Our democracy index may have gone up and down over the last five years, but there is no question that, overall, our democracy is in a terrible state.

Experts say developing nations are struggling to find the funds needed to stop burning planet-heating fossil fuels and prepare for tomorrow's climate disasters, as they grapple with rising costs and extreme weather events.

The sperm whale, believed to weigh many tonnes, beached itself in the east of Bali on Wednesday before locals and officials pushed it back out to sea.

On an April day, the founder of a U.S. startup called Make Sunsets stood outside a camper van in Mexico’s Baja California and released two weather balloons containing sulfur dioxide into the air, letting them float towards the stratosphere.

Hundreds of Thai firefighters and soldiers battled a forest blaze less than 100 kilometres from Bangkok on Friday.

With the world's largest reserves of nickel, used extensively in making batteries, Indonesia is aiming to become an electric vehicle powerhouse, not least by courting Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Cheers rang out as the measure -- hailed as a victory for the climate justice movement which hopes it will increase pressure on polluting countries failing to address the global warming emergency -- was greenlighted by consensus.

Philippine fishermen have spent four hours a day cleaning up oil in exchange for a daily wage of 355 pesos ($6.50) from the government -- half what they used to make from fishing.

Last year, Spain suffered nearly 500 wildfires that devastated huge swathes of land, with experts warning that such California-style blazes were likely to increase. 

A protester with trauma to the head was fighting for his life on Sunday following clashes with police during a demonstration over water storage facilities in France.

Unless the enforcement of existing laws is not strengthened to build up a stronger GCG system within the business sector, even the omnibus law on job creation may be rendered less effective to boost investment.

As France frets about an extended drought and prospects for more wildfires in another long summer, one blaze that erupted eight months ago in the southwest of the country still smoulders away underground.

Creating an endowment fund for West Papua to develop with a sustainability focus must begin with foundational good governance at its inception.

The EU's planned ban on new combustion engines from 2035 is not on the agenda of the upcoming EU summit but talks between the European Commission and Berlin about their differences over the plan are "very constructive", a German government official said.

Just outside Indonesia's planned new capital on Kalimantan island, an orangutan catches a banana with one hand, thrown by a conservationist on a boat, while her other hand clings to a tree branch.

In a palm grove north of Baghdad, bemused Iraqi shepherds looked on as models paraded second-hand garments down an improvised catwalk.

Three years since the food estate was launched by the government, the program has yet to produce satisfactory results despite sacrificing peatlands and forests in Central Kalimantan, Pantau Gambut's latest study says.

Human activities - from destroying forests to burning gas, oil and coal for energy - are disrupting the rainfall the world depends on, fueling huge economic, health and social stability threats, scientists and economists warned on Friday.

The thrilling sight of Irrawaddy dolphins may soon be no more than a memory, as numbers of the endangered mammals dwindle despite efforts to preserve them.

Press rights groups and environmentalists have condemned an attempt to disrupt a media discussion on the Tapanuli orangutan and Batang Toru ecosystem on Thursday, calling it an affront to journalistic freedom and safety.

The operator of the mining site, located in Batang Toru district in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra, aims to rehabilitate 4.7 hectares of mining sites this year by scattering seed balls of fast-growing plants.

The volcano located in Yogyakarta and Central Java erupted around 12 p.m local time (0500 GMT) and a lava flow of 1.5 km was observed, the local authority said.

A dwarf elephant the size of a Shetland pony once roamed the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. In the West Indies, a giant rat-like rodent tipped the scales at more than 400 pounds (180 kg), rivaling an American black bear.

Many are questioning how residential areas could have been constructed so close to such dangerous facilities.

Smoke from monster wildfires in Australia caused a chemical reaction that widened the ozone hole 10 percent, researchers said.

Diesel fuel and thick oil from the vessel have contaminated the waters and beaches of nine municipalities along the coast of Oriental Mindoro province.

Berlin has upset EU partners by blocking a milestone agreement to ban new sales of fossil fuel cars from 2035.

Up to 3.8 million hectares of peatland areas are at high risk from being burned, as peatland-restoration efforts are overshadowed by lackluster fire mitigation and weak law enforcement, according to environmental coalition Pantau Gambut

Integrating informal waste collectors into the country's waste management industry will generate a host of societal, environmental and economic benefits, not least for waste pickers, who are generally left to fend for themselves without either social security or legal identification.

The key phrase is self-sufficiency as a nation and community, which must be able to live sustainably within its own biosphere, without isolating itself from the global community.