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600 scientists call on the EU to make trade with Brazil more sustainable to protect the planet.

Hundreds of scientists and Indigenous leaders have asked the EU to demand tougher imports standards to protect Brazil's rainforests, wetlands and savannahs. Claire F.R. Wordley, Research Associate in Conservation Evidence, University of Cambridge Laura Kehoe, Researcher in Conservation Decision Science and Land Use, University of Oxford Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Lawyer who abandoned a courtroom career to campaign for an international crime of ecocide

What would it take to create a legal duty of care for the Earth? That is the question the Scottish barrister Polly Higgins found herself asking 15 years ago; a question that led her to abandon her courtroom career and embark on a quest to establish an international crime of ecocide. Such a crime would render persons of superior responsibility (such as company chief executives and government ministers) liable to prosecution for causing or contributing to large-scale ecosystem destruction.

Polly, who has died aged 50 of cancer, had begun to see the climate activist movement take up her call in the weeks before her death, with Extinction Rebellion actions demanding that ecocide law be established around the world.

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Three noisy falcon chicks hungry for food reveal themselves in a cathedral spire nest.

After two weeks of mass civil disobedience, we look at what has changed

Organisers of the climate protests that have seen peaceful mass civil disobedience across London over the past two weeks have said the first stage of the “rebellion” is drawing to a close. How much of an impact has it had, and how realistic are its goals?

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After severe weather in 2016 a large penguin colony at the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica never recovered.

Spain-based utility Iberdrola reported a 22% hike in its remaining ETS-regulated thermal output over Q1 as gas-fired production replaced hydro, the company said in financial results on Thursday.

BBC Springwatch presenter condemns campaigners in row over ban on shooting birds

Chris Packham has said he will not be intimidated by campaigners who left two dead crows hanging outside his home and glued shut his security gate.

The broadcaster told the police about the threats and vandalism, which came after the Wild Justice group he founded with fellow conservationists Ruth Tingay and Mark Avery successfully challenged the “general licence” that allowed the shooting of 16 species of bird, including crows, jays and woodpigeons.

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UK exclusion of international aviation and shipping figures from carbon budgets was highlighted by Greta Thunberg

The UK is breaching the Paris agreement on climate change by excluding international aviation and shipping figures from carbon budgets, according to a leading NGO.

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg accused the British government this week of “very creative carbon accounting” after the government defended its work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Proposals to replace EU rules ‘downgrade’ green principles, says cross-party committee

Proposals to replace the EU’s strong environmental protections after Brexit “fall woefully short”, according to a highly critical report from a cross-party committee of MPs.

The environment secretary, Michael Gove, said in December that the UK’s environmental standards would be enhanced after Brexit. But the MPs’ report said the proposals “severely downgrade” the environmental principles that underpin current EU rules.

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Carbon prices in South Korea’s emissions trading scheme rose to all-time highs on Thursday as the ongoing supply drought continued to push up prices.

Climate change activists have glued themselves to the London Stock Exchange and trains at Canary Wharf station in a fresh set of protests targeting the capital's financial district. The group plans to bring an end to their climate 'rebellion' on Thursday after more than a week of  demonstrators occupying sites across London 

• Extinction Rebellion activists glue themselves to London Stock Exchange

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Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution by Michiel Roscam Abbing (26 Apr 2019, HB, £20.31, Island Press) illustrates plastic pollution

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• More than half the world’s new pipelines in the US and Canada
• Pipelines ‘locking in huge emissions for 40 to 50 years at a time’

More than half of the world’s new oil and gas pipelines are located in North America, with a boom in US oil and gas drilling set to deliver a major blow to efforts to slow climate change, a new report has found.

Related: Millions more Americans breathing dirty air as planet warms, study finds

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Pristine forests are vital for climate and wildlife but trend of losses is rising, data shows

Millions of hectares of pristine tropical rainforest were destroyed in 2018, according to satellite analysis, with beef, chocolate and palm oil among the main causes.

The forests store huge amounts of carbon and are teeming with wildlife, making their protection critical to stopping runaway climate change and halting a sixth mass extinction. But deforestation is still on an upward trend, the researchers said. Although 2018 losses were lower than in 2016 and 2017, when dry conditions led to large fires, last year was the next worst since 2002, when such records began.

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Forests in tropical regions are disappearing at the rate of 30 football fields a minute, say researchers.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

California regulator ARB defended its decision to maintain the current emissions cap trajectory of its WCI-linked ETS to 2030, despite confirming that there were more than 218 million surplus compliance units at the end of the market's second compliance period, according to a letter sent to legislators Tuesday.

Oregon’s proposed cap-and-trade scheme would be undersupplied from day one and would absorb more than 40 Mt from the wider WCI market over the next decade if legislation currently on the table is passed, analysts predict.

Tesla Model X owner drives 908km in one day using AC chargers on mission to prove EVs can do Australia's vast distances.

The post Tesla driver clocks almost 1000km in Australian outback in one day appeared first on RenewEconomy.