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Government’s reef envoy says visiting scientists ‘have to see the good and the bad’ as widespread bleaching confirmed

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A UN mission under way in Queensland to see if the Great Barrier Reef should be put on an “in danger” list will not get “the whole picture” unless it visits reefs currently experiencing coral bleaching, conservationists and the government’s own reef envoy have said.

Details of the 10-day mission, which began on Monday in Brisbane, are being kept confidential and the locations to be visited have not been formally disclosed.

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Imposing a carbon price corridor for the EU's proposed second ETS for transport and buildings is an idea gaining momentum among lawmakers, a move that could help defuse fears about the carbon market putting an excessive burden on poorer households.

Voluntary carbon offset providers Natural Capital Partners and ClimateCare on Wednesday announced a rebranding as Climate Impact Partners, cementing their merger and setting a 2030 emissions goal.

The UN wants to ensure that everyone on the planet is covered by early warning systems by 2027.

One minister says windfarms are ‘not cost-effective’ and some prefer a push for fracking

Ministers have not yet made a final decision about whether to include a renewed push for onshore wind in next week’s energy independence plan, with some in cabinet sceptical about the move, government sources say.

The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has made clear publicly that he would like to see planning rules relaxed, in order to facilitate the building of more onshore windfarms. Michael Gove, who oversees the planning system, has also spoken out in favour.

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EUA prices stabilised at slightly higher levels on Wednesday morning ahead of the quarterly options contract expiry in very thin trading, while energy prices were higher as traders weighed whether the EU needs additional gas supplies.

Charity to look at how hedge varieties provide benefits such as rainwater control and wildlife shelter

Gardeners and homeowners should swap their fence for a hedge, the Royal Horticultural Society is urging as it begins a study into which species are best for tackling the climate crisis and pollution.

Scientists at the charity are looking into green infrastructure, particularly in urban areas. One example of such infrastructure is using hedges to mark boundaries between properties and gardens.

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Saudi Arabia's public investment fund (PIF) has signed five memorandums of understanding (MoU) with large businesses in the country as it seeks to establish a voluntary carbon market (VCM) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by 2023, it announced this week.

Campaigners warn time running out for governments to halt and reverse the destruction of wildlife and ecosystems that support the planet

Time is running out for governments to reach an ambitious Paris-style agreement for nature, say campaigners, who warn that crucial negotiations to protect biodiversity are moving at a “snail’s pace”.

Amid increasingly alarming scientific assessments about the state of life on Earth, negotiators are meeting in Geneva for talks aimed at halting and reversing the destruction of wildlife and ecosystems that support human civilisation.

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The Australian government is facing increased criticism for its job operating the nation’s offset market, as a group of 15 market participants on Wednesday asked for the recently announced changes to the ERF to be delayed, while studies led by a prominent academic concluded the whole scheme is “largely a scam”.

China released Wednesday a 15-year roadmap for hydrogen production, setting production goals for green hydrogen for the first time.

The latest wave of climate deniers claim green schemes are ‘unaffordable’. Success stories from around Europe prove that’s not true

While all eyes were on another horror, our war against the living world went nuclear. Over the weekend, temperatures at some weather stations in the Arctic rose to 30C above normal. Simultaneously, at certain weather stations in the Antarctic they hit 40C above normal. Two events, albeit off the scale, do not make a trend. But as part of a gathering record of extreme and chaotic weather, these unprecedented, simultaneous anomalies are terrifying.

On their heels came news of another horrific event: mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef during a La Niña year. La Niña is the cool phase of the Pacific cycle. Until now, widespread bleaching had happened only during the warmer El Niño years. The likely impacts of the next El Niño are too awful to contemplate.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist. He will discuss Regenesis at a Guardian Live event on Monday 30 May. Book tickets in-person or online here

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US oil and gas company Occidental has signed an agreement with a South Korean trading company for the supply of “net zero oil” in a five-year deal that involves the use of direct air capture (DAC) technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere to abate the lifecycle emissions of the oil sold, the company announced.

Macquarie is seeking an energetic and experienced sales/originator to join its Asian Power, Gas and Emissions team.

Prof Andrew Macintosh says the system, which gives credits for projects such as regrowing native forests after clearing, is ‘a fraud’ on the environment, taxpayers and consumers

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A whistleblower who spent years working on the integrity of the Australian government’s carbon credit system has launched an extraordinary attack on the scheme, describing it as a fraud that is hurting the environment and has wasted more than $1bn in taxpayer funding.

Prof Andrew Macintosh, the former head of the government’s Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee, said the growing carbon market overseen by the government and the Clean Energy Regulator was “largely a sham” as most of the carbon credits approved did not represent real or new cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

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Africa CSW was set up as an alternative to the Commission on the Status of Women, so we can ensure no one shuts us down

At the UN headquarters in New York, ministers, activists, feminists and advocates are meeting to discuss gender equality and women’s rights. But the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) – the UN’s biggest global gathering to discuss these issues – is an event African women and girls struggle to attend and participate in.

If it is not visa denials (this year saw little or no attempt from embassies to help facilitate visas to the US), it’s the lack of adequate resources to fly to New York and stay for the meetings; if it’s not language problems, then it is the minimal time and space granted to deliberate our unique issues.

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Commonwealth Environmental Water Office MEDIA RELEASE

The Hong Kong subsidiary of a major Chinese investment bank on Wednesday launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that will track EU carbon futures.

The role is concentrated on supporting Bioeconomy’s land-based carbon projects for carbon asset development and other Nature-Based Solutions.

There’s new advice for gardeners on how to tackle this little beetle which doesn’t involve pesticides

The first sign of black vine weevils, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, is usually when one of your favourite pot plant wilts and dies in the spring. The larvae, small creamy white sickle-shaped grubs, devour plant roots and then the base of the stems until the plant keels over. The grubs are a major pest in nurseries where there are many plants in containers. Out in gardens they attack many varieties of ornamentals including rhododendrons and camellias plus crops such as strawberries. Although outdoor attacks are seldom fatal they weaken the plants.

When adult beetles emerge in April they are only 10mm long and nocturnal. The adults cannot fly but can run fast and climb plants at night, feeding by taking bites out of leaves. By day they hide under any debris on the soil surface to avoid being eaten by predators which include birds, frogs, toads, shrews, hedgehogs and other beetles. In the autumn they lay eggs in the soil, the larvae then munching away unseen all winter.

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