Feed aggregator

Monica Medina will be responsible for biodiversity and water resources, announces state department ahead of Cop15

The United States has created a new diplomatic role to show the country’s commitment to tackling the biodiversity crisis ahead of Cop15 in Montreal, Canada, where the next decade of nature targets will be drawn up.

Monica Medina, a former military officer who started her governmental career in 1989 as senior counsel to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has been named special envoy for biodiversity and water resources.

Continue reading...

Low pressure from Atlantic likely to usher in 70mph gusts from Friday night

The UK and northern Europe are likely to be the windiest places on the planet this weekend. Areas of low pressure, driven by a strengthening jet stream, is forecast to barrel in from the Atlantic on Friday, with some of these likely to become named storms.

Up to 70mph (112 km/h) gusts are expected to batter the west coast of Ireland and the Faroe Islands, with Norway’s western coastline also likely to experience strong winds into Saturday. Further stormy conditions are possible the following week when areas of deep, low pressure arrive from the west.

Continue reading...

Australia’s biggest seller of carbon credits to the government has teamed up with one of the market’s biggest critics to voice “shared concerns” about the integrity of the scheme, calling for urgent reform.

Mumbai-listed EKI Energy Services, the world’s biggest carbon offset developer, has seen its share price rise by 30% after the government last week clarified there will be no all-out ban on exports of carbon credits from India.

About 250 whales beached on remote Chatham Islands just days after another stranding involving similar number of mammals

• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcast

Hundreds of pilot whales have stranded on New Zealand’s remote Chatham Islands just days after a nearby beaching resulted in 250 mammals dying or being euthanised.

About 250 whales came ashore at Pitt Island/Rangiauria in the second stranding, taking the total number of whales stranded on the Chatham Islands to 500-odd, the general manager of Project Jonah, Daren Grover, said on Monday. The project runs a stranding hotline and mobilises marine rescues.

Continue reading...

Report for Law Society says framework is essential for future interactions with the environment and biotechnology

Granting legal rights and protections to non-human entities such as animals, trees and rivers is essential if countries are to tackle climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, experts have said.

The authors of a report titled Law in the Emerging Bio Age say legal frameworks have a key part to play in governing human interactions with the environment and biotechnology.

Continue reading...

Exclusive: Environment minister seeks to expand definition of prime farmland in drive for productivity

Ministers are planning to ban solar farms from most of England’s farmland, the Guardian can reveal.

The new environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, is understood to oppose solar panels being placed on agricultural land, arguing that it impedes his programme of growth and boosting food production.

Continue reading...

Report shows adding wave power generation into the renewable energy mix in Australia could alleviate the need for costly battery storage.

The post Wave power generators could help to “firm” solar and wind, says report appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Latest data from Rystad Energy shows South Australia dominating the list of best performing assets for the month of September.

The post Top 10 best performing wind farms for September: South Australia cleans up appeared first on RenewEconomy.

GreenCollar makes submission to government review with Prof Andrew Macintosh, who has described the scheme as ‘largely a sham’

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• Get our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcast

The biggest generator of Australian carbon credits has joined critics in calling for a revamp of the scheme’s governance, saying it has “fundamental problems”.

GreenCollar, which describes itself as the country’s largest environmental markets investor, natural resource manager and conservation-for-profit organisation, has made a joint submission to a government review of the carbon credit system with academics including Prof Andrew Macintosh, who used to be responsible for the scheme’s integrity.

Continue reading...

With the Collie coal plant out for three months, new data from Rystad Energy shows the state's coal fleet capacity factor is looking pretty miserable.

The post Chart of the Day: Shortages and outages paint dismal picture for WA coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Australian government has opened consultation on draft legislation needed to create Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs), which will be rewarded to industrial facilities that stay below their emissions baselines.

Proposed reforms will swap ACCUs for the new credit, but now they'll only be granted if the emitter can get under their new baseline emissions level.

The post Bowen tackles carbon market reform with new look Safeguard Mechanism – but is it enough? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Brisbane-based Line Hydrogen will develop a “zero carbon” renewable energy power system for a new mining project in WA, including an on-site green hydrogen electrolyser.

The post On-site renewable hydrogen electrolyser to help power WA gold mine appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The ballot in the state that hosts most of Germany's wind power capacity is seen as a mood barometer for the national government's energy crisis response.

The post Energy crisis looms large in election in Germany’s biggest wind power state appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A closer look at eight value-adding critical mineral refining projects in Australia's $10 billion pipeline of investment proposals.

The post Eight key critical minerals projects in Australia’s $10bn pipeline appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Micael Gunner will lead FFI's new Darwin-based team, but will bring a legacy of support for "atrocious" polluting gas projects.

The post FFI taps former chief NT minister to lead green charge in Top End appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia’s richest man recently took on the world’s richest man over the shape of our green future. But it’s not either batteries or green hydrogen – we need both. John Mathews, Professor Emeritus, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A new assessment into parts of the climate system that are sensitive to "tipping" delivers some sobering conclusions.

The post Climate tipping points could lock in devastating changes – how close are they? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Nets used to be brought to shore and left in landfill or discarded in the ocean - putting seals at risk.