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A target for phasing out its use in gardens was missed last year, and campaigners are right to demand action

Peatlands are a type of wetlands ecosystem comprised of unrotted plant material. Covering 3% of the earth’s land surface and ranging from a shallow surface layer to more than 8 metres deep, they are the world’s largest carbon store, holding 550 gigatonnes of carbon – 42% of all carbon sequestered in the ground. In Europe, where they are concentrated in the north and east, they hold five times more carbon than forests. Yet public awareness of peat’s environmental importance is much lower than, for example, the level of interest in trees. There is no novel about peat to compare with Richard Powers’ prize-winning 2018 arboreal epic The Overstory.

Activists are desperate to change that. Britain’s huge number of amateur gardeners, whose numbers swelled during the spring lockdown last year and show no signs of falling back, are enthusiastic users of peat – which still makes up around 50% of all growing matter sold. Last week, a group of conservationists and gardeners wrote to the environment secretary, George Eustice, pointing to the failure of a planned voluntary phaseout that was supposed to end garden centre sales of peat compost last year, and called for a ban.

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A new private fund backed by several multinational consumer goods firms aims to raise more than $1 billion this year for performance-based forest conservation, using methodologies developed in carbon markets to offset impacts from agriculture and cultivated carbon sinks.

EUAs slipped back from this week's record high levels on Thursday, with weaker energy markets helping to stall bullish momentum.

Many companies want to exploit deep sea minerals but campaigners warn it could damage fragile ecosystems.

We take a look at why these unusual clots happen and when they occur.

The Italian government has finally taken action to help avert an environmental catastrophe in this fragile lagoon

If anywhere offers an example of how the battle to save heritage and the environment has shifted during the pandemic, it’s Venice.

A world heritage site in a lagoon, a city that Charles Dickens once described as “beyond the fancy of the wildest dreamer. Opium couldn’t build such a place…” has been riven by a struggle over its future, pitting residents and environmentalists against rightwing local politicians.

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Three Australians found guilty of carrying out a carbon credit tax scam over 2009-12 have been handed a multi-million-dollar fine by the federal court for luring customers to buy offsets that were never delivered.

Scientists reveal how male gorillas tell others how big and strong they are by chest beating.

A two-track system for carbon offsetting both within and beyond nations’ Paris Agreement obligations could cut through the ongoing debate on whether to demand corresponding adjustments from host nations or restrict voluntary market activities to non-NDC sectors, according to a recent report.

Campaigners call for the closure of the Madrid research firm, after whistleblower video allegedly captures unacceptable treatment

Undercover footage of “gratuitous cruelty and abuse” allegedly taken in an animal testing facility in Spain – which has previously secured funding from the EU and Spanish authorities for projects – has been published, amid calls for the centre’s closure.

Madrid-based contract research organisation Vivotecnia conducts experiments on a range of animals including monkeys, dogs, mini pigs, rats, mice and rabbits for the biopharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetic, tobacco and food industries. An animal rights organisation said the footage was taken by a whistleblower who worked at the facility between 2018 and 2020. It appears to show animals housed in barren conditions, being taunted, smacked and shaken, and cut into with no or inadequate anaesthesia.

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Virtual buoys and time triggered traps reduce risk to endangered North Atlantic right whale, but reactions among fishers in US and Canada are mixed

Ropes that spring to the water’s surface when summoned and virtual buoys could hold the key to saving one of the world’s most endangered whale species, scientists and conservation groups have said.

As the North Atlantic right whale nears the brink of extinction – amid reports of whales tangled in metres of thick fishing lines and findings suggesting 85% of the population have been entangled at least once – calls have grown for the adoption of ropeless fishing, using gear that does not involve any vertical lines.

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In coastal North Carolina, evidence of forest die-off is everywhere. Nearly every roadside ditch I pass is lined with dead or dying trees

Trekking out to my research sites near North Carolina’s Alligator River national wildlife refuge, I slog through knee-deep water on a section of trail that is completely submerged. Permanent flooding has become commonplace on this low-lying peninsula, nestled behind North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The trees growing in the water are small and stunted. Many are dead.

Throughout coastal North Carolina, evidence of forest die-off is everywhere. Nearly every roadside ditch I pass while driving around the region is lined with dead or dying trees.

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Japan’s Toho Gas on Thursday became the latest Asian energy firm to bundle an LNG shipment with carbon credits, saying it will continue to do so in the future.

Japan is considering upping its ambition under the Paris Agreement to a 40% cut below 2013 levels by 2030, compared to a 26% goal currently, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Ministers must consider cumulative impact of proposals ‘likely to compromise’ emissions targets

The government must intervene to stop the planned expansion of a number of small airports around the country if it is to meet legally binding environmental targets and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis, campaigners have said.

Seven regional hubs have devised plans to expand their operations despite fierce opposition from climate scientists and locals who argue the proposals are incompatible with efforts to address the ecological crisis.

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Green hydrogen will be cheaper than gas by 2050 in many markets, says BloombergNEF, in one of the most bullish assessments yet.

The post Green hydrogen will be cheaper than natural gas by 2050: BNEF appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The first black man to lead the EPA in half a century has a job on his hands at an agency reeling from setbacks – but he’s confident he can meet the challenge

Michael Regan has perhaps the most fiendishly challenging job within Joe Biden’s administration. As the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Regan not only has to grapple with the unfolding cataclysm of the climate crisis, he must do so at the helm of a traumatized, shrunken institution still reeling from the chaos of the Donald Trump era.

Related: Exclusive: EPA reverses Trump stance in push to tackle environmental racism

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Major transmission upgrades, including new link to South Australia and renewable energy zones in NSW, now in doubt after AEMC refuses rule change request.

The post Major transmission projects in doubt after AEMC refuses rule change appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Longi has released a unique program designed to reward Australian solar installers selling and installing solar systems in Australia.

The post Australian first – LONGi launches innovative installer rewards program appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Charity urges public to join Million Mile Beach Clean, created to mark emergence from UK lockdown

The public is being urged to clear plastic and litter from their local beaches, rivers and parks as part of a million-mile clean-up to mark the emergence from lockdown.

Surfers Against Sewage, which is launching the scheme, said it wanted to reconnect people with nature and help promote physical and mental wellbeing.

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