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Almost 20 nations including EU members and vulnerable island nations warned on Friday that abatement technologies, such as carbon capture and storage or removal, must not be an excuse to perpetuate the use of fossil fuels.

The fossil fuel industry has spent billions on winning over the public. The climate movement must learn from its tactics

You may think we have all the proof we need. More of it is in front of us right now, with heatwaves scorching through Europe, breaking records, wreaking havoc. In Athens, they closed the Acropolis on Friday as temperatures at the site headed towards 48C. In Lisbon, visitors expecting perfect blue skies have been disappointed to find them streaked with grey – not clouds, but smoke from forest fires. In Italy, there was no spring this year: floods gave way to unbearable heat with barely a pause.

It’s happening all over – biblical downpours in New York state, unquenchable fires in Canada – and yet humanity is not acting as if it is confronting a planetary emergency. Extreme weather is fast becoming the norm in the US, and yet Americans tell pollsters it is a low priority, ranking it 17th out of 21 national issues in a recent Pew survey. Even when the impact is personal, as it was for many Australians when bushfires raged through the country in 2019, opinions prove stubbornly hard to shift: one study found that among those “directly impacted” by the fires, around a third saw no connection to the climate. They were “unmoved.”

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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Return and earn schemes have diverted tonnes of waste from landfill. For some people, it is also a source of income

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Sitting on a milk crate outside Sydney’s Wynyard station, with a plastic poncho, a cardigan and a beanie to stay warm on a bitter night, Tepyanee waits.

It’s getting late; if she has to wait much longer, she risks missing the last train home and getting stranded – it wouldn’t be the first time. Last week she missed the last connecting service home and remained on the platform overnight until the first train at dawn.

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Privately-held European power generator EPH has flagged plans to transfer its big-emitting lignite operations into a new sister company to enable its core business to wipe coal off its balance sheet by 2030 while the jettisoned facilities are expected to carry on longer.

EU fertiliser companies lost their appeal in the bloc's highest court this week against their exclusion from a list of sectors able to claim compensation for their indirect ETS costs. 

Scientists caution against rush to mine the seabed, and say it could be decades before the full impact on marine life is known

Animal populations appear to decrease where the deep sea is being mined, and the impact on marine life of the controversial industry may involve a wider “footprint” than previously expected.

According to analysis of seabed ecology undertaken after drilling tests in 2020 in Japan – the country’s first successful extraction of cobalt crusts from deep-sea mountains – there was a decrease in marine life such as fish and shrimp at the site a year later. The density had dropped even further in areas outside the impact zone, by more than half.

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Discovery that some species build nests from anti-bird spikes highlights growing awareness in UK that deterrents don’t work

It seems like the ultimate revenge: birds have been found constructing nests from the very spikes meant to deter them from perching on buildings. But while humans have no shortage of tactics to wage against unwanted birds, experts say it’s time to abandon the war.

Though there are myriad ways to deter or remove birds from city roofs, train stations and other settings – from spikes to fire gel, professional falconers and even plastic owls – it seems many only lead to a temporary reprieve.

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Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) and state-owned bank KfW on Friday announced they will support businesses in their efforts to integrate natural climate protection measures within their premises.

European carbon prices traded moderately higher on Friday as thin volume led to some volatility in the market after the daily auction cleared at one of the largest premia this year, while energy prices also extended Thursday's gains to reduce their week-on-week loss.

Allowance prices in China's carbon market edged up over the past week amid a sharp decrease in trading volume, while liquidity worsened in the offset market despite the latest government consultation lifting spirits.

Tories, including former net zero tsar, among signatories to letter urging PM not to let down developing countries

Rishi Sunak must uphold his £11.6bn climate finance commitment, Conservative parliamentarians, including the former net zero tsar, have said.

Writing to the prime minister in a cross-party letter, they say recommitting to the target and clearly demonstrating how it would be met would “avoid doing further damage to the UK’s climate leadership, and help to build a safe and more prosperous future”.

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I worry about the climate but didn’t think more than 40 Women’s World Cup players would sign up to create a positive environmental legacy for the tournament

If I had to pinpoint one moment when I started to really think about climate change it would be in 2009 when Cop15 was held in Copenhagen. Since then, my interest has just been growing and I have become more and more concerned about the future.

My efforts to change my behaviour and reduce my carbon footprint didn’t come all at once, but gradually I have adjusted things in my life to be more carbon friendly. What is driving me is that the countries and the people that are least responsible for this situation are the most affected by the climate changes. That is unfair.

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CPRE London hopes to surround capital in trees by weaving existing areas of green belt in outer boroughs

An environmental charity is bidding to create an “M25 for nature” that would encircle London in woodland, hedgerows and street trees to boost biodiversity, carbon capture and wellbeing.

The countryside charity CPRE London hopes to weave together existing areas of green belt in the city’s 18 outer boroughs to create an uninterrupted ring of trees around the capital.

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Participants in China's carbon markets are expecting to see the inclusion of the cement and steel sectors in the national emissions trading scheme (ETS) next year, a survey released on Friday showed.

Some 20 financial institutions have launched a group that will work towards supporting the British government's target of delivering finance for nature recovery in the UK as well as developing high-integrity domestic nature markets.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including released beavers, fantastic flamingos and a hungry puffin

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An industry-led Australian study trialling the use of asparagopsis to reduce enteric methane emissions from livestock has achieved much lower GHG reductions than had been previously been recorded.

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A new renewable certificate scheme, known as REGOs, will help us better understand emission abatement of wind and solar and take us closer to net zero.

The post Why time-stamping renewable certificates will take us closer to net zero emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Other countries, including China, have threatened to further restrict Japanese imports if the Fukushima wastewater discharge goes ahead

The European Union has lifted restrictions on Japanese food imports imposed after the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, weeks before Japan is expected to start pumping wastewater from the facility into the Pacific Ocean.

China and other countries, however, have threatened to further restrict Japanese seafood imports if the water discharge goes ahead.

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