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Cambodia seizes record three-tonne haul of African ivory
Discovery of 1,026 tusks at Phnom Penh port follows a tip from the US embassy
Cambodia seized more than 3.2 tonnes of elephant tusks hidden in a storage container sent from Mozambique, a customs official said on Sunday, marking the country’s largest ivory bust.
The discovery of 1,026 tusks at the Phnom Penh port followed a tip from the US embassy, the official said, and highlights Cambodia’s emergence as a key regional transit point for the multibillion dollar trade in illicit wildlife.
Continue reading...COP24: Article 6 pushed to next year as nations agree Paris rulebook
Climate lessons
Progress and problems as UN climate change talks end with a deal
Nations agree on implementing 2015 Paris agreement, but put trickiest issues on back burner
The UN climate change talks ended late on Saturday night in Poland with a deal agreed on how to put the 2015 Paris agreement into action, but with other contentious problems left to be resolved next year.
Countries thrashed out the complex details of how to account for and record their greenhouse gas emissions, which will form the basis of a “rulebook” on putting the Paris goals into action. But difficult questions such as how to scale up existing commitments on cutting emissions, in line with stark scientific advice, and how to provide finance for poor countries to do the same, were put off for future years.
Continue reading...Climate change talks agree details to implement Paris deal
Venturing to a breakaway iceberg
Katowice: UN climate talks stand-off continues
UN climate change talks avoid contentious issues in draft agreement
Struggles remain on enacting 2015 Paris accord despite more clarity on emissions
The UN met on Saturday in Poland to discuss a draft agreement on climate change, which sources said was likely to pass, as exhausted delegates made compromises on some key issues but left other contentious problems to be resolved next year.
The result will not be the breakthrough campaigners and some countries were hoping for, but will keep discussions alive on formulating key aspects of the implementation rules for the 2015 Paris accord.
Continue reading...COP24: Article 6 talks face postponement to avoid collapse of Paris rulebook -sources
UN climate talks extended due to sticking points in Poland
Legal plastic content in animal feed could harm human health, experts warn
Small bits of plastic packaging from waste food make their way into animal feed as part of the UK’s permitted recycling process
Plastic traces in animal feed could pose a risk to human health and urgently need to be the subject of more research, experts have told the Guardian.
Their comments came after British farmer Alex Rock contacted the Guardian, having noticed plastic shreds in his animal feed. Rock was told by the suppliers that this was a legal part of the recycling process that turns waste food, still packaged, into animal feed.
Continue reading...Federation University Australia prepares students for jobs in renewable energy
Mining brings arsenic to the surface
CP Daily: Friday December 14, 2018
COP24: Roundup for Dec. 14, 2018
Galilee Basin mine plans understated water impact, government report says
Report finds more than 95% chance of hydrological changes to Belyando River Basin from mines including Carmichael
Coalmines planned in the Galilee Basin – including Adani’s Carmichael mine – understated the likely impacts on surrounding water resources, a federal government scientific report has found.
The bioregional assessment report into the cumulative impact of coalmine proposals was published quietly last week. It was compiled by experts from the CSIRO, Geosciences Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology and the federal environment department.
The report modelled information from seven of 17 proposed coalmines in the Galilee and found there was a greater than 95% chance that they would cause hydrological changes to the Belyando River Basin.