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Allowances in the new EU carbon market for transport and building heating emissions could exceed the intended price ceiling, experts have warned, arguing that European lawmakers may have created false expectations.

Sandstorms are an annual ordeal in north-east Asia but that does not make it easier for millions.

Slow progress from policymakers on clarifying the role of novel carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies will limit significant progress in the near-term, particularly in the EU where certainty on how such solutions can help meet the bloc's climate targets is not expected before the end of the decade.

The 10-week pilot program Totemic Species in Schools shows how Indigenous science can be woven into the existing curriculum. Students, teachers and parents provided positive feedback. Natasha Ward, Lead Researcher, RMIT University Bradley J. Moggridge, Associate Professor in Indigenous Water Science, University of Canberra Georgia Garrard, Senior Lecturer, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne 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.

Businesses seeking to minimise their impacts on biodiversity can simultaneously look to enhance ecosystems that function beyond their value chains, a webinar heard Thursday, pointing out an emerging agreement on what a “nature positive” business strategy really means.

European companies are stepping up their investment in climate action in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and are expected to continue that trends, according to a European Investment Bank (EIB) report published on Thursday. 

The European Parliament will next week meet in Strasbourg to vote on several ETS-related reform bills, aiming to sign off on provisional deals to put shipping, buildings and road transport under carbon pricing, impose a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), and launch a Social Climate Fund. 

Corallivorous fish were regarded as harmful to coral but research suggests their poo could be keeping reefs healthy

The faeces of coral-eating fish may act as “probiotics” for reefs, according to a study.

Previously it was thought that corallivore – fish such as pufferfish, parrotfish and butterfly fish that eat coral – weakened marine surfaces. But new research suggests that by eating some parts of the coral and then pooing in different areas of the reef, they are part of a cycle that redistributes beneficial microbes that can help coral thrive.

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UK-based Oxygen Conservation has acquired two large Scottish estates totalling 23,000 acres to develop a major rewilding project, using a £20.6 million bank loan in what’s being called Britain’s largest-ever nature-based commercial debt deal.

There should soon be a discussion on whether the EU can meet 2040 emissions targets on its own or need to import mitigation outcomes such as removals, a European Commission official told an event Thursday, though stressing that this was not necessarily a view held across the EU executive.

Tech giant Microsoft has signed an agreement to buy some 5,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from enhanced rock weathering (ERW) project developer UNDO.

A weekly summary of our biodiversity news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).

The French government has become the first in Europe to approve an accounting methodology for a carbon project that will protect the crucial Posidonia seagrass meadows along a stretch of coast overseen by the Calanques National Park.

European carbon declined on Thursday morning after a burst of selling took more than €2 off prices, as trading activity otherwise was low-key amid the tail-end of the holiday season, while energy markets drifted again amid healthy supply.

Carbon credit procurement platform Abatable has acquired rival Ecosphere+ using cash from a $13.5 million fundraise as part of an effort to reach a broader range of corporate clients.

Meeting the 30x30 target of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) will be a major challenge for many countries, though OECMs – other effective area-based conservation measures – are increasingly seen as a useful tool, with IUCN this week showcasing how they could help Vietnam achieve its biodiversity commitments.

Data shows 48% of species declined between 2015 and 2020 with woodland birds faring worst

Bird populations in the UK continue to crash, new data shows, as campaigners predict the government will fail to meet its own nature targets unless radical changes are made.

Statistics released by the government show that bird populations continue to decline in the long and short term. In 2021, on average the abundance of 130 breeding species was 12% below its 1970 value. Though much of this loss was between the late 1970s and the late 1980s, caused mostly by relatively steep declines in woodland and farmland birds, there was still a significant 5% decrease between 2015 and 2020.

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A US-headquartered NGO has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to instantly make significant funds available for biodiversity purposes and undertake institutional reforms to put nature loss at the heart of global financial reform.

Exclusive: previous holder says loss is ‘disappointing’ and damages UK’s ability to spur global climate action

The UK government has axed its most senior climate diplomat post, the Guardian can reveal.

The last special representative for climate change, Nick Bridge, stood down recently after six years in post and is not being replaced.

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Indonesia and the Philippines are working on a bilateral partnership on a reforestation project that might be joined by other ASEAN nations later in a novel push to generate carbon credits, according to local media, however the discussions are still in their very early stages.