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

Reports show many insect populations are declining. How will that affect us?

A collection of images spanning 64 years has been described as the "historical Google Earth".

A UN report says the plants, animals and crops crucial to human food systems are in global decline.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices rose slightly this week heading into the first WCI auction of the year, while RGGI allowances (RGAs) stalled amid a continued lack of market drivers.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) would be willing to explore splitting its natural gas and electricity businesses into separate companies to mitigate potential risks, the company said in a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) filing, a move that would likely force the state to alter its regulations and may prompt changes to the utility's carbon allowance allocation.

Plants, insects and organisms crucial to food production in steep decline, says UN

The world’s capacity to produce food is being undermined by humanity’s failure to protect biodiversity, according to the first UN study of the plants, animals and micro-organisms that help to put meals on our plates.

The stark warning was issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation after scientists found evidence the natural support systems that underpin the human diet are deteriorating around the world as farms, cities and factories gobble up land and pump out chemicals.

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Park safety director alleges buckets of uranium sat near exhibit for almost 20 years, but interior department says there’s no risk

For almost 20 years, workers and visiting school children at a Grand Canyon museum may have been unknowingly exposed to radiation from three buckets of uranium sitting next to a taxidermy exhibit, according to allegations from a National Park Service safety director.

The whistleblower says officials learned about the buckets last year and tried to hide the revelation, according to the Arizona Republic newspaper. Earlier this month, Elston “Swede” Stephenson emailed all park staff and brought the matter to the attention of the head of the interior department, which oversees the park service, and the agency’s internal watchdog.

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Researchers from the University of Bristol have found a novel way of keeping flies away from horses.

A bee the size of a human thumb was first described in Victorian times, but hadn't been seen since 1981. That is, until four biologists teamed up on a trek to Indonesia's North Molucca islands. Simon KA Robson, Honorary Professor, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) will soon no longer approve corporate voluntary pledges that align with a 2C global warming goal, as part of efforts to force companies to raise their ambition in line with the Paris Agreement.

Utility companies and environmental groups asked the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to issue a construction permit for a New England hydroelectric transmission line after agreeing to a series of financial concessions, according to regulatory documents.

Wild animals are increasingly eating our food and scientists are discovering 'hidden effects'.

European carbon prices plummeted on Thursday, dislodging from their latest trading range to resume their Q1 downtrend as bearish concerns weighed.

A giant bee, thought lost to science decades ago, has been re-discovered on an Indonesian island.

A newly discovered relative of T. rex stood just a metre or more tall at the hip, a study suggests.

Biologists discover single female Wallace’s giant bee inside a termites’ nest in a tree

As long as an adult thumb, with jaws like a stag beetle and four times larger than a honeybee, Wallace’s giant bee is not exactly inconspicuous.

But after going missing, feared extinct, for 38 years, the world’s largest bee has been rediscovered on the Indonesian islands of the North Moluccas.

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Swede, 16, says EU cannot just ‘wait for us to grow up and become the ones in charge’

The EU should double its climate change reduction targets to do its fair share in keeping the planet below a dangerous level of global warming, the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has told political and business leaders in Brussels.

Flanked by students from the Belgian and German school strike movements, the Swedish teenager said it was not enough to hope that young people were going to save the world.

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Critics warn of ‘chronic public health crisis’ as green initiative leaves homes in the cold

Campaigners and MPs have accused ministers of leaving vulnerable households in the cold, as figures show installations of insulation and boilers have sunk to their lowest levels since the government’s flagship energy efficiency scheme started six years ago.

Delays to legislation were blamed by fuel poverty campaigners for the fall, which coincided with households being hit by energy price increases.

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Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, has told an EU conference: 'since our time is running out we have started to clean up your mess and we will not stop until we are done.' 

In response to people who have criticised the school climate strike movement for promoting truancy, Thunberg said, 'they don't want to talk about it ... because they haven't done their homework, but we have'

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