The Prince of Wales will give a speech as UN climate talks turn the focus on efforts to cut emissions from deforestationThe Prince of Wales is to give a speech on protecting forests as efforts to cut emissions from deforestation are discussed at the UN climate talks in Paris.Experts warn agriculture, forestry and land use are responsible for almost a quarter of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and action to tackle the problem is a key part of curbing climate change. Continue reading...

Every day, another 2,000 people move to the Bangladeshi capital. It’s nothing new – for generations Dhaka has been a magnet for those escaping rural poverty – but now climate change is accelerating the race to the cityParul Akter travelled across Bangladesh to escape the flood waters, but they seem to have followed her. The shack she shares with her husband and four children in Dhaka, the nation’s capital, sits on the edge of the sprawling Korail slum – next to a lake. When it rains, dank water sloshes into their shelter. Only the bed, raised up on bricks, stays dry. “This room is all we have, so we need to stay here no matter what happens,” said Akter.Seven years ago, a monsoon flood left nothing standing in their village, located in Bhola on the country’s south-west coast. “We had no option but to climb up the banks with our belongings immediately,” said Akter. “Within a week, we moved to Dhaka to start a new life.” Continue reading...

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi holds a news conference alongside French president François Hollande on Monday to launch a global initiative for the promotion of solar power. The alliance of over 120 countries has pledged to invest in providing solar energy to developing areas, with Modi stating that the project will create ‘unlimited economic opportunities’, which will form the ‘foundation of the new economy of this century’ Continue reading...

From sharing a cocktail in a care home, to nursing your vegetable patch – here’s how to give something back

Despite the creation of a 200-hectare conservation area, fishing communities on south-east Asia’s largest freshwater lake fear their way of life is slipping awayOut past the floating villages, the daytrippers and the mangrove arcades, the brown waters of the Tahas river open into a vast, dull green lake fringed by forest and a seemingly endless horizon.

Government urged not to sign off on third runway until airport shows it accepts key noise and emissions targets

Claxton, Norfolk Wigeon seem finely engineered, slender winged and pre-oiled so that all parts slide freely through the airThe wind was bitter and ice-edged and it inflicted a final layer of melancholy on the dank marsh, the slumped reeds, the plain of grey overhead and the river Yare, which was just leaden ooze twisting on an outgoing tide. Eventually I felt it all as the cold ache at my temple.But other creatures seemed to catch the same mood. Swans in the fields were all gangling necks and heavy waddle, while a buzzard, bulked up with air and feathers as it perched in the copse, flew off with that plodding tempo of its species. Then I climbed the riverbank and suddenly there were the wigeon. Continue reading...

Plane powered only by the sun had been grounded in Hawaii after Pacific crossing from Japan broke record for non-stop flight but cooked its batteriesThe Swiss-led team trying to fly a solar-powered plane around the world has raised €20m to continue its journey after being grounded in Hawaii by battery problems and the weather.Solar Impulse 2 broke records in July but also damaged its power banks with a five-day and night crossing of the Pacific from Japan to Hawaii. Co-founder and pilot André Borschberg later announced it would take off again in early 2016. Continue reading...

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was spotted at mating ground on Midway Atoll after a year’s absence and is expected to grow her brood, estimated at 36 chicksThe world’s oldest living tracked bird has returned to US soil to lay an egg at the sprightly age of 64.Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was spotted at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge with a mate, following a year’s absence. It’s expected that Wisdom will use the world’s largest nesting albatross colony, located north-west of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, to raise another chick. Continue reading...

If India, China and the US work together and back renewable investment, there is hope after the Paris climate summitWhile all contributions from the 195 countries at the UN’s global climate change summit in Paris will be important, three are critical. China, the United States and India hold the key to large-scale global progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.So far, the UN climate process has faced the challenge of rallying all countries behind one unified resolution. While this remains crucial, efforts to build global consensus are increasingly varied, emphasising the role that multilateral, national and subnational policies can play in responding to the unique circumstances faced by societies around the globe. The Paris meeting reflects this shift, as the UN increasingly looks to shape the individual national commitments of countries around the world into a new, dynamic global compact. This approach creates encouraging possibilities for China, the US and India – which together make up roughly 40% of global carbon emissions – to become global leaders in a new and more sustainable energy future. Continue reading...

Arsène Wenger’s decision to fly his team to an away match against Norwich City has been met with ridicule. Which is progress of a sortWhile politicians gather in Paris to save the world from runaway climate change, a Frenchman committed a global-warming faux pas on a runway closer to home.Related: Arsenal let the plane take the strain for the Norwich away game Continue reading...

The emissions pledges are in and the world’s leaders are in town – but there is a risk that progress will be smothered by old sticking pointsAt the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 world leaders arrived at the end and could not save it from failure. In Paris, 150 leaders came at the beginning and were confident of success.

David Cameron makes a passionate appeal to other world leaders, calling on them to do what it takes to agree on a global climate change deal. Speaking to the Paris climate change conference on Monday, Cameron says the world needs a deal with a binding legal mechanism, with a five year review so we can ‘see how we are doing.’ He also calls for the transfer of technologies from the richest countries to the poorest countries Continue reading...

Bristol zoo gets Lord Howe Island stick insect eggs in hopes of raising a colony 10,000 miles from Tasman Sea home

In anticipation of the Paris climate change summit, activists in New York looked to build ground support for global action on the environment over the weekend, with many sounding warnings that the deadline for meaningful change is fast approaching. ‘It’s almost too late,’ said one demonstrator. The Paris talks, known as COP21, are seen as a last chance for coordinated global action on climate change under the UN Continue reading...

Narendra Modi announces a new alliance of nations and industry on large-scale expansion of solar energy use in the tropics and beyondIndia’s prime minister has launched an international solar alliance of over 120 countries with the French president, François Hollande, at the Paris COP21 climate summit.Narendra Modi told a press conference that as fossil fuels put the planet in peril, hopes for future prosperity in the developing world now rest on bold initiatives. Continue reading...

1991 blev Växjö i södra Sverige först i världen med att gå ut med målet att bli fossilbränslefri. Hur många framsteg har då gjorts, och kan Växjö vara en modell även för större städer?

Sir David Attenborough expresses optimism as Paris climate talks get under way on Monday. The veteran British naturalist and broadcaster, known for his BBC nature documentaries, says that a vital part of any deal must focus on ensuring that renewable energy undercuts oil and gas prices

The singer performed the song for the first time at the global climate march in London. Here are the lyricsOn Sunday, Charlotte Church and her band were at the climate protest march in London at which over 50,000 people protested for stronger action for world governments to counter global warming. Globally, over 700,000 people joined protests in 175 countries.Church performed a new song co-written especially for the event with her partner Jonathan Powell. It is currently untitled. These are the lyrics: Continue reading...

Environmental Working Group has launched EWG Verified, a label that will help consumers spot products that meet stringent ingredient and transparency requirementsIt may soon be easier for shoppers to find beauty products without toxic chemicals. The Environmental Working Group nonprofit launched a new label this month called EWG Verified, which certifies personal care products as free from chemicals of concern.The program is an extension of the group’s work with the Skin Deep database, which for more than a decade now has given tens of millions of visitors information on the chemical contents and relative safety of their favorite cosmetics and shampoos. Continue reading...

World leaders including David Cameron and Barack Obama pose for a family photo on Monday, the opening day of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 at Le Bourget, Paris. Nearly 150 heads of state and government are meeting at the start of two weeks of talks with the hope of reaching a new agreement on climate change. Photograph: AP Photo/Jacky Naegeles

From Barack Obama to Vladamir Putin and Xi Jinping, presidents and prime ministers from over 150 countries have arrived for the opening session of the UN climate summit in Paris

Barack Obama says on Monday in Paris that the growing threat of climate change could define this century. The US president says the world should be optimistic, as the Paris climate conference was a turning point as nations share a sense of urgency about the challenge and understand it is within their power to take action

From the year a global agreement would come into force to the critical temperature threshold of global warming, here are the figures that matter

Countries most at risk from climate change warn of looming ‘disaster’ as they break from major blocs to call for more ambitious temperature targetCountries most vulnerable to climate change have seized the political initiative at the start of the UN climate talks in Paris by challenging the US, China and Europe to raise their ambitions and set a long-term temperature goal of 1.5C rather than the 2C target.As more than 140 world leaders made short opening statements on Sunday, 44 countries that are members of the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), along with other vulnerable countries, declared that the 2C goal being backed by all major blocs would seal the fate of hundreds of millions of people in countries like Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sudan and Vietnam. Continue reading...

US president salutes French people for going ahead with crucial climate talks in his address to heads of state on first day of the conferenceBarack Obama has told crucial UN climate talks in Paris that the negotiations represent an act of defiance after the barbaric attacks in the city two weeks ago in which 130 people were killed.Offering his condolences and pledging solidarity with the people of “this beautiful city” he said, “We have come to Paris to show our resolve ... to protect our people, and to uphold the values that keep us strong and keep us free. We salute the people of Paris for insisting that this crucial conference will go on.” Continue reading...

The Prince of Wales tells world leaders humanity faces no greater threat than climate change and urges action to tackle rising temperatures. He was speaking on Monday on the opening day of the climate change summit in Paris. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

Innovations are helping renewable energy become more accessible, powerful and effective. Emma Howard lists six inventions that are changing the sectorUnlike most solar panels, which use cells made of silicon, solar inks can be printed on to rolls of plastic up to A3 size. The ink can be applied through various methods, including spray coating and screen printing.

Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...

Prince of Wales calls climate change the greatest threat facing humanity and urges leaders to protect the planet for future generationsGlobal warming is the greatest threat that humanity faces and world leaders meeting in Paris for climate talks on Monday must act now, Prince Charles has told delegates from 195 countries meeting in the French capital.“On an increasingly crowded planet, humanity faces many threats, but none is greater than climate change. It magnifies every hazard and tension of our existence,” the Prince of Wales told the summit, as he opened it along with the UN climate chief, Christiana Figueres and French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius. Continue reading...

Nearly a month’s volume of rain expected to fall in parts of Wales, with wintry showers forecast for Northern Ireland and ScotlandGale-force winds are making way for heavy rain, putting parts of the country on flood alert as the UK feels little respite from the unsettled weather.Almost a month’s worth of rain is expected in parts of Wales, the Met Office said. The Environment Agency has issued yellow flood warnings for Wales and the north of England for the next two days, with three to five inches of rain expected in some areas. Continue reading...

Many cities will showcase their green credentials in Paris. But greenhouse gas targets, and the lives of citizens, rely on making them more efficientWith more than 190 countries gathering in Paris this week the world still has a chance to avoid dangerous global warming – but only just. Already more than 160 countries have submitted pledges to reduce or limit their emissions of greenhouse gases by 2025 or 2030. Collectively these represent a substantial improvement on “business as usual”, but they are some way from a path that offers a reasonable probability of restricting the rise in global average temperature above its pre-industrial level to no more than 2C.There is a serious emissions gap over the next 15 years: under the current pledges, emissions will go on rising until at least 2030. Warming of about 2C creates deeply worrying risks of triggering the kind of consequences – such as rapid sea level rise or the release of methane from gas hydrates in the ocean – that could prove catastrophic, potentially causing hundreds of millions of people to move from receding coastlines and more extreme weather. That will mean more migration, more refugees, more conflict and a world without peace and prosperity. That is why the world community, via the UNFCCC, regards warming above 2C as dangerous. Continue reading...