U.S. says rich nations likely to miss carbon targets

Rich nations as a group are unlikely to reach the deep 2020 cuts in greenhouse gas emissions urged by developing nations as part of a new U.N. climate treaty, the top U.S. climate envoy said on Friday.

Climate pressure ‘building on US’

Climate negotiations are to begin in Bonn with pressure building for the US to deliver deeper emissions cuts.
Delegates are dealing with the reality that although they are wrangling with the Obama administration, US Congress will help determine the final outcome.

Dimas: Europe Will Outperform Kyoto Goals

Reuters European Union environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said on Friday that the trade bloc was on track to beat Kyoto emissions goals for 2012. Weather has played a big role, however.

More Subsidies for Fossil Fuels in Recovery Plans

Despite the economic slow down, growing numbers of world leaders are calling for urgent action on climate change while many governments used their economic stimulus packages to increase subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.

Forests and the Planet

A major shortcoming of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change was its failure to address the huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the destruction of the world’s rain forests. A proposal that rich nations be allowed to offset some of their emissions by paying poorer counties to leave their rain forests intact was shot down after European environmental groups objected. They argued that it would allow rich countries to buy their way out of their own obligations. The planet has been paying for that colossal blunder ever since.

Mild weather helped curb 2007 greenhouse gases: EU

European Union emissions of global warming gases fell by 1.2 percent in 2007 aided by a mild winter, EU data showed on Friday, confirming a Reuters story last month.

Emissions traders expect U.S. carbon market soon

Carbon market professionals hope speedy U.S. Congressional approval of a federal cap and trade scheme will boost emissions trading, which is threatened by recession and slow U.N. climate talks.

Climate crisis equal to nuclear arms threat

Climate change poses as great a threat to the world as the nuclear arms race, scientists warned yesterday as they called on leaders to take urgent action to tackle the problem.

Smaller Cars Earn Top Marks in Safety Tests (video)

A study of car safety released on Wednesday shows that four of the top-scoring automobiles in tests of five new models were small cars or so-called super-minis – including the Honda Jazz, Hyundai i20, Kia Soul and Peugeot 3008.

World CO2 up 39 percent by 2030 without new policy: EIA

Global emissions of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide will jump more than 39 percent by 2030 without new policies and binding pacts to cut global warming pollution, the top U.S. energy forecast agency said on Wednesday.

Forest offsets give EPA regulators some tough nuts to crack

If a tree grows in a forest, does it make an emissions offset? What happens if it burns down? Both the integrity and the cost of the legislation working its way through Congress that would put a cap on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions hang on questions like these.Experts have for the most part applauded the rigorous criteria for offsets in the far-reaching climate and energy bill passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week.

Global carbon market doubled in 2008, cut less CO2

The global market for carbon emissions trading doubled in value last year, but actual realised emissions cuts fell as the global economic slowdown dented clean energy financing, the World Bank said on Wednesday.