Natural environment

Mežica – The 15-year long programme to remediate the environment of the Upper Mežica Valley in the wake of its mining past is drawing to a close this year but traces of lead can still be found in children’s blood. Thus a follow-on project will be required.

Faced with a historic drought and threatened by desertification, Spain is rethinking how it spends its water resources, which are used mainly to irrigate crops.

The rehabilitation works of some 90 percent of the 139,500 hectares of land damaged in forest fires last year have been completed, the head of the General Directorate of Forestry has said.

Noting that the rehabilitation works will be completed by the end of the year, Bekir Karacabey said, "The methods to rehabilitate these lands were determined under the guidance of technical teams."

Copenhagen – Slovenia’s capital has placed 279th among 344 European cities in the European city air quality viewer with its air quality categorised as poor. Maribor ranks 207th having moderately clean air.

Companies have been calculating their carbon footprints since the early 2000s and just over one in three of the world's 2,000 largest public corporations have now set goals to become carbon neutral or emissions-free by mid-century or sooner.

EU countries have reached agreements on proposed laws to combat climate change on Wednesday night. They backed the phasing out of new fossil fuel-powered cars by 2035 and the creation of a multi-billion-euro fund to protect poorer citizens from spending on products that produce carbon dioxide, Reuters reported.

The mayor of Milan on June 25 announced the northern Italian city's fountains would be switched off as part of water restrictions imposed due to a drought.

Beppe Sala announced the measures the day after the wider Lombardy region declared a state of emergency to last until Sept. 30, directing mayors to curtail non-essential water use.

As climate change continues to cause record-breaking drought, there are no easy solutions

Out of 5,610 identified coral species, an estimated 232 are threatened with extinction

Firefighters are intervening by land and air to control a wildfire that broke out overnight in a forest in southern Türkiye.

The cause of the fire in Marmaris district of Muğla province is still unknown. The flames spread in a short time due to winds.