Feed aggregator

The latest IPCC guidance on when carbon emissions should peak has been misunderstood say scientists.

Scientists rallied outside Charing Cross police station after an Extinction Rebellion activist and scientist started a thirst and hunger strike protesting the conditions under which she was being held.

Marine biologist Emma Smart, 44, was one of nine scientists arrested at the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on Wednesday. 

She has been kept in a cell at Charing Cross police station waiting to be brought before a court on Saturday morning and has had nothing to eat or drink since Thursday morning, her husband, Andy Smith, said.

A spokesperson for the Met police said: 'Decisions regarding bail are taken on a case-by-case basis and consider a range of matters including, but not limited to, whether there is a risk to the public or the person detained, the likelihood of someone not complying with any bail conditions or absconding and any previous history of offending while on bail. Whilst people are in custody, officers have a duty of care for their welfare and will ensure the medical needs of all detainees are considered. Health care professionals are available to each custody suite.'

• XR protesters shut down central London bridges including Westminster

Continue reading...

Activists defy injunction to target fuel distribution terminals as held scientist goes on hunger strike

At least a dozen climate protesters have been arrested after defying an injunction to launch synchronised actions targeting three key fuel distribution terminals early on Friday.

Meanwhile, a scientist arrested for taking part in an Extinction Rebellion action at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is on hunger and thirst strike after being held by police for more than 40 hours.

Continue reading...

Gasteranthus extinctus had been presumed extinct after extensive deforestation

A South American wildflower long believed to be extinct has been rediscovered.

Gasteranthus extinctus was found by biologists in the foothills of the Andes mountains and in remnant patches of forest in the Centinela region of Ecuador, almost 40 years after its last sighting.

Continue reading...

There is so much intelligence on this planet other than ours. Realising that will be key to adapting to climate breakdown

For the past couple of years, I’ve been working with researchers in northern Greece who are farming metal. In a remote, beautiful field, high in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, they are experimenting with a trio of shrubs known to scientists as “hyperaccumulators”: plants which have evolved the capacity to thrive in naturally metal-rich soils that are toxic to most other kinds of life. They do this by drawing the metal out of the ground and storing it in their leaves and stems, where it can be harvested like any other crop. As well as providing a source for rare metals – in this case nickel, although hyperaccumulators have been found for zinc, aluminium, cadmium and many other metals, including gold – these plants actively benefit the earth by remediating the soil, making it suitable for growing other crops, and by sequestering carbon in their roots. One day, they might supplant more destructive and polluting forms of mining.

The three plants being tested in Greece – part of a network of research plots across Europe – are endemic to the region. Alyssum murale, which grows in low bushes topped by bunches of yellow flowers, is native to Albania and northern Greece; Leptoplax emarginata – taller and spindlier, with clusters of green leaves and white petals – is found only in Greece; and Bornmuellera tymphaea, the most efficient of the three, which straggles across the ground in a dense layer of white blossom, is found only on the slopes of the Pindus (its name comes from Mount Tymfi, one of the highest peaks of the range).

James Bridle is a writer and artist, and the author of Ways of Being: Beyond Human Intelligence (Allen Lane), which is available now

Continue reading...

Charity launches campaign to stem decline of species including starlings, bumblebees and hedgehogs

Plant sunflowers and lavender in your garden this spring to reverse the decline of previously common garden species, the RSPB has urged the British public.

The bird charity has launched a “nature on your doorstep” campaign to highlight that UK gardens and balconies combined cover 4,000sq km, an area more than twice the size of Greater London. Together these connected habitats could help reverse the fortunes of species including starlings, bumblebees and hedgehogs.

Sunflowers – beautiful and easy to grow from seed, these classic flowers are great for pollinators and are a great food source for birds when they set seed.

Cornfield annuals – for just a couple of pounds you can have the glow of red poppies and blue cornflowers within weeks.

Mini-meadow – just let parts of your lawn grow for a few months, or even better until late summer, and be rewarded with drifts of clovers and other meadow flowers.

Lavender – the familiar lovely-smelling herb that’s brilliant for bees and butterflies.

Foxgloves – tall purple, pink and white flowers that are bee magnets.

Continue reading...

The spot price in China’s national carbon market remained firm over the past week, but traders lack enthusiasm about the near future as the market is seeing little action and no regulatory progress.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including swimming buffalo, a rescued pangolin and swirling reindeer

Continue reading...

One state dominates the rankings of best performing wind farms in March, taking six of the top eight spots.

The post Graph of the Day: One state dominates best performing wind farms in March appeared first on RenewEconomy.

US has enough wind, solar and storage in the transmission queue to meet its clean energy targets, but it won't all get built.

The post US wind, solar and storage transmission queue soars to record 1,300GW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Macquarie is seeking an energetic and experienced Trading Analyst to join its Asian Power, Gas and Emissions team.

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

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit prices this week retraced near recent lows, as initial optimism state regulator ARB may tighten the programme’s carbon intensity (CI) reduction targets wore off.

Canadian GHG output plunged in 2020 amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the shrinking amount of Alberta coal power helping drive abatement independent of the coronavirus outbreak, according to government data published Thursday.

RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices remained well supported this week as traders reported compliance demand entering the power sector cap-and-trade market, while California Carbon Allowance (CCA) values held firm on continued light activity.

*Volkswagen ClimatePartner GmbH is looking for a Freelancer (m/f/d) or a Company to support in screening, planning, developing, and managing GHG emission reduction projects mainly in Africa. A strong focus will be on nature-based solutions and methodologies, but also on renewable energies and carbon capture, utilization, storage (CCUS), and community-based projects.

While it is essential for the world to protect forests that are not under immediate threat of deforestation, treating carbon credits from their conservation as fungible compliance instruments threatens to undermine carbon market integrity, argue several consultants critical of UN aviation body ICAO's recent decision to accept ART TREES carbon credits from jurisdictions under its CORSIA offsetting programme.

Friday marks the due date for countries’ official tally of their 2020 GHG emissions, revealing which nations kept or broke their international climate promises, and pointing to potential trust implications for the UN’s Paris Agreement.

Government was in possession of a newly-released report that linked large-scale farms and wild salmon to contagious virus

Canada was warned in 2012 by its own scientists that a virus was infecting both farmed and wild salmon, but successive governments ignored the expert advice, saying for years that risks to salmon were low.

Justin Trudeau’s government has said it will phase out open-pen industrial fish farms off the coast of British Columbia by 2025. But both his government and the previous Conservative government were in possession of a newly released report that linked large-scale farms and wild salmon to the highly contagious Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV).

Continue reading...

Two carbon crediting programmes already approved for the CORSIA global aviation offset mechanism did not apply for eligibility after the scheme’s pilot phase concludes, according to data published by UN body ICAO’s Technical Advisory Body on Thursday.