Effectively tackling climate change is going to take innovation. The good news? There's plenty of it happening.

In the Amazon, where an Israel-sized chunk of forest disappeared last year as deforestation surged more than 20%, scientists are trying to figure out a new development model for the Brazilian Amazon - one that doesn't rely on expanding soybean farming and mining on forested land.

That might involve creating a new kind of chocolate from the region's cupuacu fruit, a cousin of cacao, and then using 3D printers in the Amazon to produce fancy, high-value chocolates that can be delivered by drone to export hubs, says Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist and long-time Amazon expert.

Sequencing the genomes of the Amazon's many unique species could also earn the region - and those holding indigenous knowledge - cash, as firms look for new medicines.

In Hong Kong, scientists and entrepreneurs have cooked up - literally - lab-grown fish fillets and are now wooing buyers to a product they say is tasty, safe and smart for the climate and nature.

As demand for protein grows globally, "cultivated meat gives consumers the animal protein they want without having to deplete the oceans or chop down the rainforest to get it," says Elaine Siu of the Good Food Institute Asia-Pacific.

And in Bangladesh, a new system that can warn people of landslides nearly a week in advance is launching this year.

Developed by the country's environment ministry and the United Nations, it will use satellite imagery, rainfall measurements and other data to try to save lives in vulnerable areas as climate change-driven extreme rainfall risks rise.

In Africa, the African Development Bank is gearing up to spend billions of dollars to help young people build a new digitally-driven model of agriculture that can feed the continent and boost incomes even as the planet heats up, the bank's president says.

"I don't buy (youth) 'empowerment' language... what we need is youth investment," Akinwumi Adesina, a former Nigerian agriculture minister, told our correspondent Megan Rowling.

And in the United States, President Joe Biden aims to win support for climate action from Americans who don't see cutting emissions as a priority by pointing out a key and under-recognised benefit: the "good-paying" jobs it will create.

"There's a lot of people involved in building a 100% electric vehicle," notes the vice-president of one electric bus and truck manufacturer preparing to open a new U.S. plant.

And finally, when it comes to innovations, are carbon offsets a credible way to meet a share of the net-zero emissions promises corporations are now rushing to make? We take a look. Let us know what you think too!

See you next week...

From gene sequencing to chocolate, Brazil's Amazon looks for a new development model
President Jair Bolsonaro's push to develop the Amazon through expanded mining and farming has led to surging deforestation. Is there an alternative?

How Biden's climate agenda aims to trigger a 'good-paying' jobs boom
New U.S. president aims to create more than 10 million decent jobs through $2 trillion green investment in economy

New warning system in Bangladesh to tackle rising landslide risk
Landslide-vulnerable communities could get warnings five days in advance of predicted disasters as climate change brings more extreme rainfall

Hong Kong cooks up lab-grown fish as appetite for 'clean meat' rises
Eating more 'cultured' meat could help curb climate change and cut the need to kill animals - but will consumers bite?

Climate change less likely to be seen as an emergency in poor nations
An online UN survey, distributed through adverts in popular mobile games, shows increasingly global understanding of the climate crisis, but the highest concern is in rich nations

As companies chase net-zero, backers say carbon offsets are 'part of the answer'
Offset markets could drive cash to forests and smart new technologies such as hydrogen fuel - but critics fear an offsetting surge could also undermine emissions cuts

African Development Bank backs young 'agripreneurs' to beat climate change
Africa's youth need investment, not 'empowerment', to realise the continent's potential and support food security, says the head of the African Development Bank

US to end overseas fossil-fuel funding as rich world urged to boost climate finance
U.S. government will draft a plan to halt its international backing for dirty energy projects, says John Kerry, as British and U.N. officials call on donors to meet climate cash promise to poorer countries

Vaccine rollout a 'war against time' for Amazon indigenous groups
Most countries in the Amazon Basin do not have vaccine plans that specifically include indigenous people

Donors back tech over aid to feed hungry world
Humanitarian agencies want to deliver cutting-edge technology to poor farmers to help them adapt to the effects of rising temperatures