Through the firm Blue Carbon, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al-Maktoum’s carbon offsetting deals, which could one day be worth billions, have led to questions about previous business ventures
• The new ‘scramble for Africa’: how a UAE sheikh quietly made carbon deals for forests bigger than UK
Few people have made as big an impact in the carbon markets this year as Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al-Maktoum. The young member of Dubai’s ruling royal family is behind a series of carbon offsetting deals covering enormous areas of African forest, which could one day be worth billions.
Through the United Arab Emirates-based company Blue Carbon, the sheikh’s deals cover a fifth of Zimbabwe, 10% of Liberia, 10% of Zambia and 8% of Tanzania, collectively amounting to an area the size of the UK – and more are expected.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/30/2023 - 04:00
11/30/2023 - 01:49
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
At the Guardian we’ve been working hard to get you up to speed with what to expect from Cop28. If you can’t stop to read, you can listen.
The Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast this week focuses on everything you need to know about the climate talks, with host Ian Sample talking to Fiona Harvey, our environment editor and resident Cop expert.
As Rishi Sunak lands in Dubai, we are deeply concerned by the message the UK government is sending to countries in the global south affected by its alarming inaction on climate change. Ahead of the Cop summit this week, the UK claims that it is more ambitious on climate than any other major economy, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
As it issues licences for over 100 new oil and gas fields and fails to provide a proper roadmap on how it will deliver £11.6bn in loss and damage finance to climate-stricken countries, the UK’s decisions today will continue to cause environmental catastrophe well into the future and cause immense harm to women and girls disproportionately affected by climate breakdown.
The UK is also the heart of the global financial sector, which our recent research found has poured hundreds of billions of pounds into fossil fuels and agribusinesses since the Paris agreement. With UK banks like HSBC and Barclays among the largest funders of climate chaos, it also has a responsibility to regulate the sector, ensuring that money stops flowing towards climate-wrecking industries.
Instead of accelerating investments into fossil fuels and continuing its harmful, polluting legacy, it should show strong leadership in Dubai and commit to phasing out fossil fuels entirely.
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11/30/2023 - 01:00
Speaking in the lead up to Cop28 in Dubai, Christiana Figueres said she has lost faith in oil companies
People must balance outrage and optimism after a “hellish summer” of extreme weather, the UN’s former climate chief has urged at the start of the Cop28 climate summit.
“We have to keep the outrage really high because we are so darn late,” said Christiana Figueres, a veteran negotiator hailed as the architect of the Paris climate agreement. She pointed to the weak policies that governments have set in order to cut planet-heating pollution and the $7tn with which they directly and indirectly subsidise fossil fuels.
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11/30/2023 - 00:08
Cause of mass stranding of 34 pilot whales on Freycinet Peninsula unclear as authorities say they are unable to remove carcasses
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Thirty-four pilot whales were found washed up across a beach on Tasmania’s east coast on Tuesday in what was described as a “confronting” and “devastating” scene.
While out training on a boat, local guide Chris Theobald came across an “overnight mass stranding” of more than 30 pilot whales at Bryans beach near the southern end of the Freycinet Peninsula.
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11/30/2023 - 00:00
Opposition vows to tackle rural connection delays to the grid while Conservatives call for offshore network to preserve landscapes
Labour is promising to “rewire Britain”, making its case to the UK’s rural communities that it will connect farmers and businesses to the National Grid at record-breaking speed.
The pledge comes as Rishi Sunak faces a battle over electricity pylons with the trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, and former ministers urging him to pull the plug on crucial grid infrastructure.
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11/29/2023 - 21:00
In the month's episode of the American Blue Economy Podcast, our host Rear Admiral, Tim Gallaudet, PhD, US Navy (ret) catches a wave while discussing the contributions to the American Blue Economy. He is joined by big wave and professional surfing legend Ian “Kanga” Cairns, instructor in the Environmental Sciences Graduate Program at Oregon State University, Dr. Neeraja Havaligi, and owner and lead forecaster for the nearshore wave & weather forecasting company CFOX.surf, Charlie Fox. This diverse group will explore surfing contests, the travel industry's support to surf destination tourism, surfers as conservationists, and how the science of wave and weather prediction supports professional and amateur surfers all across America. Be sure to drop in to this show if you want to experience an epic ride!
11/29/2023 - 19:33
The report Our Land and Water looks at how waterways are polluted by four major contaminants in 650,000 river segments, 961 lakes and 419 estuaries
A new study of New Zealand’s freshwater quality has painted a sobering picture, showing that E coli is seeping through three-quarters of the land and into waterways at higher levels than national regulations allow.
The report, funded by the government-backed organisation Our Land and Water, looked at how rivers, lakes, and estuaries are polluted by four major contaminants, including E coli, a bacteria found in the intestines of many animals and humans that can cause serious illness.
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11/29/2023 - 18:54
Greens and Coalition band together to force Labor to pass stronger greenhouse gas legislation than original policy
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The New South Wales government’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets have been passed into law after the Greens and Coalition joined forces to strengthen the legislation to include interim targets.
The state’s target of cutting emissions 70% compared with 2005 levels by 2035, and reaching net zero emissions by 2050, are now enshrined in law, and an independent advisory panel to monitor progress will be established.
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11/29/2023 - 18:30
The threatened bird index reveals largest declines were in Queensland and South Australia
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Australia’s populations of threatened and near-threatened bird species have declined by 60% on average in the past 40 years, according to new research.
The threatened bird index, which is produced by scientists working with the University of Queensland, reveals some of the largest declines were among species found in South Australia and Queensland.
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11/29/2023 - 18:30
Of more than 8 million deaths worldwide from outdoor air pollution, 61% linked to fossil fuels, finds study
Air pollution from fossil fuel use is killing 5 million people worldwide every year, a death toll much higher than previously estimated, according to the largest study of its kind.
The stark figures, published on the eve of the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, will increase pressure on world leaders to take action. Among the decisions they must make at the UN conference will be whether to agree, for the first time, to gradually “phase out” fossil fuels.
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