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The mass-scale removal of resources is a key driver of biodiversity loss. Extractivism’s grip on the planet must be broken

At the biodiversity Cop taking place in Montreal, much attention will focus on a policy proposal calling for 30% of the planet’s land and oceans to be protected by 2030, known as 30x30. Protected areas have their place in addressing the biodiversity crisis, but we also know that they are insufficient. Since the 1970s, they have increased fourfold globally, expanding to about 17% of the planet, but extraction rates have more than tripled. This unrelenting expansion of forestry, mining, monoculture farming and fossil fuel developments is a central driver of biodiversity loss. Ending or at least reducing “extractivism” must be front and centre at Cop15.

Extractivism is more than extraction. Extraction is the not inherently damaging removal of matter from nature and its transformation into things useful to humans. Extractivism, a term born of anti-colonial struggle and thought in the Americas, is a mode of accumulation based on hyper-extraction with lopsided benefits and costs: concentrated mass-scale removal of resources primarily for export, with benefits largely accumulating far from the sites of extraction. One estimate puts the drain south to north at a staggering $10tn (£8tn) a year.

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Enhanced weathering (ERW), which can remove CO2 from the atmosphere for 10,000 years with very low risk of reversal, has been accredited as a methodology for the first time by Puro.Earth in a move that could accelerate the supply of removal credits in the voluntary carbon market (VCM).

EUAs continued to strengthen on Thursday morning, moving above €89 after the first above-market auction of the month amid bullish energy prices and as participants continued to eye next week's options expiry.

Canada’s prime minister calls on China, Russia and Brazil to expand protected areas for nature

Justin Trudeau has urged China, Russia, Brazil and other large countries to massively expand protected areas for nature at Cop15 while putting Indigenous rights at the heart of conservation, as momentum gathers behind a controversial target to conserve 30% of Earth.

On Wednesday, the Canadian prime minister committed C$800m (£510m) of funding over seven years for Indigenous-led conservation projects in his country across an area the size of Egypt, starting a “story of reconciliation” with Indigenous peoples.

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Experts create guide to help save seabirds from bleak future caused by global heating

The majority of puffin nesting sites in western Europe are likely to be lost by the end of the century due to climate breakdown, a report has warned.

Other seabirds will also be affected unless urgent action to limit global heating is taken, with razorbills and arctic terns forecast to lose 80% and 87% of their breeding grounds respectively owing to reduced food accessibility and prolonged periods of stormy weather.

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The biggest solar farm in WA was the best performing solar project in Australia in November with a capacity factor of more than 37 per cent.

The post WA’s biggest solar farm tops list of best performing PV assets in November appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Industry watchdog Ofwat, said that despite some improvements it remains deeply concerned.

Cumbrian MP questions decision for site as he likens plans to ‘opening of a Betamax factory’

Ministers giving the green light to Britain’s first coalmine in 30 years is “like celebrating the opening of a Betamax factory”, Cumbrian MP Tim Farron has said.

Farron, whose constituency borders the one where the new project will be built in Copeland, called the decision “daft” because there was “an evaporation of demand” for the coking coal the new mine will produce.

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Carbon capture technologies can play a key long term role in global efforts to meet net zero emissions ambitions, but this is only likely to be realised if financial and regulatory barriers are overcome and if standards are developed to promote a greater role for carbon markets, industry observers noted at a conference on Thursday.

A large asset management firm has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in a Danish company that provides management and consulting services for natural resource investments, including carbon credits and conservation projects.

There is considerable potential for China, the world's largest rice producer, to reduce emissions in the agricultural sector through the introduction of biochar, though regulatory clarity is needed to further ignite project developers' interest, according to an industry expert.

Australia on Thursday announced it plans far-reaching reforms to its environmental and biodiversity protection laws in response to a recent independent review that concluded the nation’s nature is being destroyed.

Around 200 Indonesian carbon projects are currently in the development pipeline, however developers feel stuck between adhering to the government’s new regulatory requirements and the hold-ups in international project registration and credit issuances in the VCM, according to an industry head who warned that developers are considering ditching international standards all together.

Getting that detail right could mean the difference between a species surviving, or disappearing forever. Brendan Wintle, Professor in Conservation Science, School of Ecosystem and Forest Science, The University of Melbourne Martine Maron, Professor of Environmental Management, The University of Queensland Sarah Bekessy, Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning, Leader, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

For more than a decade UK-based photographer Mandy Barker has been travelling the world and creating stark images of marine debris in a black ocean that aim to raise awareness of pollution of our seas. A touring gallery of her work will be on show at Gallery Oldham, Greater Manchester, from 10 December to 11 March 2023

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Extinct & Endangered: Insects in Peril, an exhibition by Levon Biss in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History, has been turned into a book. Shining a light upon insect decline and biodiversity, his photographs are created from up to 10,000 individual images using microscope lenses and contain microscopic levels of detail to provide the audience with a unique visual experience.

The book Extinct & Endangered: Insects in Peril (Abrams, £35) is out 8 December.

Photographs by Levon Biss and text by American Museum of Natural History

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Mine could affect Britain’s climate commitments, which some believe could help get decision struck down

The government has given the green light to a new coalmine in Cumbria, the first in the UK for more than 30 years, but already moves have begun to challenge the decision before construction work can start.

Climate campaigners are examining the decision with a view to a legal challenge, based on the UK’s national and international legally binding climate commitments.

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Report from chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty finds air pollution kills up to 36,000 people a year in England

“Ecodesign” wood burning stoves produce 450 times more toxic air pollution than gas central heating, according to new data published in a report from Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England.

Older stoves, now banned from sale, produce 3,700 times more, while electric heating produces none, the report said.

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Climate crisis increases risks for subsistence farmers in Africa who usually work throughout pregnancy

Rising temperatures driven by climate breakdown are causing distress to the foetuses of pregnant farmers, who are among the worst affected by global heating.

A study revealed that the foetuses of women working in fields in the Gambia showed concerning rises in heart rates and reductions in the blood flow to the placenta as conditions became hotter. The women, who do much of the agricultural labour and work throughout pregnancy, told the scientists that temperatures had noticeably increased in the past decade.

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State ministers support Bowen proposal for Capacity Investment Scheme and auctions and underwriting for "new renewable dispatchable" capacity.

The post Energy ministers agree to fast-track big batteries and long duration storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.