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A measure of success for food producers should be local, healthy, nutritious food that doesn’t cost the earth – literally

We are constantly being exposed to chemicals in our food, many of which are linked to health issues and have devastating effects on our environment. From endocrine disruptors to PFAS, plastics to pesticides, just how much of these do we wish to include in our everyday lives?

Globally, Australia is one of the heavier users of pesticides in food production, as Guardian Australia’s recent investigation into pesticides shows. This is partly because of Australia’s unique conditions and farming methods. But it’s also because Australia has less rigorous standards on pesticides than much of Europe or the US.

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Brazil and Colombia have recorded the highest number of deaths, a report finds.

Four dogs successfully identified samples of sweat or breath taken from a stressed person.

BBC investigation finds oil companies not declaring millions of tonnes of cancer-linked emissions.

AGL says it will close its last coal fired power plant, Loy Yang A in Victoria, a decade ahead of schedule, and fast-track its shift to renewables.

The post AGL joins Australian coal exodus with target for complete exit by 2035 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Queensland energy minister tells the Energy Insiders podcast the plan to switch from coal to renewables was driven by climate impacts and consumer demand.

The post Consumers want out of coal: De Brenni explains Queensland switch to renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Energy minister Mick de Brenni outlines how Queensland will make the switch from coal to 80 per cent renewables. Plus: Victoria’s storage target, and the latest from AGL.

The post Energy Insiders: De Brenni on Queensland’s flip to renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The quick turnaround in launching Washington state’s carbon market could yield adverse consequences, a webinar heard Wednesday, as analysts presented their allowance pricing scenarios for the WCI-modelled programme and market participants voiced concern about offset procedures.

Figures likely to be an underestimate, says Global Witness, as land defenders are killed by hitmen, crime groups and governments

More than 1,700 murders of environmental activists were recorded over the past decade, an average of a killing nearly every two days, according to a new report.

Killed by hitmen, organised crime groups and their own governments, at least 1,733 land and environmental defenders were murdered between 2012 and 2021, figures from Global Witness show, with Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras the deadliest countries.

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The nascent carbon removal market is set to accelerate to maturity as a record year of investment pledges this year is bolstered by several underlying market dynamics, according to a report published on Thursday.

The pace at which the defense of coal is falling by the wayside is extraordinary. Even Queensland, the state seen as the last hold out, has now mapped its exit.

The post Australia’s last coal holdout surrenders to the green energy revolution appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California compliance offset issuances fell this week to levels more in line with subdued totals this year, according to state data published Wednesday, while the price premium for credits that provide direct environmental benefits (DEBs) the state set a new record.

Some nine million national-scale deforestation reduction credits have again been made available to the voluntary carbon market this week, with initial buying limited but far greater potential volumes promised within weeks.

Historical accounts show the upokororo was once common in rivers across the country. It’s now officially extinct, but is there a chance survivors could still be found in remote waterways? Lachie Scarsbrook, DPhil Student, University of Oxford Kieren Mitchell, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Zoology, University of Otago Nic Rawlence, Senior Lecturer in Ancient DNA, University of Otago Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Some carbon project developers care less about climate outcomes than they do about protecting nature or supporting vulnerable communities, a virtual event heard Wednesday – a stance that risks complicating fungibility for a market already struggling to simplify trading.

A blue carbon offset project in Myanmar has planted 1,500 hectares of mangrove forest to complete its first development stage, its backers said in an update on Wednesday.

Organisers call on nations to carry on crucial climate negotiations despite differences on geopolitical issues

The Egyptian hosts of the next UN climate summit have issued a plea for countries to set aside tensions and animosity over the Ukraine war for the sake of focusing on the climate crisis.

Egypt will host the Cop27 conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in November, intended as a forum for companies to fulfil the promises they made at the landmark Cop26 summit in Glasgow last year.

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Carbon tax reforms recently unveiled by Colombia's newly elected leftist President Gustavo Petro are viewed by some observers as including controversial provisions that impose new limits on the use of offsets, measures that are causing confusion amongst stakeholders and potentially dimming the prospects for the passage of the legislation.

Hartlepool and Heysham 1, operational for four decades, are due to close in 2024 but EDF says that is under review

France’s EDF is considering extending the life of two British nuclear power plants due to the severity of the energy crisis.

EDF said on Wednesday that it would review whether there was a case to keep open the Hartlepool nuclear power plant in County Durham and Heysham 1 on the north-west coast of England near Lancaster. Both plants had been scheduled to close in March 2024.

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A carbon credit ratings agency has given a cookstove project in Nepal and a group of hydropower plants in China, both accredited by Verra, a reasonable chance of avoiding a tonne of CO2