools for transitioning economies towards attaining the goals of the Paris Agreement.  We seek an analyst/senior analyst to join our global team of highly regarded experts providing analytics and insights into the world’s carbon markets at Refinitiv/LSEG.

In times of climate emergency and with unprecedented uncertainty in global energy markets, emission trading systems are increasingly important policy tools for transitioning economies towards attaining the goals of the Paris Agreement.  We seek an analyst/senior analyst to join our global team of highly regarded experts providing analytics and insights into the world’s carbon markets at Refinitiv/LSEG.

The year in which an offset registry issues a nature-based VER is becoming less important for some carbon credit buyers, as companies focus more on investigating projects themselves, a conference heard Friday.

European carbon prices drifted lower in a narrow range as traders eyed macroeconomic headlines from the UK and digested presentations from yesterday's EU ETS sessions at the Carbon Forward conference in London.

Alok Sharma’s intervention puts pressure on Trump-appointed Bank chief who faces calls to resign

The UK has joined calls for sweeping reforms to the World Bank, to focus much-needed funding on the climate crisis, warning that its current structures are not working.

The intervention from Alok Sharma, the current president of the UN climate talks, heaps further pressure on beleaguered World Bank chief, David Malpass. He has faced calls to resign over an apparently climate-dismissing stance, and the Bank’s perceived failures to deliver climate finance.

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Though there is situationist wit in throwing soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the protest is more likely to provoke eye-rolls than action

If you’re going to make a political statement by attacking an artwork then pick a big one. In the absence of the Mona Lisa, Just Stop Oil protesters today threw soup over one of 19th century’s most recognised images – immortalised on biscuit tins and tea towels the world over – Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. The National Gallery attack is the latest in a campaign that saw them glueing themselves to a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper in the Royal Academy in July.

Such assaults are now so common that the Mona Lisa – most recently pelted with cake at the Louvre in Paris back in May – now smiles on from behind a pane of bullet-proof glass. The sunflowers themselves are unlikely to have suffered any damage, beyond the indignity of being eclipsed by a brighter shade of orange. The protesters will have known this, and there is a certain situationist wit in their choice of weapon – not a spray can but a tin of Heinz tomato soup, as immortalised by Andy Warhol, in the pop artist’s critique of exactly the sort of industrialisation that Just Stop Oil sees as responsible for the destruction of the planet.

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Rainfall levels have not been sufficient to dampen soil and refill reservoirs after scorching summer

England could be in drought beyond spring 2023, ministers have said, after record low rainfall has left the country short on water.

The news will be particularly problematic for farmers, who were hoping for a damp autumn and winter to refill reservoirs so they could plant and harvest crops into next year.

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Protesters then glue themselves to wall beneath painting at National Gallery in London

Activists from Just Stop Oil have thrown tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.

There were gasps, roars and a shout of “Oh my gosh!” in room 43 of the gallery as two young supporters of the climate protest group threw the liquid over the painting, which is protected by glass, just after 11am.

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Offset standard developer and manager Verra still supports the overall goals of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM) despite its numerous concerns, while standardised VER exchanges said the initiative is hindering liquidity, a conference heard Friday.

Steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal has announced the launch of a key decarbonisation project in a groundbreaking ceremony at a steel plant in Ontario, Canada, with investment of C$1.8 billion ($1.3 bln) expected to reduce GHG emissions from the site’s operations by up to 3 million tonnes per year by 2030.