Sweeping victory for Europe as 15 nations top climate scoreboard -- see the full list
15 July 2026 - Europe has come top in the latest Environmental Performance Index, partly due to the boom in renewables. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) -- produced by researchers at Yale and Columbia University -- is released every two years and ranks countries from around the globe on their commitment to sustainability. It focuses on 47 different indicators which are split into 12 categories, including climate change mitigation, air quality, forests, water resources, waste management and biodiversity. (more)

A green symphony: The new domain in China -- Estonia cooperation
14 July 2026 - Estonia, a land blessed with forests and lakes, has made remarkable achievements in ecological protection. China's green transformation aligns closely with Estonia's national endowment, offering broad prospects for cooperation. Estonia's strengths in smart cities, digital governance and clean technologies can complement China's vast market and application scenarios. (more)

Mexico: Sheinbaum to forgive debts for tens of thousands of small farmers
13 July 2026 - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, announced in May a government program that seeks to settle, in many cases, and significantly reduce, in others, the debts owed by small-scale farmers, small producers, and fishermen to the government. (more)

US: How Oregon cut pesticide-related bee deaths
12 July 2026 - In 2013, following a spate of high-profile pesticide-related bee deaths, the state of Oregon set up a Pollinator Health Task Force. In the years since, around 13,000 licensed pesticide applicators have been trained to spot high-risk conditions and change how they work around bees. The state has not recorded a confirmed pesticide-related bee kill since 2020. (more)

Canada: The Squamish Nation has opened one of the world's largest net-zero housing developments
9 July 2026 - In one of North America's most expensive cities, the Squamish Nation has created Senakw, a sustainable development project that will provide 6,000 homes once completed. (more)

In Kyrgyzstan, a climate-ready corridor gives snow leopards and herders room to roam
8 July 2026 - A stretch of high-altitude terrain in central Kyrgyzstan has been officially designated as the Ak Ilbirs ecological corridor, connecting protected areas to give snow leopards and other wildlife room to move as climate change alters their habitat. (more)

France: ''Kind of miracle solution'': How Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-conditioning
7 July 2026 - As heatwaves intensify across Europe, most cities are reaching for a familiar fix of more air conditioning. But in 1990s Paris, planning began for a different kind of solution: one of the world's largest district cooling networks. Now the city plans to triple system of underground pipes that distribute chilled river water, reducing need for individual cooling units (more)

US: State awards $20M from 3M settlement over ''forever chemicals'' to improve habitat, recreation
7 July 2026 - More than two dozen projects to restore wildlife habitat or improve outdoor recreation will receive money from Minnesota's 2018 settlement with 3M over PFAS, sometimes known as ''forever chemicals.'' The projects include park improvements, fishing programs and stream restorations in the Twin Cities east metro and downstream areas of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. They'll receive a total of $20 million. (more)

From barren shores to green oases: how a surfer looking for shade ended up transforming Costa Rica's coastline
5 July 2026 - A grassroots project has turned deforested beaches into thriving ecosystems by planting 100,000 native trees. The project has transformed deforested Pacific coastlines into thriving ecosystems through a community-driven environmental project that has planted more than 100,000 native trees across 34 beaches, reviving wildlife habitats and combating decades of deforestation from cattle farming. (more)

'Vanishingly rare' copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives
3 July 2026 - For Michael Scurr, a volunteer at the National Archives in Kew, west London, it was 'just a boring old Thursday morning' when he sat down in late May to catalogue a collection of documents from the British national collection that had never previously been recorded in detail. (more)

Rare copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives
2 July 2026 - A rare surviving copy of the Declaration of Independence has been discovered at The National Archives in Kew, the only known example of its kind outside the US. (more)

US: Solar has minimal impact on NC farmland, new study shows
1 July 2026 - A new study is refuting claims by critics that the solar industry is taking over productive farmland and interfering with agricultural production. Solar production occupies just 0.24% of prime farmland in North Carolina at the moment, according to a report released last week by the Solar Energy Industries Association. Other land uses, like suburban development and recreation, take up far more agricultural land, the study shows. (more)

UK: Cambridge college swift boxes used for first time
30 June 2026 - The first swifts have nested in boxes installed at a University of Cambridge college which is hoping to help stem the decline of the birds and a lack of natural nesting sites. (more)

The Himalayan village where you can see the cosmos
28 June 2026 - Over the last few years, travelers have been drawn to Hanle not just for the jet-black skies but also for the chance to experience astronomy intimately, guided by locals who are now making the cosmos their livelihood. Since 2022, when the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve (HDSR) was founded here - spanning 1,074 sq km, six villages, a monastery, and 10 stationary telescopes - a network of homestays has flourished. (more)

UK: Solstice-aligned 5,000-year-old monument ''once in a lifetime find', say archaeologists
25 June 2026 - A 5,000-year-old monument that was aligned with the summer and winter solstices and may have served as a prototype for the later solar alignment at Stonehenge has been discovered close to the famous neolithic site, in what archaeologists have described as a 'once in a lifetime' find. (more)

Colombia: ''Everything has its own order and purpose'': The rainforest ''farms'' defying modern agriculture
23 June 2026 - This unique indigenous way to produce food uses no pesticides and returns plots to the rainforest after five years. What can we learn from this 4,500-year-old practice? (more)

China: Electric vehicles reduce particulate matter 2.5, save 260,000 lives
18 June 2026 - As electric vehicle (EV) usage has surged in recent years, particularly in China, air pollution has significantly decreased, leading to an estimated 260,000 fewer premature deaths. The conclusion comes from a joint study by Hong Kong Baptist University, Wuhan University, and Tongji University in Shanghai, which compared air quality and vehicle registration data from 150 Chinese cities between 2013 and 2023. The findings were published last month in the international journal Nature Health. (more)

Mangrove forests are making a surprising global comeback
16 June 2026 - A team at Tulane University analyzed four decades of satellite data and found something that surprised even people who study mangroves for a living: globally, these forests are no longer in net decline. Gains have been outpacing losses for 16 years. (more)

State bans on PFAS reduce 'forever chemicals' in clothing and textiles, US report finds
15 June 2026 - State laws banning PFAS in clothing and textiles have significantly reduced the amount of toxic 'forever chemicals' used in the products, which public health advocates say marks a major public health win and underscores the value in protective policy. (more)

French Polynesia: The world just gained a marine protected area the size of France
14 June 2026 - With support from Conservation International, French Polynesia made one of the biggest single contributions to ocean protection in history. Momentum for the protections has been building for over a decade. Alongside the government, local fishers and conservationists, Conservation International worked to make this moment possible through the Blue Nature Alliance and in partnership with Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy. What finally brought it together was a new government that reframed ocean protection not as a policy, but as a sacred duty to find common ground between conservation and sustainable development. (more)

Papua New Guinea to create largest marine protected area in Melanesia
14 June 2026 - Papua New Guinea is set to create a vast marine sanctuary, marking a significant commitment to ocean conservation. The proposed Western Manus Marine Protected Area will span over 214,000 square kilometers in the Bismarck Sea, prohibiting fishing and extractive activities. This initiative aims to protect vital marine biodiversity and support the sustainability of the country's fisheries. (more)

A solar-powered rubbish-eating boat? The vessel chomping plastic waste out of the sea
12 June 2026 - The Interceptor system was invented by Ocean Cleanup, a global non-profit dedicated to ridding the world's oceans of plastic pollution. Guided by floating barriers, the Interceptor has already stopped more than 143,000lbs of rubbish from entering the Pacific from one Los Angeles river. (more)

Ancient Maya knowledge helps Guatemalan farmers cut agrochemical use
9 June 2026 - Guatemalan farmers are turning to organic pesticides, rooted in traditional practices and sustainable ideas, to replace expensive synthetic alternatives. Using a mixture of locally available plants and ideas about farming passed down by ancestors, they are creating natural pesticides to protect their plots. (more)

This newly-discovered blue octopus from the Galapagos Islands could curl up in the palm of your hand
3 June 2026 - The Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador are home to more than a thousand plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth -- things like marine iguanas and giant tortoises. In a new paper in the journal Zootaxa, scientists announced the discovery of the newest animal found in the Galapagos: a tiny blue octopus. (more)