The Guardian

Should we be optimistic that the Paris agreement can save us from serious climate change or is it too little too late? Clive Hamilton looks at both sides of the debate

For anyone who takes notice of the climate change debate, a mass of often-contradictory information comes flooding into our lives. Some of it prompts great alarm. The Great Barrier Reef is suffering severe bleaching. Wild fires are consuming Alberta. Last year was the warmest on record, and 15 of the 16 hottest years on record have occurred since 2001.

Yet there are also some positive signs that the world is at last getting serious about the threat. Global investment in renewable energy last year exceeded investment in fossil energy for the first time. Coal use in the United States is falling rapidly. China has stopped approving new coalmines. And the Paris Agreement of December 2015 was hailed as a breakthrough, a turning point in the battle.

Firms face tougher penalties aimed at reducing the number of pollution offences

Water companies have been hit by a series of record fines for major sewage leaks and other pollution incidents.

Yorkshire Water was fined £1.1m for illegally discharging sewage that polluted the river Ouse near York, while Thames Water was fined £1m for repeated sewage leaks into the Grand Union canal.

Fossil fuel corporations are causing the climate change fuelling mega-fires – and they should be footing the bill for the devastation

As the fire that ravaged Fort McMurray finally moves past the city, and the province tallies the heartbreaking damage, a search will begin to discover the source of the destruction.

Investigators will comb the nearby forests for clues, tracing the fire’s path to what they call its “point of origin.” They’ll interview witnesses, collect satellite imagery, and rule out natural causes—much like the work of detectives.

World’s largest health charity sells its $187m stake in the oil giant in a move welcomed by fossil fuel divestment campaigners

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has sold off its entire holding in oil giant BP, in a move welcomed by fossil fuel divestment campaigners.

Bill Gates has called the selling off of coal, oil and gas stocks a “false solution” to climate change, but the known investments of his foundation in major fossil fuel companies has fallen by 85% since 2014.

Outdoor air pollution has grown 8% globally in the past five years, with billions of people around the world now exposed to dangerous air, according to new data from more than 3,000 cities compiled by the World Health Organisation. Director Maira Neira says India and China need to make ‘massive efforts because the situation at the moment is really bad for the population’

From selling clothes with a 30 year guarantee to touring Europe in a repair shop - these brands are advancing the circular economy within fashion

World Health Organisation report says high pollution puts millions of people in cities including Delhi at risk of early death

Environmental campaigners in India have called for the government to implement a “stringent, time-bound” plan to curb air pollution in cities, as a new World Health Organisation report suggests that six of the 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India.

The report, which contains data from 795 cities in 67 countries between 2008 and 2013, shows Indian cities have some of the highest concentrations of particulate pollution, which can cause fatal damage to the heart and lungs.

Two cities – one in Iran and another in Nigeria – can claim title because WHO measures pollution in two different ways

The new WHO database of worldwide air pollution measures it in two different ways, and as a result two cities – one in Iran and another in Nigeria – can lay claim to the unenviable title of world’s most polluted city.

It all comes down to which minute particles, or particulate matter (PM), in the air are being measured. These particles are between 2.5 and 10 microns in diameter, roughly 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Port Talbot seems obvious, but World Health Organisation data shows south coast town registers high levels of two tiny types of particulate pollution

• Air pollution: how does it affect you?

It’s perhaps no surprise that Port Talbot, home to one of Europe’s biggest steelworks with thousands of tonnes of iron ore imported to its docks every year, tops the list of the UK’s most polluted towns and cities.

But Eastbourne, home to the women’s tennis tournament and located at the end of the South Downs national park, is not an obvious candidate for the top 10 of the worst UK towns and cities for two tiny types of particulate pollution.

Outdoor pollution has risen 8% in five years with fast-growing cities in the developing world worst affected, WHO data shows

• Air pollution: how does it affect you?
  

Outdoor air pollution has grown 8% globally in the past five years, with billions of people around the world now exposed to dangerous air, according to new data from more than 3,000 cities compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Community energy groups are coming up with renewable energy schemes. Shouldn’t government extend a hand to help them?

Yackandandah, like most Australian towns, has had its ups and its downs. One of its biggest ups was the north-east Victorian gold rush. By the 1890s our town was full of miners toiling to extract what was left of its alluvial gold. The only thing holding these folks back was an energy crisis. The miners were unable to source the power needed to sluice and dredge or crush the ore. The solution was a water race from high up on the West Kiewa river, which wasn’t the brainchild of government, or even the mines department – but rather a local man.

John Wallace, a Yackandandah resident, recognised a problem that needed immediate action and set about solving it.

With some Indian Ocean tuna stocks on the brink of collapse, the expedition exposes harmful methods by the world’s largest tuna company, Thai Union, owner of John West

Airport will ban arrivals and departures before 5.30am, and support the launch of an independent noise authority

Heathrow has agreed to curb night flights if permission is granted for a third runway, as it announced measures it claimed met all the conditions set by the Airports Commission for its expansion plan.

As well as banning all arrivals and departures before 5.30am, the airport said it would support the introduction of an independent noise authority, and pledged not to add new capacity unless it can do so without delaying UK compliance with EU air quality limits.

Filed patents show the British engineering firm may use solid-state batteries that could stretch electric car’s range to hundreds of miles and increase safety

Dyson could become the next Tesla motors as it develops a new electric car, according to a leading industry expert. Filed patents show the Dyson vehicle may use solid-state batteries, which would see the car’s range stretch to hundreds of miles and also be safer than current batteries.

In March, a government document revealed funding to help Dyson develop “a new battery electric vehicle”. The company declined to comment but in 2015 it said it planned to invest £1bn in battery technology and in October it bought solid-state battery company, Sakti3, for $90m, which founder Sir James Dyson said had “developed a breakthrough in battery technology”.

Interactive map commissioned by Lock the Gate shows fossil fuel claims cover 37% of Australia’s landmass

More than a third of Australia’s landmass is earmarked for coal or gas, according to a new analysis and interactive map commissioned by the community group Lock the Gate.

No single register of fossil fuel exploration and extraction licences and applications exists so, commissioned by Lock the Gate, Energy Resources Insights gathered spatial information on land earmarked for fossil fuels from state and federal regulators.

Six more islands have large swaths of land, and villages, washed into sea as coastline of Solomon Islands eroded and overwhelmed

• Headlines ‘exaggerated’ climate link to sinking of Pacific islands

Five tiny Pacific islands have disappeared due to rising seas and erosion, a discovery thought to be the first scientific confirmation of the impact of climate change on coastlines in the Pacific, according to Australian researchers.

Related: Sea levels set to 'rise far more rapidly than expected'

Currently the world’s biggest producer of lithium, Australia is well-placed to take advantage of the lithium-ion battery solar storage boom

Out Western Australia way unlikely new environmental heroes can be found toiling in the red ochre dust of the Pilbara.

Until recently companies such as Altura Mining, which has a long rap sheet of coal projects to its name, weren’t exactly contributing to the effort to curb global carbon emissions, but that is about to change.

A giant insect-eating plant and a 100-tonne tree were among the 149 species of plants and fungi described for the first time by scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew last year. More than 2,000 species new to science were discovered worldwide the same year, but a new report warns that one in five of the world’s plant species is threatened with extinction

Air pollution kills 28,000 people every year in the UK. But the solution might lie in a hi-tech tower that sucks up harmful particles

High in the skies over London, the UK’s first air pollution monitoring squad have been using the latest sensors to chart the levels of ozone and nitrogen dioxide in our atmosphere. The team is highly trained, each equipped with a hi-tech backpack, and proficient in social media. Which all sounds relatively standard, apart from the fact that it is entirely made up of pigeons.

Using one of the UK’s best-known feathered friends as a publicity stunt for air pollution awareness was the brainchild of Plume Labs, which has created an app for monitoring pollution on the go. It follows on the heels of similar apps released in the past two years, ranging from UCLA’s AirForU to BreezoMeter, the brainchild of Israeli engineer Ran Korber, who was looking to buy a house for his family far away from polluted environments.

The energy internet, the ‘smart’ grid, solar energy and battery storage are converging and the economic benefits are clear

Change is coming to the energy landscape. A transition to a new energy economy is happening. In a country like Australia – awash with energy both under and above the ground – this transition could be rapid and profound. There is a lot to lose for those who can’t keep pace.

Last month the government committed $1bn to the Clean Energy Innovation Fund. The fund will have “the primary purpose of earning income or a profitable return” on debt and equity extended to renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-emissions technologies. While many will argue the right way for that money to be used, investment like this is well timed.