Reducing waste while boosting recycling and reuse, known as the 'circular economy,' will be vital for halting the loss of nature by meeting growing demand with fewer resources and will make communities more resilient to climate change by encouraging more sustainable practices on the African continent, organizers of the World Circular Economy Forum said Wednesday.

The conference, which brings together climate and economic experts as well businesses and think tanks, is being held in the Rwandan capital Kigali — the first ever in the global south.

Scientists discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it's a barren Arctic desert, but back then it was a lush landscape of trees and vegetation with an array of animals, even the now extinct mastodon.

"The study opens the door into a past that has basically been lost," said lead author Kurt Kjær, a geologist and glacier expert at the University of Copenhagen.

In Kenya's sweltering northern Samburu county, a destructive drought exacerbated by climate change is wreaking havoc on people and wildlife.

After four consecutive years of failed rains causing some of the worst conditions in 40 years, wild animals have become commonplace in the county's villages as they search for food. Many don't survive, providing herders an unfortunate lifeline as they cut chunks of meat from their carcasses.

After more than two decades in a cage at an Albanian restaurant for diners to look at, brown bear Mark is heading towards a better life in an Austrian sanctuary.

Until now, he has spent his life entertaining visitors to the Sofra e Ariut (Bear's Table) restaurant in Tirana along with his sister Liza.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday accused Russia of "ecocide" for the devastation he said its invasion has wrought on Ukraine's wildlife.

In a bustling metro area of 4.3 million people, Yale University wildlife biologist Nyeema Harris ventures into isolated thickets to study Detroit's most elusive residents — coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks among them.

Harris and colleagues have placed trail cameras in woodsy sections of 25 city parks for the past five years. They've recorded thousands of images of animals that emerge mostly at night to roam and forage, revealing a wild side many locals might not know exists.

Environmental groups on Wednesday welcomed a decision by Britain's Conservative government to lift its opposition to onshore wind farms. But they warned that any benefit would be erased if the government backs plans to open the U.K.'s first new coal mine in three decades.

Thursday is the deadline for a decision on the proposed mine in the Cumbria area of northwest England. Opponents say approving it will obliterate the U.K.'s image as a world leader in replacing polluting fossil fuels with clean renewable energy.

Environmentalists in Switzerland criticized the election Wednesday of a top car and oil industry lobbyist to the country's new government, calling it a "disaster for climate policy."

Lawmakers picked Albert Roesti of the nationalist Swiss People's Party as one of two new members of the Cabinet, or Federal Council.

Much of the Arctic is in a burst of freak December warming.

In Utqiagvik, Alaska's northernmost community formerly known as Barrow, it hit 40 degrees (4.4 degrees Celsius) Monday morning. That's not only a record by six degrees (3.3 degrees Celsius) but it's the warmest that region has seen on record from late October to late April, according to Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Amid warnings that biodiversity is in freefall, environmental leaders will gather in Montreal to hammer out measures aimed at shoring up the world's land and marine ecosystems and coming up with tens of billions of dollars to fund these conservation efforts.

Delegates from about 190 countries will assemble for nearly two weeks, starting Wednesday, at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, to finalize a framework for protecting 30% of global land and marine areas by 2030. Currently, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas are protected.