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A new children's story, Amy's (AEMO's) Balancing Act - uses a sunbaking goanna, an albatrosss, and a sugar glider to explain switch to renewables.

The post Amy’s Balancing Act: How to explain the clean energy revolution to children appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Lumea proposes a "first of its kind" funding proposition without government support for what could be the biggest battery in Australia.

The post Lumea plans huge “first of its kind” big battery in Melbourne appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Queensland to invest in pumped hydro storage upgrade as it continue to look to energy storage in response to the Callide coal generator explosion.

The post Pumped hydro boost follows “battery blitz” as state responds to Callide coal explosion appeared first on RenewEconomy.

For Indigenous people, Country is more than a landscape. But climate change, and the natural disasters it produces, present a clear and present threat to Country, culture and heritage. Bhiamie Williamson, Research Associate & PhD Candidate, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Top US diplomat in Canberra says US and Australia have a shared obligation to protect the planet

The top US diplomat in Australia has declared both countries need to set “more ambitious climate goals” and tackle the climate crisis “head on”, as international pressure mounts on the Morrison government to act.

Mike Goldman, who is chargé d’affaires at the United States embassy in Canberra, emphasised that the US and Australia had a shared obligation to protect the planet.

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Experts say now’s the time to get on top of the destructive impact of the invasive species on vulnerable ecosystems

If there is one thing beef cattle farmer Ted Rowley has learned while trying to manage feral deer on his property, it is this: for every deer that you see, there are at least another 10 that you can’t see.

“In the beginning you see a few deer and think that’s pretty cute,” he says. “But what you don’t see is the very large number that are across the landscape.”

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Developers use this laden word when they want to obliterate wildlife and its habitats, to demonise anyone who objects

If there’s one word in the English language that I’d like to get rid of, it’s nimby. The acronym – for “not in my back yard” – is often used by developers and politicians to deride local protesters who stand up to housebuilding. “Nimbys”, they claim, are self-interested, live in nice houses, in nice places and want to deny these privileges to newcomers. In my opinion, the word is a spectacular example of how language can stand reality on its head: developers are not champions of the people and those who oppose them are certainly not selfish.

The postmortem of the Chesham and Amersham byelection, where many voters, upset at environmentally destructive local projects, voted for the Liberal Democrats, brought accusations of nimbyism out in force. The Daily Telegraph declared the win “a victory for nimbys”, adding that it was “no reason to give up on planning reform” – reforms which, needless to say, look set to confer most benefit on Tory-donor housebuilders. Even sympathetic commentators couldn’t resist the cliche: the “voters may possibly be nimbys”, said Polly Toynbee, “but that doesn’t make them wrong on this”.

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Companies must have human rights and environmental obligations, say TUC and Amnesty International

Almost 30 organisations have joined forces to call for the UK to follow in the footsteps of its European partners by introducing corporate accountability laws requiring companies to undertake human rights and environmental due diligence across their supply chains.

The groups, including the TUC, Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International, say systemic human rights abuses and environmentally destructive practices are commonplace in the global operations and supply chains of UK businesses, and voluntary approaches to tackle the problem have failed.

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As a doctor in a big city hospital I am part of a privileged class with air con and water. But millions have neither

Karachi’s heat hits you like a wall when you wake up in the morning. When you are up and getting changed, and the humidity hits you in the chest, you realise it’s going to be really hot today. But it’s another day, so you grab your bag and go to work.

Related: Nowhere is safe, say scientists as extreme heat causes chaos in US and Canada

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An artist’s images of tiny toys and figurines dumped in the ocean highlight the wasteful ways we have to change

Social media was made for projects like Tracey Williams’s #LegoLostatSea, which anecdotally charts the plastic that has been dumped in the ocean in the past 70 years. Williams began her mission after becoming obsessed with the container of 4.8m Lego pieces that spilled from a cargo ship 20 miles off Land’s End in 1997, and which continue to be washed up on Cornwall’s beaches every day. The fact that many of those Lego sets had a nautical theme – mini plastic octupuses and divers’ flippers are common finds – makes them a perfect metaphor for the 8m tonnes of plastic that end up in the oceans each year. At current rates, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. A special report in the journal Science last week launched a campaign for governments to commit to phase out “virgin” plastic production in the next 20 years. Even if that happens, our age will be known for centuries to come for its detritus: the Happy Meal figurines and plastic bottles and Lego snorkellers that come and go on every tide.

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The population of the rare saiga has more than doubled since 2019, reversing a slide towards extinction.

The world’s biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in human history, and an estimated 1 million species are at risk of extinction

Corporate Australia is familiar with the concept that climate change presents a financial risk to the global economy, but more recently biodiversity loss has emerged as an equally important risk.

In fact, climate change and biodiversity loss are now often referred to as the “twin crises” facing the global financial system and awareness of the role the financial sector plays in this is rising swiftly.

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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

UK carbon allowances just ended their second straight month above the trigger for possible market intervention, but views are mixed as to whether the British government will decide to unleash more supply into the market in an attempt to dampen rising prices if the Cost Containment Mechanism (CCM) is activated at the end of July.

As Arctic sea-ice melts in a warming world, it causes the world to heat more rapidly.

The Green Climate Fund's board clashed this week over several climate adaptation projects, disbursing $500 million mostly to mitigation schemes and falling behind in its aim to balance its funding.

Speculative firms increased their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) positions over the week as their cumulative holdings rose above the 100-million mark, while emitters’ short positions increased at the futures expiry, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

EUAs failed to extend the previous session's all-time high on Friday despite steadier energy prices, but still managed to lock in a solid 4.2% weekly gain.

Colombia may have lost millions in carbon tax revenue while doing little to advance its climate goals, according to an NGO investigation into two REDD projects that raises questions about how forest carbon projects interact with government rules.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing, clean fuel standards, and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.