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UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, predicts global climate deal will be fully ratified by the end of the year after 31 nations officially sign up in New York

The Paris climate agreement is on the brink of coming into force after 31 nations officially joined the landmark accord, with the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, predicting it will be fully ratified by the end of the year.

On Wednesday, 31 countries formally signed up to the Paris deal at the UN general assembly in New York. They include Brazil, the world’s seventh largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Mexico, Argentina and Sri Lanka. Oil-rich United Arab Emirates also ratified the deal, as did nations considered particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, such as Kiribati and Bangladesh.

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China's first space station is expected to fall back to Earth in the second half of 2017, amid speculation authorities have lost control of it.

How the government is trying to trace nests of invasive hornet which kills honey bees

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says trading ivory not verified as antique should be banned

UK ordered to pay European commission’s legal costs after ruling that coal plant was wrongly granted higher pollution threshold

A coal-burning power station in Wales repeatedly violated pollution controls for nitrogen oxide emissions, the European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has ruled.

It ordered the UK to pay the European commission’s legal costs after ruling that Aberthaw power station, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, should not have been allowed to exceed specially negotiated pollution limits.

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375 National Academy of Sciences members sign an open letter expressing frustration at political inaction on climate change

Yesterday, 375 of the world’s top scientists, including 30 Nobel Prize winners, published an open letter regarding climate change. In the letter, the scientists report that the evidence is clear: humans are causing climate change. We are now observing climate change and its affect across the globe. The seas are rising, the oceans are warming, the lower atmosphere is warming, the land is warming, ice is melting, rainfall patterns are changing and the ocean is becoming more acidic.

These facts are incontrovertible. No reputable scientist disputes them. It is the truth.

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Authorities from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have rejected recent research on the number of early deaths caused by last year’s fires

Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean authorities have dismissed research that suggested smoky haze from catastrophic forest fires in Indonesia last year caused 100,000 deaths. Some even contend the haze caused no serious health problems, but experts say those assertions contradict well-established science.

Last year’s fires in Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo were the worst since 1997, burning about 261,000 hectares of forests and peatland and sending haze across the region for weeks. Many were deliberately set by companies to clear land for palm oil and pulpwood plantations.

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New initiative closes loophole allowing dealers to claim ivory from recently killed elephants is antique without providing proof of age

Britain is to ban all sales of ivory which are not backed by proof that the item is over 70 years old.

Although it is already illegal to sell ivory from elephants killed after 1947, a loophole allows dealers to claim items are antique without providing documentary evidence of their age.

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It will be the first Australian city to install the system, which relies on underground pneumonic tubes to transfer waste out of the city-centre.

University of Maryland students say they have achieved an aviation first, getting their manned, solar powered helicopter off the ground.

Lyme Regis, Dorset Morning sun highlights the cliffs, visitors stroll along the Cobb and little boats dip and roll across the open sea

From Uplyme, shady paths beside the river Lim lead to the renovated mill in the middle of old Lyme Regis; the waterwheel is geared to millstones that grind wheat into flour, and a micro hydro system generates 32,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. Before 10.30am, the associated tearoom, galleries and workshops remain quiet, but the nearest car park is already full. Sun sparkles on the sea; a flotilla of sailing dinghies is heading out and a gig cuts across the bay.

Land and cliffs on the eastern side of town have been stabilised and protected by a new seawall; beyond this, towards the Spittles, morning sun highlights dangerous cliffs, made of alternating layers of slippery grey clay and pale, lumpy limestone that overhang the rough and muddy shoreline. Farther up the coast, Golden Cap is cloud-free, and visibility extends to the hazy Isle of Portland.

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Suzlon Energy's Tulsi Tanti says making wind turbines in Australia would be a "win-win", but market must first demonstrate stability, growth.

Advertising Standards Authority concedes it erred in upholding a complaint against the advert last year, which claimed fracking would not cut energy bills

The UK’s advertising watchdog has admitted it made the wrong decision when it banned a Greenpeace advert last year which claimed fracking would not cut energy bills.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) originally ruled in May 2015 that the advert was misleading due to the green group’s statement that experts agreed fracking would not reduce energy costs.

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AGL is encouraging local residents to have their say on the proposed Coopers Gap Wind Farm project.

EthosEnergy has been successfully completed a $2m major overhaul of a gas turbine and generator for Origin Energy.

Survival tactic also increases chances of successful insemination, with the immature females able to store sperm until they reach adulthood

Male redback spiders at risk of being cannibalised by their sex partners have developed a survival tactic: mating only with females too young to eat them.

New research has identified the adaptive behaviour among some males of the widow spider genus. Adult females of the genus regularly cannibalise their partners during or after mating.

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Is there a way of using farming to save coral?

South Korea to provide incentives for utility-scale solar operators to install energy storage units as it outlines plans to invest $US27 billion in renewable energies over next five years.

GM is set to take on Tesla with its Chevy Bolt electric car. Meanwhile, big developments in offshore wind and battery storage.

The jaw-dropping bids for a massive solar plant in Abu Dhabi will help change the thinking about the future of energy markets. The price offered is one third the cost of local gas generation, and one fifth of the cost of the proposed new nuclear plant in the UK.