'Champion' Sir David Attenborough – and other environment stories you need to read this week

Scientists have successfully bred a threatened coral species as part of a project that aims to restore damaged reefs off the coast of Florida, a coral rescue organization said on 21 April. The reefs are under threat from a relatively new disease.

Portuguese capital Lisbon will offer free public transport to children, students and elderly residents in a move Mayor Carlos Moedas says is crucial for the city's fight against climate change.

A solar mini-grid in rural Malawi is powering maize mills, a sunflower oil facility and will help a welder in a nearby village expand his business, showing that centralized grid systems are not Africa's only route to low-carbon power.

Britain unveiled a new taskforce on 25 April to write rules forcing financial firms and listed companies to publish plans from next year for transitioning to a net zero economy by 2050.

Japan's industry ministry plans to create a legal framework for carbon capture and storage to enable companies to start storing carbon dioxide underground or under the seabed by 2030. The move is intended to help the country achieve its 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

The International Energy Agency has launched a guide giving Europeans advice on how to reduce bills and reliance on Russian energy. Recommendations include adjusting boiler settings, driving more slowly, sharing cars and swapping short-haul flights for trains.

Global Citizen, an international non-profit aiming to help end poverty, said on 17 April that it plans to launch six funds of up to $1 billion each focused on generating environmental and social impact in the developing world.

British environmentalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has been awarded the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award.

UNEP chief Inger Andersen said Sir David has devoted his life to "documenting the love story between humans and nature, and broadcasting it to the world".

“If we stand a chance of averting climate and biodiversity breakdowns and cleaning up polluted ecosystems, it’s because millions of us fell in love with the planet that he showed us on television.”

Receiving the award, Sir David said the world has to "get together" to solve climate change and other issues that threaten our planet.

“These problems cannot be solved by one nation – no matter how big that single nation is," he said. "We know what the problems are and we know how to solve them. All we lack is unified action.”

Europeans endured the hottest summer on record last year, with wildfires, floods and intense heatwaves hitting the continent, according to a report by EU scientists released on 22 April.

Summer temperatures were about 1°C above the average for the past three decades, with Italy even recording temperatures of 48.8°C – a provisional record for the whole of Europe.

A particularly bad heatwave in the Mediterranean helped to ignite severe wildfires that burned more than 800,000 hectares in countries including Greece, Turkey and Italy. Meanwhile, record rainfall led to devastating floods across Belgium and western Germany that killed more than 200 people.

The report, published yearly by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, draws on satellite observations, on-site measurements and computer models to provide an update on the state of the continent’s climate.

“We are facing a lot of challenges,” said Mauro Facchini, head of the Copernicus Unit at the EU.

The record 2021 temperatures and extreme weather show there is an urgent need for countries to slash their greenhouse gas emissions to avoid further heating that would unleash more destructive weather events, he added.