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It might sound like the fossil fuel industry is on the defensive after a landmark court ruling and two shareholder votes, but how much power do these decisions really carry?

The post Court rulings add pressure, but it’s the market that will drive fossil fuel giants to change appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Alliance of doctors and nurses calls for environment bill to include reduction in small particle pollution limits

Medical leaders are urging Boris Johnson to cut legal levels of air pollution in the UK to below World Health Organization limits in response to the death of the schoolgirl Ella Kissi-Debrah from toxic air.

Members of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change are calling for the reduction in limits of PM2.5 to be included in the environment bill, which returns to parliament this week.

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Conservationists warn of impact on world’s largest mammal migration, key to seed dispersal across Africa

Plans to create a huge commercial farm next to a national park in Zambia could have a “catastrophic” impact on wildlife, conservationists have warned, threatening vital habitat for bats undertaking the world’s biggest mammal migration.

Every October, about 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on the evergreen swamps of Kasanka national park in central Zambia from across Africa, feasting on figs and fruit and berries in the surrounding area, and dispersing seeds across the continent in their epic journey. The park is home to 479 bird species and 114 mammals.

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Proposals would allow common plastics to be used despite valid concerns about possible harms, scientists say

New rules on chemicals to be debated by the EU this week would allow most polymers to be used without further checks, according to a group of scientists.

Only about 6% out of about 200,000 polymers would require extensive safety checks under proposals being discussed as part of Europe’s Reach chemicals regulations.

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Smaller energy retailers welcome ACCC and AER investigations into potential market gaming by Snowy Hydro gas plant.

The post Small retailers welcome investigation into Snowy gas plant bidding practices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In 2021 we are learning that relying on a few old coal generators, owned by an oligopoly, makes electricity expensive and unreliable – and how AEMO and China aren't helping.

The post Australia’s policy recipe for expensive and unreliable electricity appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Barnaby Joyce re-installed as Deputy PM after conflict erupts within the Nationals over climate targets.

The post Barnaby Joyce returns as deputy PM as Nationals implode over net-zero targets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Plans to build a massive renewable hydrogen hub including up to 26GW of wind and solar in WA Pilbara rejected by federal Morrison government on environmental grounds.

The post “Clearly unacceptable:” Morrison government blocks massive Pilbara renewable hydrogen hub appeared first on RenewEconomy.

South Korea will auction off over 5.5 million CO2 allowances this Friday after previously having suspended the last permit sale ahead of the compliance deadline, despite prices languishing at their lowest level in more than five years due to oversupply.

Majority support subsidising EV purchases and setting a date to ban import of petrol-powered cars, while others prefer a carbon tax to lower emissions

Australia’s top economists overwhelmingly back government measures to speed the transition to electric cars in order to meet emission reduction targets.

An exclusive poll of 62 of Australia’s preeminent economists – selected by their peers – finds 51 back measures to boost the takeup of electric cars including subsidising public charging stations, subsidising the purchase of all-electric vehicles, and setting a date to ban the import of traditionally powered cars.

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It doesn't matter who's leader of the Nationals – the Morrison government's net-zero greenwashing narrative is already written and is very, very easy to predict.

The post Australia will likely adopt a net-zero target by COP26. It will be a bad target appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Boris Johnson says the country will be able to "breathe life into more breakthroughs that transform lives".

As an economic superpower, China has far more left to do to ensure our planet remains liveable for vulnerable wildlife. Bill Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Countrywide scheme is flourishing after being set up to reverse a 75% decline in insect populations

To escape the Berlin bustle on a summer afternoon, all that Derek O’Doyle and his dog Frida have to do is lap the noisy building site outside their inner-city apartment, weave their way through the queue in front of the ice-cream van, and squeeze between two gridlocked lorries to cross over Baerwaldstrasse.

Bordered by a one-way traffic system lies a bucolic 1,720 sq metre haven as colourful as a Monet landscape: blue cornflowers, red poppies, white cow parsley and purple field scabious dot a sea of nettles and wild grass as armies of insects buzz through the air. Two endangered carpenter bees, larger than their honey bee cousins and with pitch-black abdomens, gorge themselves on a bush of yellow gorse.

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Financial aid ‘critical’ to help developing countries limit fossil fuels – and make Cop26 a success, says UN

The head of climate change at the UN has warned that world leaders are still “far away” from securing a deal to limit the disastrous effects of global heating, with less than five months to go before a key summit in Glasgow.

Time is now running out, said Patricia Espinosa, who was formerly foreign minister of Mexico but now leads the UN on climate policy. She told the Observer that although advances had been made at the G7 meeting in Cornwall last weekend, progress had not been made on honouring past commitments to find $100bn (£72.5bn) a year to help developing countries invest in green technologies.

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Exploratory project in Botswana and Namibia is threat to ecosystems, local communities and wildlife, conservationists say

Tens of thousands of African elephants are under threat from plans for a massive new oilfield in one of the continent’s last great wildernesses, experts have warned.

Campaigners and conservationists fear the proposed oilfield stretching across Namibia and Botswana would devastate regional ecosystems and wildlife as well as local communities.

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There are many ways to reduce a property's environmental impact, says the Energy Saving Trust.

NSW government aims for 50 per cent EVs for new vehicle sales by 2030 as part of an ambitious $490m incentive package that will abolish stamp duty.

The post NSW unveils $490 million support package for electric vehicles, waives stamp duty on new sales appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Student Climate Network planning more demonstrations over oil firm’s funding of climate crisis exhibition

A group of activists who were threatened with arrest on Saturday evening after staging an “occupation” of the Science Museum in London have vowed to renew their fight on Sunday.

The London branch of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) organised a demonstration at the museum in protest at its decision to accept sponsorship from fossil fuel giant Shell.

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Australia sees a high-profile show of political backing for gas even as world leaders and investors exert pressure to shift away from fossil fuels

It took a major international investment group with $279bn under its control to break through the climate-laden rhetoric of geopolitics last week.

You may not have heard of Robeco Institutional Asset Management, but on Thursday the Netherlands-based asset manager made a stunning declaration, singling out Australia as a country with a “particularly high-risk profile” that it wants to pressure to transition out of fossil fuels.

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