Last year investment in renewable energy was higher in the world’s poorest countries than the richest ones for the first time, a major new report by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) has found. A record total of about £196.5bn was spent renewable power and fuels, and more than £107bn of that total, which doesn’t include large hydropower schemes and heating and cooling technologies, took place in developing countries, with countries like China, India and Mauritania in the forefront. “What is truly remarkable about these results is that they were achieved at a time when fossil fuel prices were at historic lows, and renewables remained at a significant disadvantage in terms of government subsidies”, notes Christine Lins, REN21’s executive secretary. Over 8 million people were employed in the renewables sector in 2015, rising 5% during the year, as rapidly falling costs drove growth in the industry the BBC and the Guardian report. It was a record year for investment, installations and policy launches, BusinessGreen writes. Grist and Reuters also have the story.

Through the EU’s emissions trading system the North Sea oil and gas sector pays millions of pounds to offset the carbon intensity of the electricity it uses on its rigs, while other energy intensive industries are entitled to free carbon allowances. But this “struggling” sector is set to fight the “EU loophole”, the Telegraph reports.

Scientists in California are testing sponges containing a baking soda ingredient as a way of capturing carbon emissions. They say this approach could be 40% cheaper than existing technology, and less damaging to the environment than current techniques which use toxic chemicals like monoethanolamine. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is believed by many to be a crucial element in global attempts to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

Ministers are currently exploring options to curb the growth of highly polluting small diesel generators through the ‘capacity market’ subsidy scheme, which they warn runs contrary to their green commitments. But this could result in “a greater chance of blackouts” says KPMG, in a report commissioned by UK Power Reserve, which builds small gas generators.

The German chancellor has “hammered out” a deal with state premiers to address concerns that burgeoning output from renewables is putting strain on electricity grid and pushing up prices. The German government agreed to cap the expansion of onshore wind power at 2.8 gigawatts in capacity per year. Generous green subsidies have led to a boom in renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, the Guardian reports.

Ed Hawkins’ temperature spiral graph, that went viral on the internet a few weeks ago, has had an update. Using our current carbon emissions trends the spiral has been extended out to 2100, and shows that “things could get out of hand pretty quickly”. Grist also features the new graphic.

As the climate warms, “urban areas will need to put themselves at the heart of the international effort to mitigate the effects of climate change” argues Philip Stephens in a series in the Financial Times on the future of cities. “As the planet heats up, cities will fare the worst”, he writes. A companion piece by Sarah Murray looks at how planners are starting to strategically use greenery in cities, to deal with extreme weather and pollution.

Although overpopulation isn’t the only problem, “it’s a big one” argues writer Madeleine Sommerville in the Guardian, and therefore safe access to birth control, abortion and reproductive health services offer a simple solution. “We cannot simultaneously champion fighting climate change without also fighting for the rights of women. The two are inextricably linked”, she writes.

Donald Trump’s assertions that he’s “going to cancel the Paris climate agreement” that “gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use right here in America”, are wrong, says Todd Stern, the US Special Envoy for Climate Change, in an op-ed for the Washington Post. Every country develops its own plan for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions – no country can tell another what it must do, he writes.

A new study mapping variations in height and volume across Arctic sea ice has reported finding more year to year variability in multi-year ice compared to first-year ice. Data from the Airborne Topographic Mapper, flown as part of NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission, also shows how volume tends to increase towards coastlines, especially in the north of Greenland and the Canadian archipelago.

Scientists describe a way to assess the contribution of human activity to the risk of extreme events, such as the England 2013/14 winter floods. The team used forecasts of sea surface temperatures from general circulation models to assess the fraction of attributable risk of sever weather in real-time. In the past, such analyses have been done months after an event has happened.

Old surveillance images dating back to the 1960s and 70s are providing scientists with a mine of new information for studying changes the Antarctic ice sheet. Matching satellite images up to points on the ground, a retrospective analysis finds the acceleration of ice flows on the Larsen B ice shelf, which eventually forced its collapse in 2002, began decades earlier than scientists previously thought.