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The government is urged to take 25 actions by 2025 and phase out gas boilers within a decade.

Wealthy landowner Alexander Darwall wins case against national park after arguing right to pitch tent on moors did not exist

The right to wild camp on Dartmoor has been overturned after a court case brought to the high court by a wealthy landowner.

Dartmoor was the only place in England and Wales where there was a right to camp under the stars without seeking permission from the landowner.

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It’s been very wet in San Francisco and parts of New Zealand, while extreme cold has swept across Russia

Over the past couple of weeks, California has seen the effects of a persistent atmospheric river bringing in constant spells of rain from the Pacific across the state. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service (NWS) have released rainfall totals for some areas of California over the course of 16 days from 26 December 2022 through to 11 January 2023. Over the 16-day period downtown San Francisco received 345mm and in nearby Oakland totals reached 327.7mm, breaking their 16-day rainfall record. The significance of the flooding is only increased by having had extremely dry soils through the summer and autumn with severe droughts, therefore preventing soils from easily soaking up the intense rainfall that has occurred over recent weeks.

Tropical Cyclone Hale affected the North Island of New Zealand on 9-12 January. Severe thunderstorms brought 156.5mm to Hikuwai in Gisborne in the space of 12 hours, and more than 100mm to other places around Gisborne in the same period. Over the course of 18 hours, 219mm was recorded at Pinnacles in the Coromandel ranges and in Whitianga aerodrome on 10 January, making it the fifth wettest January day on record.

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Lobbying industry flexed muscle to ensure bills that aimed to set stricter standards on PFAS compounds went nowhere

All legislation aimed at regulating toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” died in the Democratic-controlled US Congress last session as companies flexed their lobbying muscle and bills did not gain enough Republican support to overcome a Senate filibuster.

The failure comes after public health advocates and Democratic lawmakers expressed optimism at the legislative session’s outset that bills that would protect the public from dangerous exposure to the chemicals could gain sufficient bipartisan support.

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Asian banks are increasingly recognising nature-related risks as important, but are making little headway in converting that recognition into clearly stated expectations from their clients, WWF Singapore’s annual Sustainable Banking Assessment (SUSBA) has found.

The price for Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) ended trading up 2.8% Friday as the market continues to react positively to the Safeguard Mechanism reforms, while total voluntary Kyoto-era carbon credit retirements for 2022 reached a record 17.3 million.

Campaigners warn ‘breathtaking conflict of interest’ could jeopardise climate negotiating process

Sultan Al Jaber, the government minister for United Arab Emirates who will preside over this year’s crucial UN climate talks, will retain his roles as head of the country’s oil company and sustainable energy businesses, UAE has confirmed.

Campaigners have been angered by the decision, revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday and confirmed on Thursday by the UAE government, which they see as a clear conflict of interest, with some likening it to putting a tobacco company head in charge of an anti-smoking treaty, and warning it could jeopardise the negotiating process and hasten climate breakdown.

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Volumes continued to drop in China’s emissions market over the past week, with price levels remaining rangebound while analysts expect trading activity to be stalled this quarter given holiday factors and the lack of regulatory updates from the central government.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including grazing goats, a recovering griffon and relaxing monkeys

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The Australian Greens are laying the groundwork for a fight with the government over the Safeguard Mechanism once parliament resumes, centred on how coal, oil, and gas facilities covered by the scheme are treated.

Climate campaigners accuse leaders of hypocrisy as flights emit as much CO2 in a week as 350,000 cars

Private jet emissions quadrupled as 1,040 planes flew in and out of airports serving Davos during the 2022 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.

Climate campaigners accused the rich and powerful of hypocrisy in flying in on private jets to a conference discussing climate breakdown.

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Rising numbers of people are taking air pollution measurements to push authorities to take action

More and more people are making their own air pollution measurements and using these to press for action from national and local governments.

Last year Mark Tebbutt installed Chorley’s seventh air pollution monitor. Since 2013 Tebbutt, his family and friends have been buying and operating their own air pollution instruments. These are mounted on garden fences and on the sides of houses across the Lancashire town. You can find their data online alongside those from more than 30,000 citizen scientists around the world.

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Tens of thousands of ships from every era lie undisturbed at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Some of the world’s most advanced underwater photography now reveals how miraculously the cold, brackish water has preserved them

• Extracted from the book Ghost Ships of the Baltic Sea by Jonas Dahm and Carl Douglas, published by Max Ström

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Authorities to begin release of a million tonnes of water from stricken nuclear plant after treatment to remove most radioactive material

The controversial release of more than a million tonnes of water from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will begin in the northern spring or summer, Japan’s government has said – a move that has sparked anger among local fishing communities and countries in the region.

The decision comes more than two years after the government approved the release of the water, which will be treated to remove most radioactive materials but will still contain tritium, a naturally occurring radioactive form of hydrogen that is technically difficult to separate from water.

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Australian rooftop solar installations experienced their first annual contraction in seven years in 2022, but latest data promises a much better start to 2023.

The post End of year rush to rooftop solar hints at return to boom-times in 2023 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Spending on low carbon energy sources will increase by around 10% in 2023, reflecting slower annual growth than last year as investors remain wary of inflation, although investment in hydrogen and carbon capture and storage will more than double this year, analysis by an energy consulting firm released on Friday has projected.

While this prominent and well funded project has gone into voluntary administration, those enthused about rapid decarbonisation and Australia’s renewable energy export potential need not despair. Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Queensland's north is on track to get its first grid forming big battery, after plans to build a 200MW/400MWh BESS received final approval.

The post Big battery gets green light for construction in north Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.

As interest in green hydrogen intensifies, we must ensure its low-carbon promise isn't used to disguise the risks of its blue and grey cousins.

The post Green hydrogen should be a winner from the energy crisis, but reality takes a different shade appeared first on RenewEconomy.

PFAS substances linked with cancer discovered in UK cosmetics on day EU sets out to ban them.