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Barns Ness, East Lothian: Pools teem with tiny creatures and fossilised coral demands attention – the whole place is dense with life, old and new

Out on the headland at Barns Ness, the strand is pitted with rockpools and slung with seaweed of all textures. Bladderwrack and fleecy gutweed and long-tailed oarweed and sugar kelp lie heaped upon one another, slick and slippery underfoot. The pools themselves seem empty on first approach, but after a minute’s silent watch they come to life: periwinkles inching almost imperceptibly along, shore crabs sidling from under rocks with a suspicious air, and – best of all – tiny hermit crabs in their pilfered shells, peeking shyly out, antennae waving.

We have spent a week here in the lighthouse cottages in Barns Ness, waking to the sound of crashing waves beyond the wall. The weather has been temperamental, so when the sun appears we rush out the door and down to the shoreline. Today the clouds are strung high and thin in the sky, and the sun casts a great halo around itself – a ring of light that encircles the lighthouse too, and the peregrine falcon that perches on its rail.

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Listen to birds and possums communicating about land grabs, politics and sex. To celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day, this program about a forest chorus is from the Off Track archive.

New solar powered agriculture and industrial processes are being developed. And South Australia has become a world leader as it takes up renewable energy. But with coral reefs dying before our eyes and climate changing everywhere fast, there isn’t a moment to lose.

The millions of flowers have created a blaze of colour on the Norfolk landscape.

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

This week the battle between solar and food farming; and dry-aged mutton that tastes like chocolate!

Four research institutions have partnered to test a forest carbon trade that would involve transferring REDD carbon credits from Colombia to South Korea to help meet Paris Agreement goals.

EU carbon prices nudged back above €13 on Friday to halt a run of three straight daily losses notched since the 2017 compliance deadline passed, as a looming week of tighter auction supply deterred selling.

EU countries handed out a further 3.68 mln free carbon allowances to industry for 2018 in the past two weeks, European Commission data released late Friday showed, as the deadline for surrendering units against last year’s emissions passed.

Environment secretary favours the move but it is hotly contested within government

Michael Gove is spearheading plans to halt the sale of new hybrid cars from 2040 to help tackle UK air pollution, Whitehall sources have said.

Ministers have been battling privately over whether or not to ban hybrids to strengthen the government’s policy of banning new diesel vehicles in 22 years time.

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Companies regulated by the EU ETS exchanged 10.57 million Kyoto Protocol credits for allowances over the last six months to use for compliance, the European Commission said Friday, continuing the slow usage rate as the market’s overall quota is almost exhausted.

CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the EU rose by an estimated 1.8% in 2017, according to the bloc’s statistics office Eurostat.

The InSight probe is due to launch this weekend to investigate the interior of the Red Planet.

Single-Column Responsive Email Template Vic-Tas Chapter Newsletter May 2018 Upcoming event 'A Sustainability Approach to Metropolitan People Movement' Level 31, 600 Bourke Street Melbourne, 6.00pm Thursday 24th May This seminar will look at three modes of metropolitan transport, cars, public transport and active transport (walking and cycling). It will give a perspective on how sustainable each mode may be in meeting EA’s sustainability policy. The future of the car - Dr Ian Espada The car handles the most personal trips in Australia. A scenario wherein current trends prevail into the next generation is described and discussed from the point of view of sustainability. Emerging trends on electrification, shared economy, connectivity, big data and autonomy are examined on how they impact the car of the future. Dr Ian Espadaholds degrees in traffic engineering and transport planning from the University of Tokyo (PhD) and Asian Institute of Technology (MSCE), as well as in civil engineering from Central Philippine University (BSCE). From 2001 to 2008, he worked as a transport planner for ALMEC Corporation. Dr Espada joined the Network Operations team of ARRB Group in 2008. He is currently the Network Operations Team Leader at ARRB. The future of public transport - Professor Graham Currie In considering the future of public transport he will: consider how “new mobility”, “autonomous vehicles”, “shared mobility” and “ride sharing” is going to impact urban transit; explore the future case for Urban Transit systems; look at some new and interesting developments in the field. Professor Graham Currie FTSE, is the Director of the Public Transport Research Group at the Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University. He is a research leader and policy adviser and founder of the Public transport research group at Monash Uni. Prof Currie’s experience spans Project Management, Demand Forecasting, Planning Methods in Public Transport, Regulatory Reviews, Efficiency and Performance Benchmarking, Training, Market Research, Investment Appraisal and Financial and Economic Analysis. The future of Active Transport - Ms Katie Dickson This presentation will provide insight into: space efficient movement for productive places (with a brief introduction to Movement and Place - the evolution of SmartRoads) sustainable urban living, where movement is achieved without impeding the productivity of place, noting the importance of walking and cycling; relieving train station car parks (with a brief introduction to the Victorian Cycling Strategy); city resilience in the face of disaster (predictable break downs, climate change, emissions etc); changing fuels (impact of electric motors for bicycles). Katie Dicksonhas worked in the field of strategic planning, design and planning of active transport for over 20 years. She is a geographer and transport planner by profession, and has worked for local Councils, NGOs and State Government agencies in London and Melbourne. The speakers session will be followed by a Panel Q&A. REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT Past SENG Events Want to look back at past SENG events? Presentations from most of our events are available on our website LinkedIn SENG is on LinkedIn. Visit the group here Other useful links Alternative Technology Association Environment Victoria The Conversation Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. Melbourne Energy Institute Climate Council Beyond Zero Emissions Future Melbourne Network If you can't view this email click here to view online Click here to unsubscribe from this newsletter S

The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

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A marmot emerging from hibernation, a friendly elephant and a baby ring-tailed lemur are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator this week handed out 738,134 carbon credits to maintain its recent above-average issuance rate as a small secondary market for carbon offsets continues to form.

Scientists at Imperial College London have spent more than 25 years developing the device.

The Guangdong provincial government this week issued some 61,000 carbon credits in its first issuance since last June, as China’s national offset programme remains sidelined.

Below is a table of the closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week. All prices are in RMB, and volumes in tonnes of CO2e. Data sourced from local exchanges.