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Peruvian farmer sues German energy giant for contributing to climate change

Saul Luciano Lliuya wants damages from RWE to protect hometown of Huaraz from a swollen glacier lake at risk of overflowing from melting snow and ice

A Peruvian farmer won a small but significant legal victory on Monday when a German court said his appeal against energy giant RWE, which he accuses of contributing to climate change that is threatening his Andean home, had merit.

After hearing oral arguments from both sides, the higher regional court in the western city of Hamm said Saul Luciano Lliuya’s demand for damages from RWE was “admissible”, paving the way for the case to proceed.

Related: Fiji told it must spend billions to adapt to climate change

Related: On climate and global leadership, it's America Last until 2020 | Dana Nuccitelli

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Labour vows to factor climate change risk into economic forecasts

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell to say ‘overwhelming challenge of climate change’ must be addressed from very centre of government

The risk posed by climate change would be factored into projections from the government’s independent economic forecaster if Labour took office, the shadow chancellor will announce on Tuesday.

John McDonnell will highlight the human and economic costs of manmade climate change, calling it the “greatest single public challenge” and say the government should include the fiscal risks posed by global warming in future forecasts.

Related: From the Everglades to Kilimanjaro, climate change is destroying world wonders

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'Tobacco at a cancer summit': Trump coal push savaged at climate conference

The US administration’s attempt to portray fossil fuels as vital to reducing poverty and saving US jobs is ridiculed in Bonn

The Trump team was heckled and interrupted by a protest song at the UN’s climate change summit in Bonn on Monday after using its only official appearance to say fossil fuels were vital to reducing poverty around the world and to saving jobs in the US.

While Donald Trump’s special adviser on energy and environment, David Banks, said cutting emissions was a US priority, “energy security, economic prosperity are higher priorities”, he said. “The president has a responsibility to protect jobs and industry across the country.”

Related: Fossil fuel burning set to hit record high in 2017, scientists warn

Here we go. #COP23 pic.twitter.com/sIhF5T2rWj

Related: Al Gore: 'I tried my best' but Trump can't be educated on climate change

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On climate and global leadership, it's America Last until 2020 | Dana Nuccitelli

America is deeply divided, but climate-denying Republicans are losing their grip on power

Five months ago, Trump quickly cemented his legacy as the country’s worst-ever president by inexplicably starting the process to withdraw from the Paris climate accords. With even war-torn Syria now signing the agreement, the leadership of every world country has announced its intent to tackle the existential threat posed by human-caused climate change, except the United States.

It's the US vs. the rest of the world, as Syria agrees to sign Paris climate accord https://t.co/Q1tkxuiHas pic.twitter.com/hnV2wHmLHL

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

If you show up at a climate conference to talk about coal, you’re likely to be ignored. I think the We Are Still In delegation will get more attention than the executive branch. We’ve gone from the indispensable leader to being the only country not engaged in climate change. Many people in Congress are troubled not only from a climate standpoint but a geopolitical standpoint. China is happy to take that leadership from us.

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From the Everglades to Kilimanjaro, climate change is destroying world wonders

Number of natural world heritage sites at serious risk from global warming has doubled in three years, says the IUCN, including the Great Barrier Reef and spectacular karst caves in Europe

From the Everglades in the US to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, climate change is destroying the many of the greatest wonders of the natural world.

A new report on Monday from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reveals that the number of natural world heritage sites being damaged and at risk from global warming has almost doubled to 62 in the past three years.

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Fossil fuel burning set to hit record high in 2017, scientists warn

The rise would end three years of flat carbon emissions – a ‘huge leap backward’ say some scientists, while others say the longer term trend is more hopeful

The burning of fossil fuels around the world is set to hit a record high in 2017, climate scientists have warned, following three years of flat growth that raised hopes that a peak in global emissions had been reached.

The expected jump in the carbon emissions that drive global warming is a “giant leap backwards for humankind”, according to some scientists. However, other experts said they were not alarmed, saying fluctuations in emissions are to be expected and that big polluters such as China are acting to cut emissions.

Related: The COP23 climate change summit in Bonn and why it matters

Related: The seven megatrends that could beat global warming: 'There is reason for hope'

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Medibank drops fossil-fuel investments worth tens of millions of dollars

Australia’s largest private health insurer says it ‘acknowledges the science of climate change and the impacts on human health’

Australia’s largest private health insurer, Medibank, will shed tens of millions of dollars in fossil-fuel investments because of the effects of climate change on human health.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange before its annual general meeting in Melbourne on Monday, its chair, Elizabeth Alexander, said the company would move to low-carbon investments “in line with our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our customers”.

Related: Queensland says it won't play any role in funding for Adani project

Related: Medibank moves $170m to tobacco-free investment fund

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Congo basin’s peaty swamps are new front in climate change battle

Ancient peatlands that store huge amounts of carbon are under threat from logging

Stumbling on submerged roots, attacked by bees and wading waist-deep through leech-infested water, the three researchers and their Pygmy guides progress at just 100 metres an hour through the largest and least-explored tropical bog in the world.

The group halt and unpack what looks like a spear, which is plunged over and over again into the waterlogged forest floor. Each time it brings up a metre-long core of rich, black peat made up of partly decomposed leaves and ancient plantlife. The deepest the steel blade reaches before meeting the underlying clay is 3.7 metres.

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Alternative US group honouring Paris climate accord demands 'seat at the table'

The America’s Pledge group claims to represent US majority opinion on carbon emissions, despite Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement

The United Nations should give a “seat at the table” to a powerful group of US states, cities, tribes and businesses that are committed to taking action on climate change, Michael Bloomberg has urged.

In an apparent bid to circumvent US president Donald Trump’s moves to withdraw from the Paris accord, the billionaire philanthropist also said the world body should accept an alternative set of US climate commitments alongside national pledges to reduce carbon emissions.

Related: Fiji told it must spend billions to adapt to climate change

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US groups honouring Paris climate pledges despite Trump

US states, cities and businesses signed up to ‘America’s pledge’ to combat global warning have a combined economic power equal to the world’s third-biggest economy

The US states, cities and businesses that have signed up to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite president Donald Trump’s threats to withdraw from the Paris agreement would, if put together, have the clout of the world’s third biggest economy, after the US and China.

To date, 20 US states and more than 50 of its largest cities, along with more than 60 of the biggest businesses in the US, have committed to emissions reduction goals.

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