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From acid rain to the ozone hole: Can we learn from the environmental "success stories" of the past?

The drinks company has been named the world's biggest plastic polluter.

The BBC is given rare access to film the 45,500-year-old images found on an Indonesian island.

Net zero strategy should have defined what green jobs are so that progress can be measured, says committee

The government has come under fire from the environmental audit committee of MPs for its “inconsistent” policy on green jobs. The committee said that despite pledging millions of pounds to green jobs initiatives, ministers are yet to define what a “green job” is.

“The workforce of the future is being undermined by a lack of evidence-based government policies on how jobs will be filled in green sectors,” said Philip Dunne, the committee chairman. “Encouraging announcements of investment in green sectors of the economy are very welcome but the government admits that claims about green jobs lack explanation and data on how the targets will be achieved.”

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By the end of the summit, we’ll know how far nations are willing to go to address humanity’s biggest challenge. But while international politics matter, domestic politics are what counts. Christian Downie, Associate Professor, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

China and the US could supercharge global climate action. But if they fail to cooperate, there will be dire consequences for all. Hao Tan, Associate Professor, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle Elizabeth Thurbon, Scientia Associate Professor in International Relations / International Political Economy, UNSW John Mathews, Professor Emeritus, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University Sung-Young Kim, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Discipline of Politics & International Relations, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The decline of tropical reefs should alarm us. But there is reason to hope that they will adapt to survive

Coral reefs, like tropical rainforests, have a special place in natural history. Covering just 0.2% of the ocean floor, they are home to around a quarter of all sea species. Because of this fecundity, and their flamboyant array of colours, shapes and sizes, reefs are rightly understood as wonders of the world. Reports of their destruction carry a painful sting. Like images of the burning Amazon, pictures of bleached coral are disturbing – their whitened, empty forms a warning of nature’s wider decline.

There is now around half the amount of coral that there was in the 1950s, and the outlook is not good. Rising sea temperatures, coastal and marine developments, overfishing and pollution all expose these highly sensitive environments to acute stress.

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Climate finance plan needed to gain backing of developing nations for any deal at Glasgow talks

Poorer countries are to be offered billions of dollars more in funding in an effort to break the impasse between developed and developing countries at the UN Cop26 climate summit.

The UK government, as Cop26 host, will unveil the proposals on Monday along with ministers from Germany and Canada, who have been charged with drawing up a plan for climate finance, needed to gain the backing of scores of developing countries for any deal at the talks, which open in Glasgow next Sunday.

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There is no longer any population or place on earth untouched by PFAS contamination. We are living through a toxic experiment with no control group

This week the EPA announced a new roadmap to research, restrict, and remediate PFAS – a group of industrial “forever chemicals” that have been linked to cancer and are found in our food, water, and even our blood. President Biden is requesting $10bn in the infrastructure bill to address PFAS. But this new attention still falls short of what’s required to confront an unprecedented crisis that affects the health of the entire United States and countless people across the world.

Today, toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are everywhere we’ve thought to look for them. As engineered, these synthetic chemicals glide through air and water with ease, evade all natural processes of decay, and inflict debilitating injuries even at exceedingly low levels of exposure. The petrochemical industry has its fingerprints all over the ubiquity of PFAS, yet that very ubiquity is now being used as an excuse against doing anything about it. PFAS are becoming too toxic to fail.

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A steadily-tightening emissions car ceiling of the kind common in other countries could save drivers money and do the bulk of the work needed to reach Australia’s first emissions target. Marion Terrill, Transport and Cities Program Director, Grattan Institute Lachlan Fox, Graduate Assistant, Grattan Institute Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

All Londoners live above WHO’s recommended air quality levels. Expanding Ulez will mean fewer polluting vehicles

Air pollution is a global health crisis and tackling it is a crucial part of our response to the climate emergency. Toxic air is leading to premature deaths, making people sick, harming the health of our children and inflicting profound and lasting damage on our precious natural environment.

In a week’s time, leaders from around the world will meet at the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow to try to agree on the vital action we need to protect our planet and to save lives. Health professionals will be attending the conference in record numbers, including a group of paediatricians who are cycling from London’s famous Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children to raise awareness of the devastating effect of air pollution on children’s health, including stunted lung growth.

Sadiq Khan is mayor of London. Dr Maria Neira is WHO director, Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health

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The real decisions on Australia’s emissions reduction are being made by state governments and civil society, or outside the country altogether. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Fresh wave of direct action is planned before Cop26 summit opens

Climate protest group Insulate Britain has revealed its “absolute disbelief” that its members have been allowed to repeatedly disrupt the motorway network, saying it had originally expected its campaign of direct action to last just two days.

As the group prepares for a fresh wave of protests this week, organisers admit they are baffled over why the police have effectively allowed them to keep closing major routes.

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From 2025, physics, chemistry and biology will no longer be offered as separate GCSE subjects.

In the run-up to the global summit in Glasgow, we revisit families with children – now teenagers – born at the time of the 2009 climate conference

They are entering their teenage years and aspire to bring about positive change when they grow up. But the dreams of these three children, each born in different corners of the world in the weeks leading up to the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009, are beset by worries of how global heating might shape their futures.

Following their births, and again in 2015 ahead of the Paris climate summit, the Observer heard from the families of Maria, Olomaina and Denislania about how they were coping with the impacts of climate change.

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Top climate official issues strong warning on effect of unchecked greenhouse gases ahead of summit

Global security and stability could break down, with migration crises and food shortages bringing conflict and chaos, if countries fail to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, the UN’s top climate official has warned ahead of the Cop26 climate summit.

Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said: “We’re really talking about preserving the stability of countries, preserving the institutions that we have built over so many years, preserving the best goals that our countries have put together. The catastrophic scenario would indicate that we would have massive flows of displaced people.”

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Cities are under threat from floods, forest fires and other disasters - how is tech helping with emergency responses?

Converting every vehicle to electric by 2035 would halve costs, Australian Conservation Foundation report finds

Australia may be left with almost a $1tn health bill by 2050 if it doesn’t boost the take-up of electric vehicles, according to a new report released on Sunday.

But this could be slashed in half by setting an ambitious target to convert every car in the country to electric by 2035.

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Beachfront residents back the Collaroy wall but other locals worry the beach will disappear for longer periods as climate change increasingly drives coastal erosion

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“We really didn’t want to build a wall,” says Bob Orth.

But Orth is one of 10 residents of Collaroy, on Sydney’s northern beaches, who have each paid $300,000 to do just that.

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A 1.3km long wall that will snake along the coast of Collaroy on Sydney's northern beaches is dividing a community. Construction on a 400m concrete section of the wall commenced in December 2020, more than four years after a heavy storm washed away the shore and damaged beachside properties. Its design has split opinion, with concerns it is destroying public space to save private property

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