Clipped onto a rope, high in a tree swaying in gusts of wind, Topher White reaches the roof of West Sumatra's rainforest and opens a laptop to run checks on a machine he built to transmit 24-hour live sound from the forest.

The eavesdropping device listens for chainsaws, in a bid to tackle illegal logging in the region - and it's just one of tens of thousands the engineer and conservationist aims to install around the world's forests in the next few years.

"We're basically building a nervous system for the natural world," he told our correspondent Harry Jacques, who climbed into the treetops with White, suffering wasp stings along the way.

Innovative answers to climate threats are appearing around the world - technological and otherwise.

Zimbabwe's farmers, stuck with an over-production of mangoes thanks to rainy weather and COVID-shut markets, have turned to a new solar fruit-drying centre, which lets them turn excess produce, which once would have rotted, into high-value exportable dried mango.

In Bangladesh, big international fashion brands are backing a new initiative to boost the amount of textile waste from the country's clothing factories used in new products, a step toward a circular, climate-smart economy.

And Egypt's farmers are turning to soil sensors to help them use no more irrigation water than needed in their fields, in a bid to cut costs and make sure there's enough of the scarce resource to go round in the water-short country.

Really super-charging climate action, however, may require bigger changes - such as some of the legions of youth climate activists stepping into government positions themselves to drive the transformation.

"We can't keep doing things from outside," Damilola Ogunbiyi, the Nigerian head of Sustainable Energy for All, urged an online youth summit. "Changing the minds of leaders has to happen inside and outside government."

Meanwhile, have a peek at one promising innovation - a device that harvests your body's heat to run your phone and other devices that operate on batteries.

See you next week!

Laurie

Treetop sensors help Indonesia eavesdrop on forests to curb illegal logging
Using artificial intelligence, audio sensors detect the sound of chainsaws, helping local officials crack down on people felling trees in the rainforest

Fear and resolve: Indian youth campaign for arrested climate activist
Climate campaigner Disha Ravi, 22, arrested on Sunday, has found support among peers who are signing petitions and expressing solidarity

Adaptation no longer 'Cinderella' of climate action - but barriers remain
Efforts to cope with more extreme weather and rising seas are becoming mainstream, yet still lack enough funding, careful planning and local involvement, experts say

Rising heat and snow-bare peaks chill Nepal's mountain economy
Hurting from COVID travel restrictions, tourist towns were relying on local visitors - but lack of snow related to climate change means few have come

Egypt's farmers tap new technology to save water and boost crops
A government project uses sensors buried in the soil to tell farmers via an app when fields need water and just how much to use

Move into government, U.N. official urges young climate activists
To boost lagging efforts to expand access to clean energy and deal with climate threats, young people need to begin taking up government roles, a top U.N. energy chief says

Climate action in fashion, as big clothing brands back Bangladesh recycling scheme
A new partnership to cut down waste and reuse materials in garment factories would help curb the sector's carbon footprint, says the Global Fashion Agenda

Zimbabwe's too-productive mango growers look to the sun to boost incomes
With heavy rain bringing a glut of fruit, and coronavirus lockdown making selling it difficult, a processing centre is preventing waste and protecting incomes

India flash flood sparks questions on nation's hydropower push
After an apparent glacier collapse that left at least 26 dead, environmentalists say climate change may need to drive a rethink in green energy sources

Bolder climate action could save millions of lives each year by 2040
Scientists say policies in line with meeting global climate goals would bring better diets, cleaner air and more exercise, improving health and cutting deaths