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UN’s former climate change chief, who was a key architect of the Paris climate agreement, joins long list of candidates to succeed Ban Ki-moon

One of the chief architects of the global accord on climate change signed last year in Paris has been nominated for the post of secretary general of the United Nations.

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), won plaudits from around the world at the successful conclusion of the Paris talks in December. The summit saw all of the world’s nations agree for the first time to a binding commitment to avoid dangerous levels of global warming.

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A doomed Japanese satellite managed to capture a spectacular view of a cluster of galaxies 250 million light years away just before it died, scientists reveal.

The impact of India’s drought, a remote volcanic eruption and an oasis in the Sahara and were among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last month

Stagnant lakes stretch east-west across the upper reaches of the Volga river delta in southern Russia. The lakes are trapped by sandy mounds, left behind after the Caspian Sea’s level rose then fell in the wake of the last ice age.

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Week-long foraging trip from the Channel Islands to Scandinavian waters and back is the longest recorded for the species, conservationists say

A gannet has returned home after a fishing trip of almost 1,700 miles (2,700 km), the longest recorded for the species, conservationists said.

Cosmo, a northern gannet which lives on Alderney in the Channel Islands, made the foraging trip up the English Channel, across the North Sea and into Scandinavian waters - and back - in less than a week.

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A month-old male giant panda cub in Belgium's Pairi Daiza wildlife park is growing fast and gaining weight - but still not quite standing up.

Rightwing MEPs vote to slow down the introduction of the new rules that could delay simple, colour-coded system until 2030

Householders in Europe buying a new boiler could face confusing energy labels until as late as 2030, after rightwing MEPs voted to slow down an introduction of the new rules in the European parliament on Wednesday.

The current labelling system means a product rated at A+ may be the least efficient appliance in its class due to the introduction of A+++ labels, prompting a European commission proposal to replace the grading with a simpler A-G format.

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Climate Science Legal Defense Fund is forced to defend climate scientists against constant frivolous lawsuits

Today’s climate scientists have a lot more to worry about than peer review. Organizations with perverse financial incentives harass scientists with lawsuit after lawsuit, obstructing research and seeking to embarrass them with disclosures of private information.

On June 14th, an Arizona court ruled that thousands of emails from two prominent climate scientists must be turned over to the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E), a group that disputes the 97% expert consensus on human-caused climate change and argues against action to confront it. E&E and its attorneys are funded by Peabody Coal, Arch Coal, and Alpha Natural Resources, coal corporations with billions of dollars in revenue.

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Mongabay: New IUCN assessment shows hunting and habitat loss are the biggest drivers, with experts warning ‘conservation is failing’

The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is now critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This change means that both species of orangutan now face an “extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.”

“This is full acknowledgement of what has been clear for a long time: orangutan conservation is failing,” Andrew Marshall, one of the authors of the assessment, told Mongabay. Regardless of any positive outcomes of past conservation efforts, they have not achieved the only meaningful goal: a stable or increasing population.

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Katter says he raised the issue in negotiating his support for a possible minority Coalition government, but says it would be ‘unacceptable’ for Indian miner Adani to own it

Bob Katter has canvassed federal funding for the Galilee basin railway in talks with Malcolm Turnbull but says it would be “totally unacceptable” for the Indian coalminer Adani to own it.

Katter said he raised the issue as a factor of his support for a possible minority Coalition government with Turnbull in Brisbane on Thursday but “we’ve done no deals”.

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The government’s climate change advisors have given a cautious green light to fracking in the UK.

Government advisers also say more action would be needed to cut emissions in other areas to cope with full-scale fracking

Shale gas production will break the UK’s climate change targets unless there is stricter regulation now, according to the government’s official advisers.

More action to cut carbon emissions in other areas would also be needed to cope with full-scale fracking, despite the government already struggling to meet existing commitments.

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Global per capita fish consumption passes the 20kg per year mark for the first time, but natural marine resources continue to be overfished, UN data shows.

How a celebrated milestone for the spoon-billed sandpiper turned to sadness.

A flurry of new contracts from state and territory governments has brought the Australian wind industry back to life. Fast growing French developer Neoen says it is a "great place" to invest, and today switched on the 100MW Hornsdale wind farm.

Witton-Le-Wear, Durham Vegetation towers above my head and I hear reed warblers delivering their incessant songs like gossips

With the easy grace of a circus trapeze artist the reed bunting delivers his five-note scratchy song with gusto from the top of his swaying reed stem, issuing a confident challenge to any who doubt that this is his territory.

Related: Country diary: A regional dialect may be the way to a reed warbler's heart

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Dong Energy announces major breakthrough in costs of offshore wind energy, winning a tender for 700MW of capacity at a record low price.

Soaring gas prices will clip $100 million from the profits of Australia's biggest electricity supplier, and are causing big jumps in electricity costs.

Breakthroughs in solar panel technology and solar thermal are starting to be considered and used to save money and emissions in the mining industry.

Australia’s biggest utilities are passing on the surging cost of the country’s predominantly coal-fired grid to consumers at the start of the new financial year, but it seems pretty clear that many solar households are missing out.

NZ energy retail start-up Flick Electric says Australia an ideal market for its digital platform that strips electricity pricing bare and gives customers access to the wholesale spot market