Feed aggregator

The wild apes drum messages to one another on tree roots in the rainforest, researchers find.

A nascent, Berlin-headquartered carbon trading platform has raised a further €4.2 million in fresh funding.

Traders largely believe the September RGGI auction will break a streak of six straight record settlements, given steady secondary market purchases from compliance entities, global market weakness, and clarity on Virginia’s planned exit from the programme as factors that could influence the clearing price.

The Mexican Emissions Trading Scheme will kick off next year by freely distributing all allowances before reducing this over time, while the government still needs to determine the programme’s auction mechanism and offset protocols, a conference heard Tuesday.

Fossil fuel subsidies from major economies nearly doubled in 2021, reaching almost US$700 billion. Here’s how Australia stacks up. Richard Denniss, Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Liz Truss officially became British prime minister after meeting with the nation's Queen on Tuesday, going on to deliver her first speech in the new role that pointed to a policy package to be released later in the week to address spiralling energy bills.

An insurance product for the voluntary carbon market (VCM) has been launched to cover the risk of third-party negligence and fraud by project developers and auditors, including whether the offset credit removes or avoids a tonne of CO2.

Untreated sewage triggers pollution warnings at almost 100 UK beaches after heavy rainfall.

Carbon credits trading in the voluntary market, largely from renewable energy projects with vintages from 2008-15, are trading at huge discounts as tokens on blockchain compared to the traditional over-the-counter market, according to analysis published on Tuesday.

As those most responsible for the crisis recede into history, our energy is better spent responding to the world we have created

After years of robust campaigning for climate preservation, writing books on climate change, scores of articles and hundreds of public talks – not to mention serving on the Climate Change Authority, helping set up an international taskforce and running for parliament – I couldn’t take it any more.

I became so despairing about where we were heading and the unwillingness of most to face up to reality that I stopped working on climate change altogether.

Continue reading...

Researchers say their prototype produces hydrogen with greater than 99% purity and works in air as dry as 4% relative humidity

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

Researchers have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen fuel directly from moisture in the air.

According to its inventors, the prototype produces hydrogen with greater than 99% purity and can work in air that is as dry as 4% relative humidity. The device would allow hydrogen to be produced without carbon emissions even in regions where water on land is scarce, they say.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

The British government has added a further 803,500 tonnes to 2022 carbon allowance auction supply under the UK ETS, it announced late Tuesday.

The climate pledges of companies based in G7 countries are only consistent with a 2.7C global warming trajectory, way off the 1.5-2C Paris Agreement pathway despite wide regional differences, according to a study published on Tuesday. 

Environment secretary responds to criticism of plan to stop ‘literal shit being pumped into rivers and seas’

The environment secretary, George Eustice, insisted the government was tackling the millions of hours of raw sewage discharges into rivers and seas in England as MPs demanded answers to a summer of water companies dumping effluent into holiday swimming spots.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “Literal shit is being pumped into our rivers and seas. The state of our water network is a national scandal and the government has utterly failed to take action.”

Continue reading...

A flawed government plan for workers adds to problems as growers apply to pull down 60 hectares of greenhouses

Huge areas of one of Britain’s biggest salad growing hubs will be replaced with housing estates, as growers give up in despair, and cash in their land.

The Lea Valley, also known as the cucumber capital and Britain’s salad bowl, is one of the diamonds of the UK’s embattled horticultural sector. The Lea Valley Growers Association (LVGA), seeded through an area running across Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire, comprises more than 180 hectares (450 acres) of glasshouses, run by 80 growers. The valley should be a jewel in the crown for a country concerned with homegrown industry and food security.

Continue reading...

EUAs extended the week's losses to reach a new six-month low on Tuesday morning as sentiment continued to weaken amid speculation the EU will sell more permits to raise funds to assist the transition away from Russian fuels, while energy also gave up hefty chunks of Monday's gains as traders appeared reassured by supply-boosting efforts.

Tico, a rescued manatee, sent experts on a 4,000km-chase after they became concerned for his welfare.

Several landfill companies in Australia say they receive carbon credits for activities they would have done anyway, and that they receive too many offsets even for their additional activities, according to national media.

Milder winters could threaten crop yields as plant-eating insects spread northwards and become more voracious, researchers say

Agricultural pests that devour key food crops are advancing northwards in the US and becoming more widespread as the climate hots up, new research warns.

The corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is considered to be among the most common farm pests in the US, ravaging crops such as maize, cotton, soya and other vegetables. It spends winter underground and is not known to survive in states beyond a latitude of 40 degrees north (which runs from northern California through the midwest to New Jersey), but that is changing as soils warm and it spreads to new areas, according to research led by North Carolina State University.

Continue reading...

A coalition of shipping industry players including oil major Shell and container firm MSC has launched an initiative to seek out solutions for the maritime industry to measure and mitigate methane emissions, it announced Tuesday.