Feed aggregator

A London firm which developers nature-friendly packaging is among five climate prize winners.

Scientists who have replaced plastic packaging with seaweed among those to be given prize by Prince of Wales

Scientists who have replaced plastic packaging with seaweed are among those who have been given a £1m prize by the Prince of Wales’s Earthshot fund.

The prize is aimed at rewarding innovative solutions to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies, and is named after former US president John F Kennedy’s Moonshot challenge in the 1960s, which united millions of people around the goal of putting a person on the moon within a decade.

Continue reading...

EU member states clawed back nearly 5 million free carbon allowances in November that had been allocated to heavy industry and heat producers for 2022, data shows.

Compliance entities disposed of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) in the aftermath of the Q4 WCI auction result publication, while financials lengthened their WCI holdings and dumped RGGI permits in a reversal from previous weeks, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

This year’s winners of the British Ecological Society competition "celebrate the diversity" of ecology.

A carbon credit ratings agency has this week reaffirmed its scores for six Turkey-based hydropower projects and two Brazilian forestry schemes, while assigning one new project rating.

A scientist says the fossil is "one of the most important found in the last few decades".

KraneShares' carbon-focused exchange-traded funds mostly reduced their holdings across global cap-and-trade markets as they rebalanced and shifted positions further out on the curve this week, data from the fund showed Friday.

London mayor’s demand comes as civil rights campaigners criticise PM’s promise to increase police powers

The London mayor has demanded the state response to Just Stop Oil remain “within the law”, as civil rights campaigners warned over the prime minister’s suggestion he would grant police new powers to contain the group’s protests.

After a meeting of police leaders and ministers in Downing Street on Thursday, Rishi Sunak promised police whatever powers they need to “clamp down” on the “completely unacceptable” disruptions by the climate activist group.

Continue reading...

An energy company with a large stake in Guyanese offshore oil exploration announced Friday it will buy at least $750 mln in carbon credits from the country over the next 10 years, marking the first sale of offsets from the jurisdictional-scale Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) programme.

The European Commission has greenlighted France's climate-related ban on domestic flights with train alternatives of two-and-a-half hours or less, a move welcomed by campaigners as a step towards EU-wide restrictions on shorter journeys with viable alternatives.

Fears of shortages early next year as farmers say they are having to ‘tear up’ sowing and harvesting timelines

The mild autumn has caused much of the UK’s green vegetable and potato crops to grow early, leading to a glut and a large amount of waste, and fears of shortages early next year.

Cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli that were supposed to be ready later in December or in January are ready to harvest now, with some having grown to huge sizes because of the exceptionally mild autumn.

Continue reading...

EU carbon prices reverted to a narrow trading range amid thin screen-based trading as participants appeared to focus on administration and account management after three days of volatile and active price action, while energy markets were also relatively quiet.

The water companies and regulators must act, alongside changing consumer behaviour and tackling pollution at source

Thirty-two years after water privatisation, rivers in England and Wales are not improving, leakage levels are unacceptable, and massive financial engineering has not added to the resilience of the system or the ability to finance the large-scale investment we now need. It cannot and should not be allowed to go on like this.

It is easy to blame the water companies for all this. And they do indeed deserve a lot of the blame, but they are not alone in polluting our rivers. Regulators are to blame too. Ofwat could have ensured water company revenues were used to fund more investment. The way the industry watchdog set the cost of capital provided opened the door for businesses to borrow against their assets – for the benefit of owners, rather than customers. Share buybacks, special dividends and multiple takeovers were never part of the gameplan at privatisation, and nor were the excessive executive salaries. None of this should have been allowed to happen.

Dieter Helm is professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford and fellow in economics at New College, Oxford. From 2012 to 2020, he was independent chair of the Natural Capital Committee, providing advice to the government on the sustainable use of natural capital

Continue reading...

Exclusive: Trees standing alone and in small groups worth billions to UK, which researchers say justifies spending to protect them

• Bid to save 130 trees facing chop by Plymouth council

The huge value of trees standing alone and in small groups in the UK has been revealed in a new report, which found they provide billions of pounds worth of benefits to people every year. The trees capture climate-heating CO2, reduce toxic air pollution and slow the flow of rainwater, cutting flood risks.

There are millions of such trees across the country, covering a combined 750,000 hectares, and making up 20% of all the nation’s trees. The value of woodland has already been estimated but the report is the first to calculate a value for trees in gardens, parks, fields and along streets across the UK.

Continue reading...

Trading volume in China’s national emissions trading scheme doubled from the previous week thanks to the contribution of four block trades, as spot prices edged down over the past five trading days.

Low pressure disrupts water and power supplies in Thessaloniki as meteorological winter begins

On Thursday night last week, an area of low pressure formed off the southern coast of France. During the course of Friday, low pressure deepened into a storm as it travelled south-eastwards towards Italy.

It brought heavy rain to much of Italy; however, the west coast received the brunt of the wet weather on Friday night with 197mm of rain recorded in 24 hours on the island of Capri. The island of Ischia, close to Capri, experienced flooding and a landslide early Saturday morning, which killed at least 10 people.

Continue reading...

Campaigners cite previous court rulings against shareholders, such as in the case of Northern Rock bank

Parliament could renationalise the water industry in England without being obliged to compensate shareholders, according to previous UK court judgments cited by campaigners.

Activists are putting mounting pressure on the government and opposition parties to look again at the privatised water system after criticism that the industry is not acting in the public interest.

Continue reading...

This year’s Environmental photographer of the year competition, from CIWEM, WaterBear, Nikon and Arup, showcases some of the most striking images of the natural world, providing an international platform to raise awareness for the issues that threaten our planet. Here’s a closer look at the winning photos

Continue reading...

The price for New Zealand carbon allowances closed lower on Friday, with the government yet having to announce which price settings it will adopt for the emissions trading scheme next year.