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Australia should impose clear restrictions if it moves ahead with crediting Safeguard Mechanism entities for emissions reductions, the Climate Change Authority (CCA) said Friday, aiming not to harm the offset market. 

British finance minister Rishi Sunak is examining proposals for a UK-wide carbon tax when the country’s Brexit transition period finishes at the end of the year, The Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed officials.

In focusing on targets, activists from rich countries risk putting metrics above the lives of vulnerable people

The dissonance is enough to make me uninstall Twitter from my phone. Maybe it’s compassion fatigue, maybe it’s 2020. But if I’m honest with myself, it’s a world-sized rift in how we perceive the climate emergency on the different timelines I doom-scroll. On one feed, everyone – American or not – is forced to tune in to each candidate’s climate policy because the US’s electoral fate is inextricably linked to the future of the planet. On another feed from back home in India, 40 new coalmines in the last great sal forests are being served up to any bidder who’ll take them, while civil rights activists from a different era of environmental organising languish in jail, their health deteriorating.

We’re at an inflection point in climate politics, where some governments are readying 30- and 40-year carbon-neutral plans and others are looking to coast into the next decade with pledges that are already five years old. Meanwhile people who have always suffered are contending with the fallout of inaction in the here and now. We need to align these two timelines and to broaden our definition of climate justice, if we are to achieve any measure of justice for the most vulnerable. But in order to do this, we must accept that climate politics are not so black and white any more.

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Msrine experts exasperated by ‘disturbing nature and tone of the hearings’ in ‘a shameless misuse of the parliamentary process’

Coalition senators have criticised scientists and misrepresented evidence given by Australia’s main marine science agency at the close of a “politically motivated” Senate inquiry looking at water quality on the Great Barrier Reef, scientists claim.

More than a year after the Coalition-backed inquiry was launched, a final report was released in parliament on Thursday evening that backed the links between farm runoff – water from farms that flows into the ocean – and impacts on the health of the Great Barrier Reef, but called for better relations with farmers.

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By reporting on issues across the world affecting the climate crisis the media can influence change

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“Will this story make a difference?”

It’s a question journalists ask themselves all the time. The answer is rarely clearcut, and there is no shortage of stories that barely make a ripple. But there have been a number of occasions in recent years on the Guardian’s environment desk when the answer has been a resounding yes.

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Council is latest to push for bathing status for a stretch of river in order to protect it

Oxford has become the latest area to push for bathing water status for an area of river in an attempt to stop Thames Water discharging raw sewage into it.

The city council has backed a motion to apply for a section of the River Thames to become a bathing water area, akin to the status granted to coastal waters in the UK. The status drives up the standards of waterways. Currently no English river qualifies as bathing water, but the designation applies to more than 600 beaches and lakes.

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The Royal Society of Biology has released the shortlisted entries and winners for its Photographer of the Year and Young Photographer of the Year competition. This year’s theme was Our Changing World

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Vessels spent 200,000 hours in 2019 bottom trawling or dredging the seabed in protected areas set up to safeguard vital ecosystems

More than 97% of British marine protected areas, created to safeguard ocean habitats, are being dredged and bottom trawled, according to data shared with the Guardian.

Nearly a quarter of the UK’s territorial waters are covered by MPAs, set up to protect vital ecosystems and species, including harbour porpoises and dolphins. This network of parks is a symbol of the government’s “world leading” target to protect 30% of ocean biodiversity by 2030.

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New research found nearly half of land-based ecosystems and threatened species in Australia have inadequate protections. Yet most of the budget for national parks will go to infrastructure upgrades. Sean Maxwell, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland James Watson, Professor, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A surfboard was recovered from the water at Wylie Bay but the male surfer has not been located, a police spokesman says

A surfer is missing following a possible shark attack near Esperance in Western Australia with authorities recovering a surfboard from the water.

A marine search and rescue team is at Kelp Beds beach in Wylie Bay looking for the man after a possible shark bite was reported at 10.50am local time on Friday.

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A new Climate Council report says renewable energy zones, clean manufacturing and renewable exports provide political leaders a chance to create thousands of new jobs.

The post Up to 20,000 new clean energy jobs up for grabs as Queensland readies to vote appeared first on RenewEconomy.

With a track record of 360 MW awarded, four projects and a robust pipeline of another 320 MW, GRS has become one of the leading EPC contractor of solar farms in Australia.

The post GRS, present and future of the photovoltaic EPC in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The new Warradarge wind farm north of Perth will be one of Australia’s best performing, with a capacity factor of around 50%. Bright Energy’s Tom Frood explains why, and we look at the latest network news.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: The windy west, and network news appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia's first utility-scale solar farm is now four times bigger after the addition of a second stage using bigger solar panels and tracking technologies.

The post Australia’s first utility scale solar farm is now four times bigger appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Small scale rooftop solar PV installations are heading towards 3GW in 2020, despite Covid-19, and we talk to April Crawford-Smith about Australia’s biggest solar garden.

The post Solar Insiders Podcast: Rooftop PV still booming, and Australia’s biggest solar garden appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The goggles could let handlers direct their dogs from a safe distance, the army says.

Green Mountain Power says its expanding network of energy storage systems - including Tesla Powerpacks and Powerwalls, has saved customers about $US3 million so far in 2020.

The post Tesla batteries help deliver $US3 million in savings to customers of US utility appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An Energy Queensland network trial focusing on accommodating more, and smarter commercial solar has quietly shown the way on how it may work for consumers.

The post How “flexible exports” could convince more big energy users to install rooftop solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Construction begins at Australia's biggest wind and solar hybrid projects in South Australia, another key step towards state Liberal government target of net 100% renewables.

The post Iberdrola begins construction of Australia’s biggest hybrid wind and solar farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.