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Current plans predicated on stable growth seem foolish when we know that shocks such as global heating aren’t going away

Temperatures in Britain hit 40C. Runways melt at major airports. The London fire brigade reports its busiest single day since the second world war as fires rage around the city. The Met Office warns of temperatures so high they “could lead to serious illness or loss of life”.

Meanwhile, inflation grinds inexorably upwards. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is part of it, but other pressures were already apparent. Staples such as coffee saw price rises as a result of extreme weather disrupting harvests. Even silicon chips have been affected, with droughts in Taiwan putting the hugely water-intensive production of semiconductors at risk.

James Meadway is director of the Progressive Economy Forum

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The government of Shenzhen is set to auction off 600,000 carbon permits under its pilot emissions trading scheme in early August, with a price floor well below current market levels.

It’s not too late to avert the climate crisis from becoming even more deadly – but the window is closing

High temperature records are being obliterated across western Europe, some of which had been previously set during the heatwave in 2003 that is estimated to have left tens of thousands dead. Raging wildfires are displacing thousands of people, one of the many compounding impacts of the climate crisis. This heatwave is another reminder that we have already breached unsafe levels of global heating.

As our planet warms, these lethal heatwaves will become more frequent and more intense. In fact, we may look back on these years as some of the coolest, compared with what will come if we do not act now. Human life will encounter life-threatening impacts with increasing frequency and mounting consequences. Countless scientific reports have been conveying this reality for decades.

Andrea Dutton is an international expert on climate change and sea level rise who is a MacArthur Fellow and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Green Tory hits out at critics of Boris Johnson’s environmental land management policy

The next prime minister must press ahead with changes to farm subsidies that prioritise protecting nature and the environment, despite attacks on the policies from within the Conservative party, the prominent green Tory Ben Goldsmith has urged.

“Environmental land management contracts should be defended at all costs,” he told the Guardian. “They would tie agriculture subsidies to stewardship and the restoration of soils and nature. They incentivise the transition to more regenerative agriculture. They are about making space for nature. They are a huge win for the natural environment in this country.”

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Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has received a record number of appeals to its recommendation last month to grant a 50-year extension to Australian Woodside’s giant gas and LNG North West Shelf (NWS) project, it has been revealed.

The spot price for Chinese carbon allowances remained stable this week, but an increase in trading volume failed to excite market participants.

The Australian Parliament returns next week with the Labor government intent on legislating its 2030 emissions reduction target, however it will require the support of the Greens and one independent in the Senate to get through.

The fire service is at the frontline of the climate crisis – yet with 11,500 frontline staff cut we are simply not equipped for it

Over the last 27 years as a firefighter, I have fought plenty of wildfires and other extreme weather events, and I have seen at first hand how these incidents have become more frequent and extreme. At my former station in Herne Bay, on the north Kent coast, we had specialist equipment for fighting wildfires, and we would travel for miles to tackle flames raging across land.

None of it compared to what I experienced in this week’s heatwave.

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The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including hot cows, a lost walrus and a pelican in a traffic jam

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Chinese bike-sharing giant Hello has issued a set of benchmarks for industry peers to better calculate carbon emissions reductions, adding new standards to the country's voluntary markets, though users will have to work hard to rack up their certificate holdings.

UK temperatures exceed 40C while France and Portugal hit new highs, with some extreme consequences

Record-breaking heat continued to affect parts of western Europe during the past week, with UK temperatures exceeding 40C (104F) for the first time since records began.

On Tuesday, several weather stations across London, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire broke the 40C barrier, with a top temperature of 40.3C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire. A further 39 stations across central and southern England also broke the previous highest temperature of 38.7C, which was set in July 2019.

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This fictitious project approval helps us better understand how environmental governance in Australia has gone badly wrong. David Lindenmayer, Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

South Australian start-up iO Energy signs innovative PPA with biopower firm to offer very low cost day-time power prices.

The post Retailer start-up taps biopower and solar to offer low day-time prices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Community complaints about wind farms fell dramatically in 2021, including a “significant reduction” in concerns about low frequency noise or vibrations from operating turbines.

The post Good vibe? New data shows wind farm complaints tumbled in 2021 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

"Free electricity" offered by networks over a five-hour period each day, as part of new tariff trial designed for EV owners and non solar households.

The post Networks test time-of-use appetite with “zero cost” daytime electricity offer appeared first on RenewEconomy.

South Australia has set a new wind output record for the second time in six days.

The post Graph of the Day: South Australia sets new wind output record appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Enel receives approval for its first wind farm in Australia, but has reportedly put the for sale sign on its growing wind and solar portfolio.

The post Italian energy giant gets wind farm approval, seeks buyer for Australian wind and solar assets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Improved monitoring has shown nearly 6,000 tigers, says International Union for Conservation of Nature, with population ‘stable or increasing’

There are 40% more tigers in the wild than previously thought, with as many as 5,578 around, though they remain an endangered species, according to a leading conservationist group.

The jump in numbers was due to improved monitoring, with the population thought to be stable or increasing, said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Habitat protection projects showed that “recovery is possible”.

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Teenagers say they want education that reflects how climate change will affect all parts of life.