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The world’s largest food conglomerate Nestle has joined the growing number of companies mostly shunning offsets in their quest for net zero emissions, though the Swiss-headquartered firm said it will make exceptions for its brands that want “move faster” towards carbon neutrality.

Companies with net zero pledges set decades into the future should begin planning and implementing emissions removal strategies now, both to ensure long-term credit supplies for themselves and to generate demand signals for market benefit, a conference heard on Tuesday.

Efforts to bring more price transparency to the voluntary carbon market (VCM) have split some North American voluntary emissions reduction (VER) developers, though they agree higher prices are key to greatly enhancing supply and satisfying heightened corporate demand, a panel heard Tuesday.

Sustainable development has been dropped from a private-sector taskforce’s list of attributes designed to help standardise the voluntary carbon market, a group member said Tuesday in remarks that may heighten observer fears about the process skewing towards cheaper offsets.

One mammal, the long-tailed planigale, can weigh less than a 10-cent coin. But it's ferocious, bringing down far larger prey with persistent, savage biting to the head and neck Andrew Baker, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

There's still a very good chance of recovery for most of these species, but only with new targeted conservation effort. Michael F. Braby, Associate Professor, Australian National University Hayley Geyle, Research Assistant, Charles Darwin University Jaana Dielenberg, University Fellow, Charles Darwin University Phillip John Bell, University Associate, School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania Richard V Glatz, Associate research scientist, University of Adelaide Roger Kitching, Emeritus Professor, Griffith University Tim R New, Retired: Emeritus Professor in Zoology, La Trobe University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The US RGGI cap-and-trade programme should consider incorporating imported electricity into the scheme during its upcoming 2021 review, while also increasing overall stringency, panelists said at an industry event Tuesday.

The structure of voluntary carbon markets (VCM) is expected to change dramatically as financial institutions become ever-larger participants in the space and corporate purchasing decisions shift from marketing departments to finance, a conference heard on Tuesday.

Exclusive: an environmental consultant who profited from a $40m environmental offset deal with governments has benefitted from other lucrative taxpayer-funded deals

An environmental consultant who holds interests in a property that made more than $40m selling conservation offsets to governments is part of a consortium that has made tens of millions of dollars more, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Steven House is a former director of Eco Logical Australia, a firm that advised governments on major projects in western Sydney.

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Marine scientists say they have found what they believe to be as many as 25,000 barrels that possibly contain DDT dumped off the Southern California coast near Catalina Island, where a massive underwater toxic waste site dating back to the second world war has long been suspected.

The 27,345 ‘barrel-like’ images were captured by researchers at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast in a region previously found to contain high levels of the toxic chemical in sediments and in the ecosystem.

The scientists have been investigating the barrels dumped on the sea floor for years

• Thousands of barrels of suspected toxic DDT found dumped in California ocean
  

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EU coal power could be largely eliminated this decade as the bloc’s carbon prices rise to triple digits to incentivise a cleaner energy, analysts said in a report on Tuesday, a shift in line with UN aims to limit global warming.

US biofuel credits set an all-time high in the decade-old history of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on Tuesday, coming as refiners appealed a lower court’s decision to the Supreme Court regarding the curtailment of compliance waivers under the programme.

South Australia has set a stunning new benchmark in the electricity market, with its big share of rooftop solar sending the average daytime wholesale price of electricity to below zero in the first quarter. According to the Energy Market Operator, the average price of wholesale power in South Australia between 10am and 3.30pm was minus […]

The post Rooftop solar sends average South Australia daytime power prices below zero appeared first on RenewEconomy.

AMEO's latest Quarterly Energy Dynamics report lists major new milestones in share and reach of wind and solar – and new lows for minimum demand and for black coal output.

The post Wind and solar deliver stunning price, demand and emissions falls in main grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EU carbon prices recovered from earlier lows on Tuesday as gas prices surged on concerns over Russian supply into Europe.

Study shows climate breakdown will affect houses built in disadvantaged neighbourhoods disproportionately

A disproportionate number of homes built in disadvantaged neighbourhoods over the past decade will end up in high flood-risk areas as a result of climate breakdown, a study has revealed.

According to a report from the Grantham Research Institute, without further action the share of homes built between 2008 and 2018 that will be considered at high risk of flooding by the 2050s is expected to increase from 5% to 7% under a 2C warming scenario, or 14% under a “high-end warming scenario”.

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Scheme involving ‘ bee hotels’ and ‘bee stops’ reaps rewards as census shows no strong decline in urban population

Bee hotels, bee stops and a honey highway are some of the components of a national pollinator strategy that the Dutch are crediting with keeping their urban bee population steady in recent years, after a period of worrying decline.

Last week, more than 11,000 people from across the Netherlands participated in a bee-counting exercise as part of the fourth edition of the national bee census.

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Extent of possible toxic waste site near Catalina Island ‘staggering’, says chief scientist on sea survey

Marine scientists say they have found what they believe to be as many as 25,000 barrels possibly containing DDT dumped off the southern California coast near Catalina Island, where a massive underwater toxic waste site dating back to the second world war has long been suspected.

The 27,345 “barrel-like’” images were captured by researchers at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast in a region previously found to contain high levels of the toxic chemical in sediments and in the ecosystem.

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Powering Past Coal Alliance accused of failing to follow up on pledges as many countries expand use of coal

An attempt by the UK government to encourage countries and businesses around the world to quit coal for power generation is failing to make an impact, and in danger of being used as “greenwash”, an assessment has found.

The Powering Past Coal Alliance, led by the UK and Canada, with 111 members including 24 governments, local governments and businesses, is a key plank of Boris Johnson’s strategy for vital UN climate talks to be hosted in Glasgow in November.

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Chemicals and plastics, not just overfishing, threaten aquatic food chain with ‘disaster’, report warns

Increasing chemical and plastic pollution are “significant” contributors to the decline of fish and other aquatic organisms, yet their impact is being missed by regulators, according to a report by environmentalists.

The report, Aquatic Pollutants in Oceans and Fisheries, by the International Pollutants Elimination Network and the National Toxics Network, draws together scientific research on how pollution is adversely affecting the aquatic food chain. It catalogues the “serious impacts” of “invisible killers” such as persistent organic pollutants and excessive nutrients on the immunity, fertility, development and survivaL of aquatic animals.

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