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Minke whale made it as far as Teddington, south-west London, but rescue teams were unable to save it

As crowds gathered along the banks of the Thames around Teddington weir to catch a glimpse of the little whale that had lost its way upriver, the mood gradually became tinged with sadness at the realisation that the baby minke would probably never make it back out to sea.

The calf had first got stranded on Richmond lock’s boat rollers on Sunday evening. It was finally freed by rescue teams around 1am but wriggled free from the inflatable rescue raft and went missing, before being spotted again in Teddington late on Monday morning.

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EUAs rose to a new record above €52 on Monday, amid signs of further investor buying and seemingly low prospects for market intervention.

The Netherlands has awarded €2 bln to an offshore CCS project that public institutions say is “absolutely necessary” to reach the country’s climate goals, with the money to be channelled through a carbon contracts for difference (CCfDs) scheme.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) on Monday adopted the final version of European Climate Law to set the EU’s net zero objective into national legislation, the second-to-last hurdle to its final ratification.

US biofuel credit prices (RINs) continued their torrid spring stretch on Monday after the Colonial Pipeline was hacked over the weekend, disrupting a major source of refined fuel products for the eastern part of the country.

Tim Crosland had claimed he had no choice but to protest against ‘deep immorality’ of backing third runway

Environmental lawyer Tim Crosland has been fined £5,000 for criminal contempt of court after deliberately making public a supreme court ruling related to Heathrow airport before the result was officially announced. The judges could have jailed him for two years.

The supreme court had ruled that a planned third runway at Heathrow was legal. The runway is highly controversial, with opponents arguing that the increased carbon dioxide emissions it would cause are incompatible with the UK’s obligations to fight the climate crisis.

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There are deep bonds between our nations, and so I appeal to the UK, chair of the G7, for urgent assistance

• KP Sharma Oli is the prime minister of Nepal

As I write this, my country is battling a new and brutal wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The rise in the number of infections poses a serious challenge to our brave doctors, nurses, other care providers, citizen volunteers and the entire health service system.

Nepal’s history is one of hardship and struggle, yet this pandemic is pushing even us to our limits. The number of infections is straining the healthcare system; it has become tough to provide patients with the hospital beds that they need.

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From the Thames to the Mediterranean, seeing nature out of place reminds us of our impact on the planet

With the weekend’s arrival of a young minke whale stuck in the River Thames – not far from where a seal pup was recently savaged by a dog – it seems marine mammals are appearing everywhere they shouldn’t be.

Since the beginning of April, an exotic visitor has been spotted off the coast of southern Europe. A lone grey whale, measuring eight metres long – and 7,000 miles from its fellow Pacific grey whales on the other side of the world – was seen off Rabat, Morocco, at the start of March. It wandered through the strait of Gibraltar – and into an enormous trap, the Mediterranean. Since then its progress has been charted from the north African coast to southern Italy and the south of France, from Naples to the Côte d’Azur. Unable to find its usual source of food, it is growing thinner and weaker in its search for a way out.

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Calls for tougher rules on recycling materials such as lithium and cobalt, which are vital for green technology

Rare elements such as indium, yttrium, neodymium, cobalt and lithium are vital for the production of low-carbon technology, but many are being thrown away because of the lack of a requirement to recycle them, industry experts have warned.

Concern is growing over the future supply of such elements, as the switch to green technology – including electric vehicles, solar panels and low-carbon heating – will require far greater volumes of rare earths and other critical raw materials.

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Now that EU ETS compliance is over with for another year, the market can metaphorically wash its hands and move on to the next course of this never-ending feast of carbon: the start of the UK ETS. The world's newest carbon market is set to kick off, with both the inaugural free allocation and first auctions imminent. But where will UKAs price?

New Zealand carbon allowances have slid to a three-week low as demand slumps in the run-up to the May 31 compliance deadline, emitters’ last ever chance to take advantage of the fixed price option (FPO).

Developer Terra Carbon received the largest share of some 300,000 new carbon credits handed out by the Clean Energy Regulator over the past week, while the government has added five years to the ACCU crediting period for some landfill gas projects.

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Keith Pitt refuses to say whether he thinks battery storage is dispatchable, after blocking a government loan to a North Queensland wind and battery project.

The post Resources minister Keith Pitt refuses to say battery storage is dispatchable appeared first on RenewEconomy.

VicForests won appeal even though federal court upheld finding its activities threatened greater glider and Leadbeater’s possum

A Victorian government forestry agency has won an appeal against a landmark court judgment that found it had repeatedly breached conservation regulations during its logging of the state’s central highlands.

The full bench of the federal court on Monday overturned a judgment that last year found VicForests had breached a code of practice related to a regional forestry agreement between the federal and state governments, and had therefore lost its right to be exempt from national environment laws.

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AEMO says record installations and growing pipeline of wind, solar and storage means Australia is well ahead of "step change" scenario.

The post AEMO says Australia “well ahead” of 90 per cent renewables scenario for 2040 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Country Women's Association votes overwhelmingly to oppose large-scale solar on prime agricultural land, and rejects call for urgent action on climate.

The post No more solar, pass the scones: CWA votes to stop solar projects on prime farm land appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Three months after announcing it was building the world's biggest offshore wind farm, it now wants to build the world's biggest floating wind farm.

The post South Korea to spend $40 billion on world’s biggest floating wind farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In Kenya, the area of optimal tea-growing conditions will be reduced by more than a quarter by 2050

Your morning cup of tea may never taste the same again if global heating increases and the climate crisis intensifies, according to research.

Some of the world’s biggest tea-growing areas will be among the worst hit by extreme weather, and their yields are likely to be vastly reduced in the coming decades if climate breakdown continues at its current pace. Floods, droughts, heatwaves and storms are likely to have a severe impact on tea-growing areas around the world, according to a report from the charity Christian Aid.

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Ahead of the federal budget, ACF slams the Morrison government for a lack of spending on the environment and climate measures.

The post “Global leader in extinction:” ACF attacks collapse in Coalition environment budget appeared first on RenewEconomy.