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As big global carmakers electrify their models, we ask experts about how things could shape up in Australia

Of all the bizarre sideshows on the 2019 federal election trail, the pantomime around electric cars had to be one of the strangest. Scott Morrison argued that Labor’s plan for 50% electric vehicles by 2030 would “ruin the weekend” and the Liberal party paid for Facebook ads claiming Labor would confiscate tradies’ Hilux utes.

Meanwhile, all the world’s big car manufacturers are busy getting on with electrifying their model ranges. But while things are changing, buying an EV is still a big leap. Guardian Australia spoke to experts about the options.

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As climate change affects the livelihoods of Finland's indigenous Sami people, a proposed new Arctic railway, forestry and mining could change Lapland forever.

• Protesters block avenue between Port Authority and NYT
• Extinction Rebellion calls for better coverage of climate crisis

A climate change protest orchestrated by the Extinction Rebellion activist group briefly blocked Eighth Avenue in New York on Saturday afternoon, between the Port Authority transit hub and the home of the New York Times.

The New York police department (NYPD) said 70 people were arrested as they called for more effective media coverage of the dangers of climate change, in a dramatic demonstration that saw people stage a die-in in front of the newspaper building and disrupt traffic in midtown Manhattan.

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Nation suffering disproportionately from climate emergency to phase in ban, believed to be world first, by December

It is but a tiny speck in the Pacific Ocean, but the island state of Vanuatu is leading the global fight against plastic waste. The nation, which has already introduced one of the toughest single-use plastic bans in the world, is believed to be the first to propose a ban on disposable nappies, to be phased in at the end of this year.

At a meeting in London this week, chaired by Patricia Scotland, the secretary general of the Commonwealth, Vanuatu was hailed as a “champion” nation, one of 12 who are forging ahead in tackling ocean and climate emergency challenges.

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The mayor of Okuma, home of the damaged nuclear power plant, has been in exile for eight years – here he writes about finally returning

The residents of Okuma were among more than 150,000 people who were forced to flee their homes after the March 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. As one of the wrecked plant’s two host towns, Okuma was abandoned for eight years before authorities declared that radiation levels had fallen to safe levels, allowing residents to return. Even now, 60% of Okuma remains off limits, and only a tiny fraction of the pre-disaster population of 11,500 has returned since their former neighbourhoods were given the all clear in April. A month later, Okuma’s mayor, Toshitsuna Watanabe, and his colleagues returned to work at a new town hall. In his final diary for the Guardian, Watanabe reveals he has mixed feelings about being able to return to his family home.

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A discovery by UK scientists could help save species such as the European common frog from extinction

Research suggests almost half of packaging used by major UK supermarkets can't be easily recycled.

You might think you know the story of the lyrebird. Think again. And then listen to this ear-bending series called 'Sex, lyres and audiotape.'

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

California and Quebec will offer more than 66 million current vintage allowances in each of the next two quarterly sales, with the August volume roughly identical to the May auction supply, according to regulator data released Friday.

Oregon Democrats will not be entertaining any amendments to their cap-and-trade bill after Republican senators decided to walk out in protest over over the proposal, a state senator told Carbon Pulse.

Janet Barker recounts assault by suspended MP and says it will not stop her activism

Bruised and still shaken, Janet Barker is incredulous at the violent reaction of the Foreign Office minister Mark Field to her peaceful protest with fellow Greenpeace activists at the chancellor’s Mansion House speech.

However, she has no plans to press criminal charges over the physical assault. “I think it is something best dealt with in the court of opinion,” she said, while welcoming his suspension as a minister.

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Power plants linked to industrial sites should only be awarded free EUAs if the resulting heat is used in district heating or high efficiency co-generation, an EU court found this week, upholding a previous opinion in a move that could trim the allowance allocations of companies across the bloc EU next year.

The Netherlands won’t wait for the EU’s protracted lawmaking process to launch an aviation carbon tax and expects several fellow member states to follow or extend their own initiatives.

This week: hungry oriole chicks, an elderly sloth, a soggy robin and a stuck squirrel

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Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.

**Following some reader suggestions, we’re trialling a new brief midday EU ETS market report.**

Eight species of British orchid are flourishing on historical sheep-driving pathways.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator this week distributed over 1.1 million carbon credits as developers continued to seek issuances ahead of the June 30 financial year end.

Communicating what's meant by climate change in one simple, easy to understand visualisation.