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Only two companies make bids for right to develop offshore wind off Gulf coast, in setback for administration’s green-energy plans

The Biden administration on Tuesday held the first ever auction for the right to develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico, with just one of the three available leases provisionally awarded and only two bidders.

The historic sale fell on the anniversaries of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and 2021’s Hurricane Ida, climate crisis-fueled disasters that devastated Gulf communities. It also comes the day after the Gulf cities of New Orleans and Houston saw their hottest temperatures in recorded history, and as the largest wildfire in state history ravages Louisiana.

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European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Tuesday proposed Dutch deputy prime minister and foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra as the next EU climate commissioner, following an interview with the candidate put forth by the outgoing Dutch coalition government.

Ministers have claimed Ulez is cash-raising ploy – but letter reveals Grant Shapps backed a separate charge for same reason

Ministers have been accused of hypocrisy in claiming Sadiq Khan expanded London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to raise revenue after it emerged the Department for Transport urged the mayor to extend the city’s congestion charge for the same reason.

On the first day of Ulez covering every London borough there was renewed bickering between the Labour mayor and the government, with Khan castigating Mark Harper, the transport secretary, for what he called factual mistakes after the pair crossed paths at a TV studio.

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The US Department of Agriculture's Forest Services has announced $16.2 million to restore forest lands in tribal, state, and private sites in an effort to boost nature-based resilience to climate change, as part of its Landscape Restoration Programme.

Metsa Group has targeted triggering “systemic” international change in land management with the launch of a pilot to boost biodiversity across 650 hectares, Carbon Pulse has learned.

New offshore wind capacity expected to built in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region between now and 2032 could abate around 650 million tCO2 a year, forecasts the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

The UK government has committed £16 million to restoring peatland across 12 projects covering over 6,000 hectares collectively in England to help boost the nation's carbon sink.

The government says removing EU-era pollution restrictions on developments could "unblock" 100,000 new homes.

European carbon prices moved in a narrow range in quiet trading as the market began to resume normal operations after the summer break and Monday's UK public holiday, while energy markets gave up some of Monday's gains even as workers at Chevron's Australian LNG operations prepared to strike.

Poland's largest utility PGE plans to spin off all its coal capacity by the end of the decade, heavily invest in wind and nuclear, and reach climate neutrality by the 2040, the firm said in a strategy update on Tuesday.

Two Europe-headquartered companies active in the removals space have announced Tuesday a partnership that will enable projects certified by one of the firms access to a large marketplace operated by the other, facilitating the trade of carbon removal credits between buyers and sellers.

A state government in India this year refrained from participating in the federal government’s annual palm oil plantation drive, saying it would hurt the state’s biodiversity while causing rising carbon emissions.

A new carbon offsets standard and registry focused on Asia launched in Singapore on Tuesday, eyeing the potential of urban- and technology-based solutions in the region, local media reported.

Amid the culture war bickering and rightwing campaigns, it’s time to remember why this move is practical, popular and essential

On this day, Ulez day – after all the misrepresentations and smothering of the concept by toxic, opportunistic politicians – there are basic facts that bear repeating. When people are breathing in polluted air, doing nothing about cleaning it up means that people will die prematurely. The connection between dirty air and asthma, strokes, Alzheimer’s, bronchus and lung cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and respiratory infections is all proven. If one of your relatives or friends has suffered from any of these serious conditions, then air pollution could have been a contributory factor. And if you are still arguing that you have the right to drive a polluting, life-curtailing vehicle, then ask yourself: is that the person you really want to be?

That doesn’t mean that the capital’s now extended ultra-low emission zone, or Ulez, is the only solution, but it is the most effective one we can put in place today. The Ulez gives us the best and most immediate chance of reducing the number of people dying prematurely, children developing smaller lung capacity and many of us suffering lung and respiratory problems. I agree we should heavily regulate the use of domestic wood burners, have better public transport and dramatically increase the number of electric charging points. I’m happy to listen to anyone who makes the case for additional measures that we should be taking. But having spent 24 years campaigning for clean air, I know that there has never been a shortage of solutions – it is only the political will to implement them that has been lacking.

Jenny Jones is a Green party peer and former deputy mayor of London

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Canada and UK only donor countries to contribute so far, leaving scheme short of $40m to formally launch

Developed countries have been urged to contribute to a new nature fund after it was left undercapitalised by $40m (£32m), receiving money from just two donors.

At the Cop15 biodiversity summit in December, where countries agreed this decade’s biodiversity targets that included aims to protect 30% of Earth, governments agreed to the creation of a fund to help developing countries meet the deal’s aims, which included a target to provide $200bn for nature a year by 2030.

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Sadiq Khan defends expansion of ultra-low emission zone as government continues to criticise it

Clean air is “a right not a privilege”, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said as the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) was expanded to include the outer boroughs of London.

People who drive in the zone in a vehicle that does not meet minimum emissions standards are required to pay a £12.50 daily fee or risk a £180 fine, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.

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New Zealand needs to make a decision on how it intends to make up the 100-million tonne emissions shortfall to meet its 2030 climate, an analyst told a conference Tuesday, describing it as the elephant not in the room.

Vietnam and Singapore have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to operationalise their Article 6 partnership, which would pave the way for activating the trade of correspondingly adjusted carbon credits between the two Southeast Asian nations. 

Look ma, no coal. Transgrid says the race is on to prepare the NSW grid to operate it at times at 100% instantaneous renewables.

The post “High velocity” renewables shift urgently needs bigger and stronger grid, says Transgrid appeared first on RenewEconomy.