EU CO2 emissions from fossil fuels 'at 1960s levels', and other nature and climate stories you need to read this week

The European Union's (EU) CO2 levels from fossil fuels are at their lowest for 60 years following an 8% year-on-year fall in 2023, according to a new report.

Switching from fossil fuels to cleaner electricity sources accounts for more than half of the reduction, the analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows.

In 2023, the EU deployed record levels of solar and wind renewables capacity supported by hydroelectric and nuclear power.

EU CO2 emissions per capita have been falling steadily over time.

“The 8% reduction in emissions should be celebrated,” Issac Levi, an analyst at CREA told The Guardian.

“But more must be done to wean the EU off fossil fuels, reduce reliance on petrostates such as Russia, whilst also leaving the world a better place for the next generation,” he said.

The report's analysis is restricted to CO2 emissions – excluding other greenhouse gases – and does not include hard-to-abate sectors like agriculture, cement or chemical production.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “The phase-out of fossil fuels is essential and inevitable,” outlining the need for global cooperation in the transition to cleaner energy.

Climate change and unsustainable irrigation practices over the past four decades have caused an "accelerated" decline in the world's groundwater levels, according to a new study.

Groundwater resources are a major source of freshwater for farms, households and industry. The research, published in the science journal Nature, warns that excessive depletion could lead to severe economic and environmental threats, including declining crop yields and land subsidence.

"One of the most likely major driving forces behind rapid and accelerating groundwater decline is the excessive withdrawal of groundwater for irrigated agriculture in dry climates," one of the paper's co-authors Scott Jasechko from the University of California, told Reuters.

The study analyzed 170,000 wells in more than 40 countries and found depletion most pronounced in arid climates with extensive croplands. Northern parts of China, Iran and the western regions of the United States were particularly hard hit.

In almost a third of the aquifers studied, water level depletion was found to have accelerated since 2000.

The world's first successful white rhinoceros embryo transfer by scientists in Berlin offers hope of saving the critically endangered northern white rhino species from extinction. There are currently just two surviving females but no males.

A ban on US single-use plastic bags in three states has cut use by around 6 billion, according to a report by non-profit organizations Environment America, U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and Frontier Group.

The Amazon rainforest is experiencing a record drought due to climate change, which has drained rivers, killed endangered dolphins and disrupted the lives of millions of people, new analysis by World Weather Attribution shows.

Investors managing more than $25 trillion are to challenge mining companies that have not committed to best-practice safety standards for tailings dams – embankments constructed near mines to store liquid or solid waste. This may mean investors vote to oppose management at company annual meetings, according to Reuters.

Skaters returned to the world's largest natural ice rink as it reopened in Ottawa, Canada. The 7.8km Rideau Canal Skateway was closed for the first time in 2023 due to an unusually mild winter caused by climate change, the National Capital Commission said.

The EU Commission is set to announce a 90% emissions reduction for its 2040 climate target, compared to 1990 levels, to ensure the bloc meets net-zero emissions by 2050.

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