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South Australia's plan to repeat the success of the Tesla big battery with a world-leading green hydrogen plan receives overwhelming response.

The post South Australia swamped with nearly 30 proposals for world leading green hydrogen plan appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Verra has permanently inactivated the use of a popular UN rice farming carbon credit methodology, it said on Monday, several weeks after halting activity and conducting a review following the raising of integrity concerns.

Tackling the climate emergency needs public funding, but without socialising the risk and allowing banks to privatise the profit

The world is only a few tenths of a degree away from the globally accepted goal of limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. On current trends, we will shoot past the target within a decade. That’s the warning from the world’s leading scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In their last report while it is still feasible to stay within 1.5C, they warn that what governments do in the next few years to limit greenhouse gas emissions will determine whether temperatures keep rising dangerously or fall back to safe levels.

Billions of poor people who bear the least responsibility for the climate emergency are already being hit hard. Extreme weather events such as the flash floods in Turkey or Cyclone Freddy over southern Africa, which took hundreds of lives, are becoming more common occurrences. It is unequivocal, say the scientists, that human activity has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. It is also human activity that can bring temperatures down. Cutting carbon pollution and fossil fuel use by nearly two-thirds by 2035 would give humanity a decent shot at the target. The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, spelled out what this means: an end to new fossil fuel exploration and rich countries exiting coal, oil and gas by 2040. The UK, which is opening coalmines and approving North Sea oil and gas licences, should take note.

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BBC environment correspondent Matt McGrath outlines the key takeaways from the latest IPCC report.

Positive framing of otherwise grim report a counterblast to those who dismiss hopes of limiting global heating to 1.5C

Avoiding the worst ravages of climate breakdown is still possible, and there are “multiple, feasible and effective options” for doing so, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said.

Hoesung Lee, chair of the body, which is made up of the world’s leading climate scientists, made clear that – despite the widespread damage already being caused by extreme weather, and the looming threat of potentially catastrophic changes – the future was still humanity’s to shape.

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Developed nations must carry out rapid GHG reductions and build out removals to hit net zero emissions by 2040 for the world to avoid "blasting through" temperature limits in the next decade, according to the authors of a major UN-backed scientific report, who warned that global warming of at least 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is now very likely over the next decade.

A carbon credit standard body has approved the first methodology for dealing with harmful algae blooms in freshwater while at the same time sequestering carbon dioxide.

Prices for CORSIA-eligible offsets slid lower over the past week, although most standardised offsets barely budged amid turmoil in financial markets after the near collapse of Credit Suisse that could still have wider repercussions.

Recent allegations of widespread over-crediting in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) have raised questions of whether the dominant revenue model of offset standards bodies financially incentivises those involved to maximise issuance while compromising integrity.

Today’s IPCC report has given a ‘final warning’ to avert global catastrophe. We call on all world leaders to urgently transition to renewables

The cycle is repeating itself. A tropical cyclone of frightening strength strikes a Pacific island nation, and leaves a horrifying trail of destruction and lost lives and livelihoods in its wake. Earlier this month in Vanuatu it was two category 4 cyclones within 48 hours of each other. The people affected wake up having nowhere to go and lack the basic necessities to survive. International media publishes grim pictures of the damage to our infrastructure and people’s homes, quickly followed by an outpouring of thoughts, prayers and praise for our courage and resilience. We then set out to rebuild our countries.

The Pacific island countries are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and Vanuatu is the most vulnerable country in the world according to a recent study. Our countries emit minuscule amounts of greenhouse gases, but bear the brunt of extreme events primarily caused by the carbon emissions of major polluters, and the world’s failure to break its addiction to fossil fuels.

Ralph Regenvanu is minister of climate change, adaptation, meteorology and geohazards, energy, environment and disaster risk management for Vanuatu

Seve Paeniu is the minister of finance for Tuvalu

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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Scientists have delivered a 'final warning' on the climate crisis, as rising greenhouse gas emissions push the world to the brink of irrevocable damage that only swift and drastic action can avert. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), made up of the world’s leading climate scientists, set out the final part of its mammoth sixth assessment report on Monday.

The comprehensive review of human knowledge of the climate crisis took hundreds of scientists eight years to compile and runs to thousands of pages, but boiled down to one message: act now, or it will be too late

• Analysis: Humanity at the crossroads
• Timeline: The IPCC’s reports

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IPCC report provides "unequivocal statement" that the economic benefits of limiting global warming to below 2°C outweigh the costs.

The post What price clean air? This benefit alone will cover cost of climate action appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Latest assessment from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivers crystal clear verdict on future of coal and gas and raises questions on offsets.

The post IPCC climate warning leaves no room for coal and gas, little room for offsets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Historian Dan Snow assembled team to ‘secure the shark for science’ but head, tail and fin were gone

The discovery of a rare shark on a Hampshire beach is as valuable as the unearthing of an ancient treasure trove, an expert has said, as calls grow for the return of the head, tail and fin, which were removed before scientists could salvage the carcass.

The 2-metre (6ft) animal, believed to be a smalltooth sand tiger shark, would normally only be seen in warmer waters – and rarely anywhere north of the Bay of Biscay. Scientists believe the weekend discovery can help them learn more about how the species develops and lives its life.

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Ladybirds know how good they look, and they don’t keep it to themselves

The ladybird gets the first part of its name from Our Lady, The Lady, Mary. Its spots – seven, if you are in Europe – symbolise Mary’s seven sorrows, its red shell the cloak she wears sometimes, when she is feeling passionate or loving, or devoted to her son, or, when she’s in a particularly generous mood, devoted to all of humanity.

Ladybirds come from the coccinellid family of beetles, which comes from the Latin for scarlet. They were named by Pierre André Latreille, a priest who had grown up an orphan and was thrown into a dungeon during the French Revolution. He was released because he recognised a rare species of beetle. A physician had come to inspect the prisoners, and found Latreille preoccupied by an insect. The story is about to sound like a bible passage written by AI. The insect was very rare, Latreille told the physician. It was a “red-necked bacon beetle”. The physician took the beetle to a local physician, 15 years old, who, impressed, used his connections to get Latreille released from prison. Within a month, every other inmate was dead from “a notorious killing frenzy”. (As they say: God loves beetles.)

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Government urged to ratify UN convention in order to protect undersea areas like shipwrecks and now-submerged First Nations heritage sites

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The underwater world – from shipwrecks with human remains inside to First Nations sites that are tens of thousands of years old – needs better protection, a parliamentary committee has found.

Pirates have targeted second world war shipwrecks for scrap metal, looters have been trophy hunting in sunken boats and the bodies of drowned sailors have been disturbed in the process. Technological advancements mean Australia’s underwater cultural heritage is more vulnerable than ever, the committee heard.

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Commodity trading house Mercuria unveiled plans on Monday to invest $500 million in a new nature-based business to fund carbon and biodiversity projects.

EU member states have made modest progress in issuing EU emissions allowances for 2023 in the past fortnight, though a quarter of the bloc has still not started handing out permits, according to an update from the European Commission.

A child born now is likely to suffer, on average, three to four times as many climate extreme events in their lifetime as their grandparents did. Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University Mark Howden, Director, ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Technology is providing solutions but the climate forecast is worsening, scientists say in major report.