Blue & Green Daily: Wednesday 9 April headlines

Blue & Green Daily finds and summarises the top sustainability stories around the web every morning. We start with our own picks from Blue & Green Tomorrow.

Climate change coverage: what the BBC can learn from MMR

‘The children see these solar panels every day. They see it as the norm now’

Renewable energy investment drop as technology becomes cheaper

Investors increasingly using shareholder power to create change, says McKinsey

New guideline say modern slavery is ‘severe but solvable

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9 April headlines

Conservatives give strongest sign yet they will halt windfarm expansion

The Tory chairman, Grant Shapps, has given the first public signal that the conservatives will seek a moratorium of onshore windfarms and will draw a dividing line with the Lib Dems, who he says love them. The senior minister appeared to confirm that the Tories will pledge at the next election to cap the output of onshore wind farms from 2020. Guardian.

Berlin secures energy concessions from EU

Germany’s heavy industry will continue to be largely exempted from paying for the country’s switch to renewable energy, under the terms of a deal agreed between Berlin and the European Commission. The agreement is part of a blueprint to reform energy policy in Germany, where a decision to exit from nuclear and reduce reliance on fossil fuels has led to an expensive boom in renewable energy. Financial Times.

Scottish independence may undermine low-carbon energy, UK says

Scottish independence risks undermining investment in low-carbon energy because the smaller nation wouldn’t be able to afford the same level of subsidies as the UK, the department of energy and climate change said. Scots would also have to fork out £3,800 per person to match the £20bn the UK has pledged toward decommissioning oil and gas facilities in aging North Sea fields. Bloomberg.

World ‘needs Plan B’ on climate – IPCC report

The world needs a Plan B on climate change because politicians are failing to reduce carbon emissions, according to a UN report. It warns governments if they overshoot their short-term carbon targets they will have to cut CO2 even faster in the second half of the century to keep climate change manageable. BBC.

El Nino odds seen at more than 70% as Pacific warms

An El Nino weather pattern, which can parch parts of Australia and Asia while bring rains to South America, will probably develop in the next few months as the Pacific Ocean warms, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology says. It added that the chances of El Nino developing during the southern hemisphere’s winter are more than 70%. Bloomberg.

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Interesting picks

We must all play a part in abolishing slavery – Telegraph

Fox News climate change coverage is now 28% accurate, up from 7% – Guardian

Investment firms and corporates embrace sustainable bonds – Institutional Investor

Building the impact investing market in sub-Sahara Africa and south Asia – Thomson Reuters Foundation

Photo: Sanja gjenero via Freeimages