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As a doctor in a big city hospital I am part of a privileged class with air con and water. But millions have neither

Karachi’s heat hits you like a wall when you wake up in the morning. When you are up and getting changed, and the humidity hits you in the chest, you realise it’s going to be really hot today. But it’s another day, so you grab your bag and go to work.

Related: Nowhere is safe, say scientists as extreme heat causes chaos in US and Canada

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An artist’s images of tiny toys and figurines dumped in the ocean highlight the wasteful ways we have to change

Social media was made for projects like Tracey Williams’s #LegoLostatSea, which anecdotally charts the plastic that has been dumped in the ocean in the past 70 years. Williams began her mission after becoming obsessed with the container of 4.8m Lego pieces that spilled from a cargo ship 20 miles off Land’s End in 1997, and which continue to be washed up on Cornwall’s beaches every day. The fact that many of those Lego sets had a nautical theme – mini plastic octupuses and divers’ flippers are common finds – makes them a perfect metaphor for the 8m tonnes of plastic that end up in the oceans each year. At current rates, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. A special report in the journal Science last week launched a campaign for governments to commit to phase out “virgin” plastic production in the next 20 years. Even if that happens, our age will be known for centuries to come for its detritus: the Happy Meal figurines and plastic bottles and Lego snorkellers that come and go on every tide.

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The population of the rare saiga has more than doubled since 2019, reversing a slide towards extinction.

The world’s biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in human history, and an estimated 1 million species are at risk of extinction

Corporate Australia is familiar with the concept that climate change presents a financial risk to the global economy, but more recently biodiversity loss has emerged as an equally important risk.

In fact, climate change and biodiversity loss are now often referred to as the “twin crises” facing the global financial system and awareness of the role the financial sector plays in this is rising swiftly.

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

UK carbon allowances just ended their second straight month above the trigger for possible market intervention, but views are mixed as to whether the British government will decide to unleash more supply into the market in an attempt to dampen rising prices if the Cost Containment Mechanism (CCM) is activated at the end of July.

As Arctic sea-ice melts in a warming world, it causes the world to heat more rapidly.

The Green Climate Fund's board clashed this week over several climate adaptation projects, disbursing $500 million mostly to mitigation schemes and falling behind in its aim to balance its funding.

Speculative firms increased their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) positions over the week as their cumulative holdings rose above the 100-million mark, while emitters’ short positions increased at the futures expiry, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

EUAs failed to extend the previous session's all-time high on Friday despite steadier energy prices, but still managed to lock in a solid 4.2% weekly gain.

Colombia may have lost millions in carbon tax revenue while doing little to advance its climate goals, according to an NGO investigation into two REDD projects that raises questions about how forest carbon projects interact with government rules.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing, clean fuel standards, and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Scientists fear heat domes in North America and Siberia indicate a new dimension to the global crisis

If you were drawing up a list of possible locations for hell on Earth, the small mountain village of Lytton in Canada would probably not have entered your mind until this week.

Few people outside British Columbia had heard of this community of 250 people. Those that had were more likely to think of it as bucolic. Nestled by a confluence of rivers in the forested foothills of the Lillooet and Botanie mountain ranges, the municipal website boasts: “Lytton is the ideal location for nature lovers to connect with incredible natural beauty and fresh air freedom.”

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New Zealand carbon allowances on Friday rose to new record levels as demand remains strong after a number of traders were left wanting at the June auction.

More than 12 million Chinese Certified Emissions Reductions (CCERs) traded across all platforms in the Chinese market in June, setting a new record, but the ETS delay and lack of clarity about future offset issuances is creating challenges for traders.

Swiss commodities trading house Mercuria has launched on environmental products, launching a new business led by veteran market players, many of whom have recently left oil majors including BP and Shell, Carbon Pulse has learned.

Private sector companies are likely to face more legal challenges seeking to force them to adopt more ambitious emissions-cutting policies in the coming years, as climate-related litigation increases “dramatically”, according to a report published Friday.

If Europe is serious about remaining a frontrunner in meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement, then it urgently needs an ambitious EU ETS reform to clean up its historic addiction to free handouts so the practices of sustainable frontrunners become the market norm, argues Leon de Graaf of #SustainablePublicAffairs.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a newborn baby gorilla, a rare giant muntjac and a harpy eagle

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Adders and slow worms also among species possibly affected by changes that could help property developers

Legal protections for wildlife and plants in the UK are set for a review that could result in some important species losing their entitlement to special status, ecology experts have told the Guardian.

Adders, slow worms, water voles, mountain hares, pine martens and red squirrels are among the species experts have warned could be affected, after unexpected changes to the government’s review process that will raise the bar on how rare and under threat an animal needs to be to gain legal safeguards.

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