World leaders met on France's Atlantic coast Friday to discuss protecting the planet's oceans from threats such as overfishing and plastic pollution, and finding fairer ways to manage the seas.

The One Ocean Summit comes as European authorities are investigating a mass fish dump in the Bay of Biscay that environmental activists call an example of abuses by huge trawlers that disrupt undersea ecosystems.

Koalas were declared officially endangered Friday in eastern Australia as they fall prey to disease, lost habitat and other threats.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley downgraded their conservation status across the country's east coast, in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, on a recommendation by the government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee.

Construction of a 42-floor, pyramid-shaped skyscraper began in Paris on Thursday despite objections from local politicians and associations, and environmentalists who have branded the project "catastrophic".

French President Emmanuel Macron called Thursday for a "renaissance" for the French nuclear industry, saying he wanted up to 14 new reactors to power the country's transition away from fossil fuels.

Environmental groups are expressing alarm about a sharp increase in fires in Colombia's Amazon region that they blame on people clearing forest to make way for cattle ranches, coca fields and illegal roads.

More than 150 academics and activists from Colombia, Brazil, France and Spain sent a letter to President Ivan Duque on Tuesday urging the Colombian government to take a more aggressive stance against deforestation, using the military to put out the fires, creating economic alternatives for people in the Amazon region and arresting those who finance efforts to clear the forest.

The European Union has criticized a plan by lawmakers in southern Spain to expand irrigation rights for farmers near one of Europe's largest wetlands, arguing that it will further endanger a major wildlife refuge that is already drying up.

The government of the Andalusia region wants to grant water rights to farmers on 1,460 hectares (3,607 acres) of land near the Doñana National Park, which the United Nations cultural agency has designated as a World Heritage site and a biosphere reserve.

Britain's Prince William made his first official visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, where the future monarch is highlighting his passionate work around wildlife conservation and climate change.

The one-day visit by the Duke of Cambridge marks a significant milestone in relations between the U.K. and the UAE, a Western-allied Gulf Arab nation ruled by hereditary leaders. The prince is expected to meet with Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the son of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Many of the world's largest companies are failing to take significant enough steps to meet their pledges to vastly reduce the impact of their greenhouse gas emissions in the decades ahead.

That's the conclusion of a new report by the NewClimate Institute, an environmental organization that works to combat global warming. Its researchers, who examined the actions of 25 companies, concluded that many of them are misleading consumers by using accounting practices that make their environmental goals relatively meaningless or are excluding key parts of their businesses in their calculations.

The hawksbill sea turtle lay belly-up on the metal autopsy table, its shell ashen and stomach taut.

A week ago, the adolescent turtle washed up on a beach in Kalba, a city on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates. Once unspoiled, the coast of mangrove trees is now fouled by piles of trash dragged from nearby landfills. Strewn across the shore are plastic bags, packages, bottle caps — and far too often, dead turtles.

Environmental pollution will cost Lebanon more than 3% of its GDP, the World Bank said, urging a green post-Covid-19 recovery for the region. 

Air pollution costs the Middle East and North Africa $141 billion per year, or around 2% of GDP on average, it said in a report.