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Daily Personalized Newsletter

Earth Catalyst gathers & hand-filters the most recent updates from over 1,000 green tech and sustainability organizations. Here are all of the updates; if you subscribe to our free newsletter, we'll send you 3 each weekday we think will be meaningful to you.

What if Scope 3 changes everything?

Writer's picture: Andrea GonzalesAndrea Gonzales

Politico reports this morning: "The Scottish High Court quashed decisions by the British government to approve drilling in two vast North Sea oil and gas fields after legal challenges from environmental campaigners."


Specifically, approval for Shel and Equinor to drill for oil has been blocked on the basis of the emissions of burning that oil - also known as Scope 3 emissions! The companies will have to go back and request new approval to drill with Scope 3 accounted for. They've already spent a billion dollars building the extraction facilities, and can continue building, but can't take oil out of the bottom of the sea until they get a new permit.


Greenpeace UK’s Philip Evans says:

“This is a historic win — the age of governments approving new drilling sites by ignoring their climate impacts is over.”

A validation of earlier British precedent, this could help form an international precedent that could become a key contribution to an ensemble strategy to stop oil and transition the whole global economy to sustainable renewable energy. Block new extraction of non-renewable energy, invest in new sustainable energy, retrain industry for the new technology regime, and adapt to deal with the unavoidable impacts of remaining emissions. That's a powerful survival strategy for short term catastrophe mitigation.


In our consulting work, we're seeing the powerful ripple effects of European (and soon Californian) Scope 3 reporting requirements roll out all across the world. And when European business is changed by the stick, adaptation (including building a reporting practice) in order to maintain business relationships with European enterprises becomes a carrot pursuit for everyone else.


But for courts to rule that oil companies can't just reduce flaring and emissions from oil extraction itself (Scope 1 emissions) but to hold them accountable for the emissions that would come from burning the oil they want to extract? That's a pretty big deal.


All I've ever wanted was for society to account for externalities.


Let's go!


-Marshall Kirkpatrick

Earth Catalyst: We provide thought leadership support systems and bespoke consulting for green tech and sustainability organizations.

 
Today and every day, our system scans over 1,000 green tech and sustainability organizations for updates. Below, you'll find:

  • A Visual of the Day

  • A digest-style Table of Contents for 206 selected updates from around the green tech and sustainability world

  • (If you subscribe by email) 3 personalized selections just for you and your work


Did a friend forward you this newsletter? Welcome! You can subscribe here and get your own personal recommendations each day.

 


Visual of the Day

Drilling Next Door

‘Drill Baby Drill’: Texas City Approves New Site for Fracking Near Daycare and Schools TotalEnergies' newly approved fracking site in Arlington, Texas will be positioned near multiple elementary schools and a daycare center. That's the gut-punch of a headline from Dylan Baddour at Inside Climate News. The map above highlights environmental justice concerns in urban drilling. 


The write-up says the City Council unanimously approved 10 new gas wells at the Maverick site despite community opposition, marking the first new drilling tract approved in Arlington in nearly 13 years and placing it within 1,060 feet of a daycare facility that has already reported health impacts from existing wells.


Today's Updates

Table of Contents

  • Agriculture (9 stories) - Atomo's beanless coffee hits UK, CH4 Global launches Asparagopsis seaweed facility, IITA receives Australian funding, ClimateAi wins Indian award


  • Carbon (8 stories) - Ecuador's $30M forest deal and Rubicon-Ecobase's European credits launch amid rising emissions, Arctic melt, and growing corporate carbon software adoption


  • Circular (7 stories) - Asset reuse platform, Energizer's plastic-free packaging, bamboo wipes launch, and Berlin biopolymers forum lead circular economy innovations, while sustainability film and art initiatives expand


  • Ecosystems (22 stories) - Marine heatwaves threaten Australian reefs as U.S. Fish & Wildlife launches 66-species biobank; Wildlife Trusts restore Celtic rainforest while Montana's Mill Gulch sees prescribed burns


  • Efficiency (7 stories) - States lag on utility standards while heat pumps surge; MIT, CEA/3SUN and DeepSeek achieve breakthroughs in thermal networks, solar cells and AI efficiency


  • Finance (11 stories) - Banks RBC and Citi lag in clean energy funding while Encore secures $389M from Brookfield, Sightline raises $5.5M, and A2A issues €500M EU-standard green bond amid $16B Q4 sustainable fund flows


  • Grid (26 stories) - Major grid investments planned across Africa ($50B), Australia (49.6GW pipeline), UK (Voltalis £1B), while Tesla doubles storage production and WeaveGrid connects automakers to utilities for EV charging management


  • Indigenous (13 stories) - Indigenous fire networks expand to 26 events, Wataynikaneyap Power connects First Nation to grid, while Brazil's Yanomami territory sees mining decline


  • Industry (10 stories) - TotalEnergies expands gas drilling, Risen Energy ships HJT modules, Pratt & Whitney tests hydrogen engines, while Oatly and industrial facilities explore heat pump transitions


  • Policy (63 stories) - Trump administration's environmental oversight shakeup and climate policy reversals dominate, while Treasury finalizes Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit and EU implements strict deforestation regulations


  • Renewables (11 stories) - Major offshore wind investment in UK, record solar projects in Netherlands and Poland, Ignite Power-ENGIE merger in Africa, plus breakthrough HJT module efficiency from Huasun reaching 720W


  • Transport (19 stories) - VW halts US ID.7 launch amid Trump concerns, while Lucid adds Tesla NACS charging, Flexis debuts urban EVs with Renault-Volvo, and Baleària launches Spain-Morocco electric ferry route


Agriculture

Atomo's beanless coffee hits UK, CH4 Global launches Asparagopsis seaweed facility, IITA receives Australian funding, ClimateAi wins Indian award



Carbon

Ecuador's $30M forest deal and Rubicon-Ecobase's European credits launch amid rising emissions, Arctic melt, and growing corporate carbon software adoption



Circular

Asset reuse platform, Energizer's plastic-free packaging, bamboo wipes launch, and Berlin biopolymers forum lead circular economy innovations, while sustainability film and art initiatives expand



Ecosystems

Marine heatwaves threaten Australian reefs as U.S. Fish & Wildlife launches 66-species biobank; Wildlife Trusts restore Celtic rainforest while Montana's Mill Gulch sees prescribed burns



Efficiency

States lag on utility standards while heat pumps surge; MIT, CEA/3SUN and DeepSeek achieve breakthroughs in thermal networks, solar cells and AI efficiency



Finance

Banks RBC and Citi lag in clean energy funding while Encore secures $389M from Brookfield, Sightline raises $5.5M, and A2A issues €500M EU-standard green bond amid $16B Q4 sustainable fund flows



Grid

Major grid investments planned across Africa ($50B), Australia (49.6GW pipeline), UK (Voltalis £1B), while Tesla doubles storage production and WeaveGrid connects automakers to utilities for EV charging management



Indigenous

Indigenous fire networks expand to 26 events, Wataynikaneyap Power connects First Nation to grid, while Brazil's Yanomami territory sees mining decline



Industry

TotalEnergies expands gas drilling, Risen Energy ships HJT modules, Pratt & Whitney tests hydrogen engines, while Oatly and industrial facilities explore heat pump transitions



Policy

Trump administration's environmental oversight shakeup and climate policy reversals dominate, while Treasury finalizes Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit and EU implements strict deforestation regulations



Renewables

Major offshore wind investment in UK, record solar projects in Netherlands and Poland, Ignite Power-ENGIE merger in Africa, plus breakthrough HJT module efficiency from Huasun reaching 720W



Transport

VW halts US ID.7 launch amid Trump concerns, while Lucid adds Tesla NACS charging, Flexis debuts urban EVs with Renault-Volvo, and Baleària launches Spain-Morocco electric ferry route


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