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Environment minister calls for ‘due process’ to be followed before 21-country United Nations committee rules on the reef

Australia is demanding world heritage experts carry out a monitoring mission to the Great Barrier Reef before an international committee decides if it should be placed on a list of global sites in danger.

The Australian government on Monday night briefed international ambassadors and Paris-based delegates to Unesco as part of lobbying efforts to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the in-danger list.

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This is a desperate quick fix to try to rescue power station owners from an onslaught of renewable energy they should have seen coming

Largely unnoticed by much of the press, the federal government and its Energy Security Board have dreamed up a plan to bail out the owners of coal-fired generators, and it’s you who will be paying the bill.

Most of the private-sector owners of these coal-fired generators bought these power stations for a song, at prices well below the replacement cost of the power plants. One of them, Trevor St Baker (number 149 on the Financial Review Rich List 2021 with a net worth of $727m), picked up his power plant – Vales Point – for less than the price of the average Sydney home at $1m. AGL, which paid a fair bit more than $1m for Liddell and Bayswater, nonetheless still boasted to investors that it had paid so little for these power plants that it could shut Liddell immediately and the deal still made fantastic money.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will not delay consideration of finalising its RGGI-aligned carbon market rulemaking at a committee hearing next week, as a Republican legislator said the item should be postponed until the fall.

Threat to health of five-year-old triggers proceedings over fumes from Walleys Quarry landfill near Newcastle-under-Lyme

A five-year-old boy from Staffordshire has begun legal action against the Environment Agency over fumes from a landfill site that a medical expert has said is shortening his life expectancy.

Campaigners said a letter to begin legal proceedings had been sent on behalf of Mathew Richards, who was born prematurely and has significant respiratory health problems that have been worsened by fumes from a landfill site near his home in Silverdale, near Newcastle-under-Lyme.

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Brussels on Tuesday presented a new strategy to help finance the EU’s energy and climate transition, expanding its definitions of ‘green’ activities and setting out a voluntary green bond standard.

The European Commission may propose phasing out carbon allowance free allocation from 2025 through 2035, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Tuesday, citing a leaked draft document.

Emissions under the global aviation offset programme CORSIA are expected to bounce back more quickly in the coming years, while carbon credit costs will still remain far below previously forecast levels, according to a committee of UN body ICAO’s Council.

Victim, 65, felt a nip in the genital area shortly after sitting on the lavatory at his home in Graz

An Austrian man was bitten by a 1.6-metre (5.25-foot) python during an early-morning visit to the toilet at his home, police have said.

The 65-year-old victim “felt a ‘nip’ in the genital area” shortly after sitting on the toilet at home in Graz just after 6am on Monday, according to a statement from police in Styria province. He then looked into the toilet and discovered the albino reticulated python.

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Company awaits sentencing after admitting 51 violations in biggest-ever Environment Agency investigation

Southern Water discharged enormous volumes of raw sewage into protected coastal waters for nearly six years causing “very considerable environmental damage” because it was cheaper than treating it, a court has heard.

This was “the worst case brought by the Environment Agency in its history”, the court was told. Southern Water had acted “deliberately” and had reaped “considerable financial advantage” by allowing the discharges.

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Malaysia is drawing up guidelines for voluntary carbon market activities to ensure they don’t interfere with efforts to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement, its environment minister said Tuesday.

While millions of people around the world have gone into lockdown amid the coronavirus crisis, a family in the Ecuadorian Amazon has opted to move deeper into the relative safety of the jungle. 

As they reconnect with dormant ancestral knowledge, away from the distractions of modern life, their affinity with nature begins to flourish. As news spreads that Ecuador might lift lockdown soon, will the family stay?

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Governments should agree a coordinated global carbon price corridor rising to around $147/tonne by 2030 to meet a 1.5C global warming limit, investors managing more than $6 trillion in assets said Tuesday.

The 2021 fire season is predicted to be among the worst – which is saying something, because last year’s burned 10.5m acres and killed at least 43 people

On the first day of summer, I woke up to the acrid smell of hot tar. Even before my sleepy brain could name the source, my body tensed with anxiety: wildfire season was underway. Given the deepening drought and record-setting heat across most of the American west, this year’s fire season is widely predicted to be among the worst in recent memory – which is saying something, because last year’s was grotesque.

More than 10.5m acres burned across the region in 2020, the highest annual total since accurate records began nearly 40 years ago. At least 43 people died as a direct result of the flames, and researchers estimate that thousands more died from the effects of sustained smoke inhalation. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, and evacuations lasted weeks, accelerating the spread of the coronavirus. In rural Washington state, where I live, my neighbors and I were trapped inside for days by smoke so thick we could barely see across the street.

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Western Australia has launched a programme offering upfront funding assistance to develop revegetation and soil carbon projects.

The International Policy Director will report directly to IETA’s President and CEO and work closely with the other IETA Directors. This role will contribute to the strategic success of IETA.

New Zealand carbon allowances rose to record high for the fourth consecutive session in Tuesday trade, rising above NZ$45 ($31.96) for the first time since the market launched 13 years ago.

Fortescue says work of its "green team" shows promise for its goal to decarbonise power, transport and heavy industries.

The post “Green team”: Fortescue sees early promise for green hydrogen and 100 pct renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The public consultation period for assessment for export accreditation will be open until COB 29 July 2021.

Proposals to mirror a US ban on imports from China's Xinjiang region, linked to forced labour, could have major impacts on Australia's solar industry.

The post Could Australia follow US ban on solar panel materials linked to forced labour? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Deal signed for network of 30 solar farms in Victoria which will feature world-first technology combining battery and hydrogen storage.

The post Japan giant signs deal for 30 Australian solar farms with battery and hydrogen storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.