"CANBERRA -- Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will argue Australia’s whaling case against Japan in a three week hearing before the International Court of Justice in the Hague beginning on June 26."

"The world's most widely used insecticide is devastating dragonflies, snails and other water-based species, a groundbreaking Dutch study has revealed."

"The danger that the decline of bees and other pollinators represents to the world’s food supply was highlighted this week when the European Commission decided to ban a class of pesticides suspected of playing a role in so-called 'colony collapse disorder.'"

"China might be cracking down on luxury spending in watches, cars, banquets and really foul liquor. But the market for pricey fish parts continues relatively unabated."

"SYDNEY — China is rapidly assuming a global leadership role on climate change alongside the United States, a new study said Monday, but it warned greenhouse gas emissions worldwide continue to rise strongly."

"Scientists monitoring global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations report that, for the first time in human history, CO2 levels could soon rise above 400 parts per million for a sustained period of time in much of the Northern Hemisphere."

"The latest round of international climate change talks commenced [Monday] with the now perennial warning about the need for greater urgency from governments as they battle to curb global greenhouse gas emissions."

"BP made a record pre-tax profit in the first quarter of double its $9bn for the same period in 2012, the company announced on Tuesday, as a Norwegian regulator rebuked the company for a 2012 oil spill in the North Sea."

"EU member states vote in favour of continent-wide suspension of neonicotinoid pesticides."

"GENEVA -- At the start of a major conference to regulate chemical and hazardous waste safety, top officials voiced optimism Saturday that delegates will approve new international controls on several industrial compounds and agree to clamp down on some cross-border pollution."

"TORONTO -- The Ontario Government has stepped in to save a unique freshwater research facility in the Experimental Lakes Area after the Canadian government cut off funding as of March 31."

"Watchdog also says US billionaire's Scottish golf resort could not substantiate claim that tourism will be harmed by turbines."

"Demand for metals is likely to increase tenfold as developing economies surge ahead, putting severe stress on the natural environment, a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned."

"U.S. officials and experts have expressed strong reservations about the plan to operate a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori to recover fissionable plutonium while most of the nation's reactors remain shuttered, a Japan Atomic Energy Commission member said."

"The Environmental Protection Agency issued a sharply critical assessment of the State Department's recent environmental impact review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, certain to complicate efforts to win approval for the $7-billion project."