In the past few months United Nations-sponsored negotiations to tackle climate change, plastic pollution, loss of global species and a growing number of deserts have either outright failed or come out with limited outcomes that didn’t address the scale of the problems.

Vice President Kamala Harris and breakout pop star Chappell Roan were among the most talked-about people this year.

Australia’s states and territories have unanimously backed a world-first national plan to ban children younger than 16 from most forms of social media.

Four Greenpeace activists who were arrested for scaling the country estate of former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year to protest his oil and gas drilling expansion plans have been cleared of criminal charges.

Six years after a teenage Greta Thunberg walked out of school in a solitary climate protest outside of the Swedish parliament, young people around the world staged fresh marches and said their protests are not being sufficiently acted upon.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is among dozens of people who have been detained by police in The Hague as they removed protesters who were partially blocking a road in the Dutch city.

A judge in London has acquitted climate activist Greta Thunberg of refusing to follow a police order to leave a protest that blocked the entrance to an oil and gas industry conference last year.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is on trial for protesting outside a major oil and gas industry conference in London last year.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined a march in southern England to protest the use of private jets and the expansion of an airport.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been briefly interrupted by a man who approached her on stage after she invited a Palestinian and an Afghan woman to speak at a climate protest in the Dutch capital.

Close to 400 people connected to fossil fuel industries in some way or another attended last year’s United Nations climate talks in Egypt.

Greta Thunberg has been detained by British police alongside other climate activists who gathered outside a central London hotel to disrupt a major oil and gas industry conference.

A top official of upcoming international climate negotiations hopes to prove critics wrong and surprise them with a “course correction” for an ever-warming world.

From Europe to Africa to southeast Asia, tens of thousands of climate activists around the world launched protests Friday to call for an end to the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels as Earth suffers from dramatic weather extremes.

Hours after a Swedish court fined Greta Thunberg for disobeying police during an environmental protest at an oil facility last month, the climate activist once again attempted to block access to the facility and was removed by the police.

The European Union’s parliament has narrowly backed a major plan to protect nature and fight climate change.

Protesters and legislators are converging on the European Union parliament in Strasbourg as the bloc faces a major vote on protecting its threatened nature and shielding it from disruptive environmental change.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Thursday with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and prominent European figures who are forming a working group to address ecological damage from the 16-month-old Russian invasion.

Heads of state, finance leaders and activists are converging in Paris to seek ways to overhaul the International Monetary Fund and World Bank and help them weather a warmer and stormier world.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg says she will no longer be able to skip classes as a way to draw attention to climate change because she is graduating from high school.

Power brokers have wrapped up the World Economic Forum’s annual conclave in the Swiss town of Davos as worries about the war in Ukraine, a warming planet and a cooling global economy dominated discussions about the world’s ills.

Prominent climate activists including Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate are condemning corporate VIPs and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland, for prioritizing short-term profits from fossil fuels over people affected by the climate crisis.

Thousands of people are demonstrating in persistent rain to protest the clearance and demolition of a village in western Germany that is due to make way for the expansion of a coal mine.

Women are leading negotiations about the thorniest topic in the United Nations climate talks in Egypt.

The first days of the annual climate summit had few protests.

An AP questionnaire of more than 130 young climate activists finds that the future they envision — even fear — has them frustrated and anxious.

Each year there are high hopes for the two-week United Nations climate gathering and, almost inevitably, disappointment when it doesn’t deliver another landmark pact like the one agreed 2015 in Paris.

Words.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg says it would be “a mistake” for Germany to switch off its nuclear power plants if that means burning more planet-heating coal.

Youth activists have staged a coordinated ‘global climate strike’ to highlight their fears about the effects of global warming and demand more aid for poor countries hit by wild weather.

Climate activists in Germany and across Europe are escalating their tactics in a bid to prompt more government action on climate change.

Paul McCartney has wowed fans at the Glastonbury Festival with a 2½-hour concert that included Beatles hits and big-name guest stars.

Latinos are leading the way in U.S. activism around climate change from grassroots organizing to global advocacy, often drawing on traditions from their ancestral homelands and the experience of effects on their communities.

The World Economic Forum is encouraging European attendees to come to its exclusive gathering in the Swiss Alps by train.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has compiled a handbook for tackling the world’s interconnected environmental crises, with contributions from leading scientists and writers.

Climate activists have staged a 10th series of worldwide protests to demand that leaders take stronger action against global warming.

Europe's sky is filling up with near-empty flights that even airlines admit serve no purpose except securing valuable time slots at some of the world's biggest airports.

Christmas may be over, but a feast of movies and television shows arrive next week.

A line from a speech given from the U.S. Senate floor before rioters broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 tops a Yale Law School librarian’s list of the most notable quotes of 2021.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama has dropped in on U.N. climate talks to urge young climate activists to stay in the fight.

Tens of thousands of climate activists are marching through Glasgow, Scotland, for a second day of protests outside the U.N. climate summit.

Young people both inside and outside the U.N. climate talks are telling world leaders that concrete measures to avoid catastrophic warming can’t wait.

World leaders are promising to protect Earth's forests, cut methane emissions and help South Africa wean itself off coal at the U.N. climate summit.

The U.N. climate summit, known as COP26 this year, brings officials from almost 200 countries to Glasgow to haggle over the best measures to combat global warming.

Protesters took to the streets of London’s historic financial district to lobby against the use of fossil fuels ahead of the U.N. climate summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow.

Environmental campaigners have staged protests on several continents to press their demands for more government action to curb global warming ahead of the upcoming U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

The annual Nobel Peace Prize, to be announced Oct. 8, shines the brightest of lights on the person or group thought to have done most to promote peace.

Young climate activists have denounced Italian police for temporarily detaining delegates who protested peacefully inside their Milan conference before Italian Premier Mario Draghi’s speech.

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate said youth delegates at a gathering in Italy’s financial capital are struggling to get their voices through in an event that she and others complain has been heavily orchestrated.

Youth climate activists Vanessa Nakate and Greta Thunberg have chastized global leaders for failing to meet funding pledges to fight climate change and for delivering too much “blah blah blah’’ as climate change wreaks havoc around the world.

Youth climate activists Vanessa Nakate and Greta Thunberg have chastized global leaders for failing to meet funding pledges to help poor nations adapt to a warming Earth and for delivering too much “blah blah blah’’ as climate change wreaks havoc.

Tens of thousands of environmental activists have rallied outside Germany’s parliament two days before the country holds a national election and demanded that politicians take stronger action to curb climate change.

At the United Nations this week, the pandemic-era rules of engagement for General Assembly week are strict for kings, presidents and other “excellencies.”.

For the first time in Germany, climate change is perhaps the most dominant issue in an election campaign, especially for young voters.

Youth activists are hoping to turn up the heat on governments with the first large-scale international protest against climate change in six months.

The auto industry has raced ahead on an electric wave with more manufacturers joining the race seemingly every day.

Days after the alarming warning of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that there was a “code red for humanity,” with global warming threatening to choke the planet, individuals are seeking to play their part.

A U.N.-appointed panel of experts says that Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past the most ambitious threshold set in the Paris accord.

The coronavirus crisis in India has created diplomatic and humanitarian challenges for the Biden administration.

The coronavirus crisis in India has created diplomatic and humanitarian challenges for the Biden administration.

Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg says it seems that those in power “have given up” on the 2015 landmark Paris climate deal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

The mayors of a dozen major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, New York City and San Diego, are asking President Joe Biden to consult them as the administration studies how to identify and resettle people displaced by drought, rising seas and other effects of climate change.

Dozens of celebrities including actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Jane Fonda and Joaquin Phoenix are calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to refrain from signing any environmental agreement with his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has urged governments, vaccine developers and the international community to “step up their game” to fight vaccine inequity.

Members of Aam Aadmi Party shout slogans demanding the release of Indian climate activist Disha Ravi, during a protest in Mumbai, India, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. The 22 years old activist was arrested Saturday for circulating a document on social media that allegedly incited protesting farmers to turn violent last month. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)NEW DELHI – Scores of people demonstrated in the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Mumbai on Monday after a climate activist was arrested for circulating a document on social media supporting months of massive protests by farmers. “The call was to wage economic, social, cultural and regional war against India,” police tweeted on Sunday. The protests attracted international attention earlier this month when pop star Rihanna, Thunberg and Meena Harris tweeted their support.

A vendor reaches out for a copy of The Caravan, Indias leading investigating magazine, in Mumbai, India, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. At the heart of the allegations is the magazine’s coverage of the ongoing farmers’ protests that have gripped India for more than two months. Critics say it has used the massive demonstrations to escalate a crackdown on free speech, detaining journalists and freezing Twitter accounts. Hundreds of Indian Twitter accounts, including those of news websites, activists and a farmers’ union, were suspended on Monday. But similarly, Twitter’s reaction of suspending accounts has also “set a terrible precedent” for free speech and press, said Jose.

A person reads tweets by Indian celebrities, one of the many backing the Indian government, on his mobile in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. It took just one tweet from pop star Rihanna to anger the Indian government and supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, after she tweeted about the farmer protests that have gripped India. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)NEW DELHI – It took just one tweet from Rihanna to anger the Indian government and supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. The pop star linked a news article in a tweet drawing attention to the massive farmer protests that have gripped India for more than two months. AdTharoor in a tweet said Indian government getting “Indian celebrities to react to Western ones is embarrassing."

Belarusian opposition figures, Hong Kong-pro-democracy activists, the Black Lives Matter movement, a jailed Russian opposition leader and two former White House senior advisers are among this years nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. There is no shortage of causes or candidates for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to consider for what arguably remains the world’s most prestigious prize. Here's a look at the Nobel nomination process:WHO CAN NOMINATE CANDIDATES FOR THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE? The U.N. World Food Program won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. The peace prize and other Nobel awards are presented to the winners on Dec. 10, the anniversary of founder Alfred Nobel’s death.

Francisco Vera, 11, who is well-known in Colombia for his environmental campaigns and defense of children's rights, gives an interview in Villeta, Colombia, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. The 11-year old activist who received a death threat over Twitter, says that he will continue to lead campaigns and urged other young people to use social media to support causes they believe in. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)VILLETA – A social media death threat aimed at an 11-year-old environmental activist has roused outrage in Colombia, a nation where attacks on social leaders are common and threats are taken seriously. Colombian officials said they are investigating the death threat against Francisco Vera and President Ivan Duque recently promised in a television appearance that his government would find “the bandits” behind the Twitter message. She said a town official suggested shutting down her son’s social media account, but she prefers to let him decide whether to stop campaigning.

Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg appears on a postal stamp in her native Sweden that is part of a series focusing on the environment, as seen through a magnifying glass, in Stockholm, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. One of the stamps features teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg in her trademark yellow raincoat with her braid blowing in the wind and standing a top a hill. (AP Photo/David Keyton)STOCKHOLM – Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg will appear on a postal stamp that will be issued Thursday in her native Sweden and is part of a series focusing on the environment. Thunberg, who just turned 18, rose to prominence for weekly solo protests outside Sweden’s parliament in Stockholm that she started on Aug. 20, 2018. Appearing on a stamp “means that a person is doing something extraordinary,” said Kristina Olofsdotter, managing director for stamps at the postal company.

Five years after a historic climate deal in Paris, world leaders are again meeting to increase their efforts to fight global warming. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)The forecast for global warming is looking a little less bleak in the long term, but not so rosy in the short term. With numerous countries pledging to clean up their act and projected temperature rises now smaller than they once were, scientists and diplomats say the outlook for mid-to-late century is not as gloomy as it was when the historic 2015 Paris climate accord was signed. On Saturday, exactly five years after the Paris climate agreement was struck, world leaders will gather virtually to both celebrate progress and chart the next steps. More than 100 countries — and even more companies, states and cities — have pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century.

LONE TREE, Colo. – A 15-year-old Colorado high school student and young scientist who has used artificial intelligence and created apps to tackle contaminated drinking water, cyberbullying, opioid addiction and other social problems has been named Time Magazine's first-ever “Kid of the Year." Rao told The Associated Press in a Zoom interview from her home Friday that the prize is "nothing that I could have ever imagined. Rao has partnered with rural schools; museums; science, technology, engineering and mathematics organizations; and other institutions to run innovation workshops for thousands of other students. Science and technology are being employed as never before to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, global warming and a host of other issues, she noted. “Anybody can do science.”Time was planning a Kid of the Year broadcast special at 7:30 p.m. EST (5:30 p.m. MST) on Nickelodeon.

THE HAGUE – A 17-year-old Bangladeshi boy won the International Children’s Peace Prize on Friday for his work combating cyberbullying in his country, and he vowed to keep fighting online abuse until it is eradicated. The award is accompanied by a fund of 100,000 euros ($118,225), which is invested by the KidsRights Foundation in projects that are closely linked to the winner’s work. After Yousafzai won the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2013, she went on to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a year later for campaigning for girls to have a universal right to education even after she survived being shot by Taliban militants. Addressing Friday's award ceremony via a video link, Yousafzai praised Rahman's work for contributing to internet safety. “Cyberbullying is a violation of that right.”

This image released by Hulu shows activist Greta Thunberg, center, in a scene from the documentary "I Am Greta." (Hulu via AP)NEW YORK – In the first days of Greta Thunberg’s solitary sidewalk protest outside Swedish Parliament in August 2018, most walk right past her. I think: Oh, I was so young and naive back then — which is quite funny,” says Thunberg, recalling her first days of protest in an interview. “I don’t really like the title of the film, ‘I Am Greta.’ It makes it seem like I take myself very seriously,” says Thunberg. Asked how she felt watching news clips of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin deriding her in the film, Thunberg laughs.

This image released by Hulu shows activist Greta Thunberg, center, in a scene from the documentary "I Am Greta" the story of Thunberg, the teenage Swedish schoolgirl who is leading the global school strike for action on climate change. The film premieres Friday on Hulu. (Hulu via AP)

This image released by Hulu shows activist Greta Thunberg, center, in a scene from the documentary "I Am Greta" the story of Thunberg, the teenage Swedish schoolgirl who is leading the global school strike for action on climate change. (Hulu via AP)Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. MOVIES— When Greta Thunberg began protesting outside Swedish Parliament two years ago, it only took days for director Nathan Grossman to start trailing her in her mission to prod government leaders on the climate crisis. “I Am Greta,” which premieres Friday on Hulu, documents the enormous movement fueled by Thunberg’s one-person school strike, and a few very surreal years for the Swedish teenager. — After releasing two chart-topping albums in 2017, superstar country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton is back with a new collection of songs coming out Friday.

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2017 file photo, Bjorn Ulvaeus poses for photographers in a recreation of the Polar recording studio in London. ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus talks exclusively to AP on UNICEF's International Day of the Girl Child about the challenges girls face and promoting girl's empowerment. “I’ve been surrounded by women, strong women for a long time,” Ulvaeus said, speaking about the need to empower female voices ahead of Sunday’s International Day of the Girl Child. With few exceptions their powers rest on cultures, religions and ideologies that suppress women.”Ulvaeus said he was inspired to write about the need to support International Day of the Girl Child. In 2011, the United Nations declared Oct. 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to promote girls’ rights and address the challenges girls face around the world.

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2015 file photo, a child carries a parcel from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Mwenezi, Zimbabwe. The WFP has won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity around the globe. The announcement was made Friday Oct. 9, 2020 in Oslo by Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Nobel Committee. “The World Food Program works at the intersection of those two problems (and) it's going to face an increasing workload in the coming years." Some, however, noted that the World Food Program’s top donors are also major food exporters and often involved in the sale of arms to conflict zones where the agency works, from Afghanistan to Yemen.

FILE - In this Saturday, June 21, 2014 file photo, Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski is welcomed by his supporters at a railway terminal in Minsk, Belarus. The prominent Belarus opposition figure Ales Bialiatski and leading imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh have been awarded the 2020 Swedish Right Livelihood Award, sometimes referred to as the Alternative Nobel, along with activists from Nicaragua and the United States. (AP Photo/Dmitry Brushko, File)STOCKHOLM – A prominent Belarus opposition figure and an imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer on Thursday were awarded the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes referred to as the “Alternative Nobel,” together with activists from Nicaragua and the United States. Created in 1980, the annual Right Livelihood Award honors efforts that the prize founder, Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, felt were being ignored by the Nobel prizes. Earlier recipients of the Right Livelihood Award include Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Several groups like 'Friday for Future' or 'Ende Gelaende' started actions for climate justice in the coming days throughout Germany. She joined fellow demonstrators outside the Swedish Parliament on Friday to kick off a day of socially distanced global climate protests. The coronavirus outbreak has prevented the Fridays for Future movement that Thunberg inspired from holding its mass rallies in recent months, lowering its public profile. Thunberg started her solo protests outside Sweden’s parliament in Stockholm on Aug. 20, 2018. Thousands of primarily young protesters took to the streets of cities across Germany as part of the Friday for Future protests demanding for more to be done to fight climate change.