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Conservation group wants to ‘drive cultural shift’ to designate trees and woodlands ‘as fundamental to quality of life’

She would never have dreamed of it a few years ago, but when lockdown came and she found herself separated from family and friends, “I’m not ashamed to say I hugged a tree or two if I was feeling sad,” says Jane Barber. “When you couldn’t hug people – and I didn’t have a partner at the time – it was really challenging for people who lived alone.

“We need connection, to feel connection with another living being. To connect with the tree’s history and reflect on what it might have witnessed is wonderful.”

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Initiatives seeking to boost the integrity of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) could stifle demand and deter investors, an official at a leading standard warned on Friday, while referencing the work of a Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity (VCMI) initiative.

Britain should guard against calls for extreme measures to protect its industry from the impacts of higher power and gas costs this winter, including suspending the UK ETS, according to an energy industry representative.

Small populations of wild rock doves discovered in places including Outer Hebrides

Colonies of extremely rare and endangered birds that are the wild ancestors of domestic and feral pigeons have been found on secluded Scottish islands.

Researchers have spoken of their excitement and surprise at discovering small populations of wild rock doves in places that include the Outer Hebrides.

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EU nations are examining an informal proposal that would amend the design of the distribution of REPowerEU disbursements, including some €20 billion stemming from the sale of carbon allowances currently held in the MSR, Bloomberg reported, citing a document.

An Italian town has banned the practice during a heatwave, but if done right it benefits hair and scalp

Global consumption of water is growing twice as fast as the world’s population and droughts are affecting swathes of the planet. So it was no surprise that this week the mayor of an Italian town in Emilia-Romagna, which is experiencing a severe heatwave, banned hairdressers from shampooing their customers’ hair twice, saying it would save thousands of litres of water a day.

As we all attempt to reduce waste, that additional shampoo at home or in the salon can seem like overkill. So is what is known in the trade as “double cleansing” really necessary? No, but every hairdresser and trichologist is seemingly in agreement that the second shampoo has distinct benefits to scalp and hair, regardless of skin and hair type.

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Woman, who has non-life-threatening injuries, treated in Wyoming hospital after encounter in national park

A 71-year-old Pennsylvania woman was gored by a bison on Wednesday in Yellowstone National Park, in “the third reported bison and visitor incident” this year, officials said.

The woman, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was transported to a hospital in Cody, Wyoming.

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French president, speaking on sidelines of UN ocean conference in Lisbon, urges more investment in science to protect high seas

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has called for a legal framework to stop deep-sea mining from going ahead and urged countries to put their money into science to better understand and protect the world’s oceans.

There is growing international interest in deep-sea mining but there is also pressure from some environmental groups and governments to either ban it or ensure it only goes ahead if appropriate regulations are in place.

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In a major environmental case, the court has made clear that it would rather represent the interests of corporations and the super-rich than the needs and desires of the vast majority of Americans – or people on Earth

In remarks to the first Earth Day gathering in 1970, the Maine senator Edmund Muskie made the case for the Clean Air Act – a bill he helped draft – in stark terms. “There is no space command center, ready to give us precise instruction and alternate solutions for survival on our spaceship Earth,” he told the crowd. “Our nation – and our world – hang together by tenuous bonds which are strained as they have never been strained before – and as they must never be strained again. We cannot survive an undeclared war on our future.”

In its Thursday ruling on West Virginia v EPA – in line with a string of decisions that will make life here more dangerous – the US supreme court all but declared that war, curtailing the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plants under a provision of the Clean Air Act and – more worryingly – striking an opening blow to the government’s ability to do its job.

Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at the New Republic and the author of Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet – And How We Fight Back

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Join a panel of leading experts in a broad ranging discussion about the challenges and opportunities of net zero for Asia.

The post Webinar: Funding Net Zero: Green Capital for the Asia Energy Transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EUA prices began the new quarter and half on a weak note, dropping sharply on Friday morning after the daily auction cleared at a significant discount after three positive differentials in a row, while UK allowances shrugged off the weakness amid utility buying.

S&P Dow Jones Indices has launched a new index to track the price of the two most liquid voluntary carbon market (VCM) futures currently in the market, although more contracts could be added every six months.

The Australian government has committed A$9.5 mln ($6.4 mln) to support five domestic blue carbon projects around the country, designed to restore mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal marshes, while also co-funding a batch of global schemes to ramp up project pipeline development.

The price for Chinese carbon allowances has come down slightly over the past week though only on the back of a handful of largely symbolic transactions, while Tianjin has pushed back the annual compliance deadline in its municipal market due to disruption from anti-Covid policies.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a stonefish, a mountain jerboa and a bevy of otters

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AEMO lays out roadmap for a rapid transition to renewables, Baringa's Alan Rai joins us to discuss the high points and the lows.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Australia’s rapid transition to renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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Energy ministers will decide which technologies will be eligible in a capacity mechanism, but the ESB chief says emissions cuts could be built into its design.

The post Could an emissions reduction trajectory be baked into a capacity mechanism? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Transgrid says switch to green energy is going to accelerate, particularly after the disruption in global energy markets.

The post “Big shift in language:” Transgrid welcomes new urgency in transmission plans appeared first on RenewEconomy.