Joint humanitarian call

Eighteen international aid agencies issued a joint statement arguing for “humanitarian impacts” to be included in the new climate change protocol. They called for a workable approach to counter the impacts of extreme weather events and environmental degradation on vulnerable communities.
8 June GenevaLunch article
12 June COP15 article

Delta flooding will force migration

Negotiators are advised to factor migration into adaptation strategies as evidence shows that 23.5 million people could be displaced by climate change in the densely-populated Ganges, Mekong and Nile River deltas if the sea level were to rise by a metre.
10 June EurActiv article

Water from thin air

Research scientists have found a way of  converting air humidity in the desert into drinkable water. Based exclusively on renewable energy sources such as thermal solar collectors and photovoltaic cells, this method is completely self contained for energy and will work in regions with no electrical infrastructure.
8 June Science Daily article

Diesel car wins green award

The Volvo S40 DRIVe winner of What Car? magazine's award for the year's greenest car is attractive for more than low carbon emissions. The small family car with carbon emissions on a par with Toyota's Prius was noted as great to drive, safe, with enough space for the family and cheap to run.
8 June The Guardian article

Poor absorption of climate funding

A European roundtable argued against financing climate adaptation efforts through development assistance. They noted if climate negotiators continue to stumble over how much funding is needed for adaptation, they will fail to address the other key issue of establishing a mechanism to ensure that adaptation actually takes place,
3 June EurActiv article

Beavers return to the United Kingdom

Beavers have been released into the wild in Argyll as part of a reintroduction programme. Brought to Scotland from Norway they return to the UK after a 400 year absence the program marks the first attempt to reintroduce a mammal to the UK and could lead to a better understanding of what is needed to reverse local extinctions.
28 May BBC article

Lancet cites climate change as biggest threat

Mentioning tree-munching beetles, malaria-carrying mosquitoes and deer ticks that spread Lyme disease, the respected Lancet medical journal commented that climate change is likely to exact a heavy toll on human health. Expanding ranges for pests in a warming world means people who never had to worry about them will have to start.
27 May Reuters article

Greenland icesheets threaten northern coasts

If Greenland's ice melts at moderate to high rates, ocean circulation by 2100 may shift and cause sea levels off the northeast coast of North America to rise by about 30 to 50 centimetres more than in other coastal areas. This may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Halifax, and other cities in the north eastern U. S. and Canada.
28 May Science Daily article

Asia Pacific Adaptation

Scientists, farmers, and agriculture experts from around the globe gathered at a United Nations-backed conference in Queensland, Australia, to work on long-term sustainability of agriculture through improvements in worldwide distribution of weather and climate projections.
18 May UN News article

Most vulnerable least prepared for health threats

In Geneva, a major summit of health ministers from Commonwealth nations are told that the most vulnerable countries have done very little to assess or address the threats climate change poses to health and are unprepared for the strain climate change will put on their public health systems.
17 May BigNews article

Poorest need funds to combat climate change

The UN Secretary-General said poor countries already suffering from the impact of climate change urgently need up to $2 billion to help adjust and cope, when launching the international Commission on Climate Change and Development's final report focused on adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction.
14 May Reuters article
15 May The Age article
Report (3.4MB pdf)

Summit supports Coral Triangle initiative

Rising sea levels, warming waters and spiralling acidity caused by global warming are threatening the world's oceans and the communities they support, say governments looking to include marine protection in a new U.N. climate treaty. Lives of tens of millions of people could be affected as they are forced to leave inundated coastal communities.
14 May Star Tribune article
14 May Sydney Morning Herald article
15 May BBC article

Desalination moves ahead in California

Amid concerns for threats to marine life and brine pollution the biggest seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, north of San Diego, can begin construction by year's end. The $300 million facility will produce 50 million gallons of drinking water daily, enough for 110,000 households.
14 May Reuters article

Adaptation plans urgently needed

Climate change adaptation plans urgently need to be put in place says Nepal, one of a number of South Asian countries directly affected by global warming through glacial melting. They say small-scale community activities designed to promote sustainable agriculture, alternative energy and biodiversity conservation are insufficient.
10 May IRIN article

Eritrea: Climate-proofing for the future

In Eritrea droughts have grown longer and more brutal and climate change projections by the government show temperatures could soar by more than 4 degrees Celsius by 2050. Their National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) has identified the livestock production system in the northwest as most vulnerable to climate change.
8 May AlertNet article

City of Leeds plans for flooding

In Britain, plans for new defences to prevent potentially devastating floods are on display in Leeds where a major flood could cost more than £380m in damage. They propose using a combination of embankments, raised walls and landscaping to control flood water to protect the 3,700 homes and 700 businesses at risk.
7 May BBC article

Ten African countries most threatened by sea storm surges

World Bank researchers have crunched population, economic, and elevation maps to analyse which countries are most at risk from storm surges, assuming a one metre rise in sea level due to climate change. The ten most vulnerable are: Mozambique, Madagascar, Nigeria, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, South Africa and Somalia.
7 May African Press International article
Report

Cape Town prepares for a slide

A mountain devoid of soil-holding vegetation because of the unusually hot fires of March may be hit by mudslides when the expected winter rain comes across the slopes of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. Exceptionally long rain, followed by intense storms will increase the threat of a landslide.
4 May allAfrica.com article

Southeast Asia highly vulnerable

An Asian Development Bank study shows Southeast Asia will be hit particularly hard by climate change. They identified four countries as especially vulnerable: Indonesia and the Philippines with large coastal populations facing rising sea levels, and Thailand and Vietnam where rice yields could drop 50 percent due to water shortages.
26 April Forbes article
27 April CBS News article
Report

Disappearing bees

British scientists have been given the equivalent of AUD$20 million  to help solve the riddle of hive collapse, a problem hardly heard of four years ago. In the US, 70 percent of honeybee colonies have been lost over the past two winters and reduced bee numbers is at a crisis level in Japan.
25 April Japan Times article
24 April ABC article
21 April BBC article

Tsunami lessons learned

UN Secretary-General says that foresight and advanced planning, not just emergency relief, are necessary to slash the tragic toll of extreme natural disasters. He said humanity is not the helpless victim of nature when good building design, proper land-use planning, public education, community preparedness and effective early warning systems reduce the impact of severe weather events.
24 April UN News Centre article
24 April Relief Web article

Look to Bangladesh for answers

Norwegian state secretary for international development said that all nations have to contribute to find a truly global answer for saving the world from the effects of global warming. He termed Bangladesh 'a role model in battling climate change in the region.
22 April Daily Star article

Indigenous climate migration

Flooding blamed on climate change is forcing the Alaskan coastal village of Newtok to relocate its 340 residents to new homes 9 miles away, up the Ninglick River. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study indicates 26 other Alaskan villages are in immediate danger.
19 April Reuters article
24 April CNN article

Reindeer herders use satellite maps

To help Arctic reindeer herders adapt to the challenges of adapting to climate change the European Space Agency-backed Polar View initiative is providing them with satellite-based snow maps. Warmer Arctic climate makes it harder for herds to find food and navigate.
10 April Science Daily article

International adaptation lessons released

The UN climate change Secretariat has released documents on integrating and expanding adaptation planning and action at all levels, addressing lessons learned and good practices as well as barriers and constraints to adaptation.
9 April iisd article    
Report (pdf 190kb)

Low carbon housing a headache

Remodelling a house with the latest green technology and decorating touches is not for people who want things quick, cheap and easy. In San Francisco, not only are these products hard to find, they're far more expensive than the conventional options.
5 April SF Chronicle article

Disease distribution determined by wealth and warmth

Journal Ecology's forum says the dramatic contraction of malaria during a century of warming suggests economic forces might be just as important as climate in determining pathogen ranges. The complexity of environmental change in affecting both prosperity and precipitation make simplistic predictions difficult.
3 April Science Daily article

Heading for extinctions

Conservationists estimate that extinctions worldwide are occurring up to 1,000 times as great as history's background rate before human beings began proliferating and that die-off could be accelerating. Evidence suggests that we may have entered what will be the planet's sixth great extinction wave.
1 April Time article

Switzerland, Italy to recast borders due to warming

Climate change is literally bringing European neighbours Italy and Switzerland closer. Melting glaciers in the Alps have prompted the two countries to redraw their borders, with a parliamentary draft legislation being readied in Rome.
26 March The Times of India article

In silt, Bangladesh sees potential shield against sea level rise

The rivers that course down from the Himalayas and into this crowded delta bring an annual tide of gift and curse. They flood low-lying paddies for several months, sometimes years, at a time. And they ferry mountains of silt and sand from far away upstream. Instead of allowing the silt to settle where it wants, Bangladesh has begun to channel it to where it is needed — to fill in shallow soup bowls of land prone to flooding, or to create new land off its long, exposed coast.
19 March The New York Times article

ADB, Japan give $2m for climate plan

Bangladesh is to receive a grant of $2 million from Japan, administered by the Asian Development Bank, to tackle the huge challenges posed by climate change over the coming decades. ADB approved a technical assistance grant of US$2 million from the Japan Special Fund to increase the capacity of government agencies implementing a 10-year Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan.
18 March bdnews24.com article

Bangladesh: Where the climate exodus begins

A series of stories on how climate change may trigger widespread migration in Bangladesh and throughout the world.
2 March ClimateWire part one
9 March ClimateWire part two
16 March ClimateWire part three

Africa: US Institute helps developing nations put climate data to use

As climate variability drives alterations in the physical environment, it is increasingly critical that all nations -- especially the most vulnerable -- are able to understand and harness climate and weather data in their efforts to adapt to a changing planet.
13 March allAfrica.com article

World Water Forum to discuss climate change

As world water experts head for Istanbul for major international discussions, during which adapting water policy to climate change will feature high on the agenda, the Commission is underlining that the issue is largely about "managing uncertainty".
13 March EurActiv article

Adapting to climate change in Archangel

Changing temperatures mean the hardy people of northern Russia are having to adapt, but they are not yet sure to what, the BBC's Moscow correspondent James Rodgers finds out.
7 March BBC News online article

Adapting to climate change - An urgent societal priority

As more definitive scientific evidence on the impacts of climate change at the global, regional and local levels continues to accumulate, a greater sense of urgency is arising across political capitals, in the business community and within civil society. Of special concern are studies which now conclude that climate impacts from greenhouse gas levels expected by 2050 will persist for about 1,000 years regardless of how well decision makers reduce future emissions.
6 March ClimateBiz article

Climate change: Bring Africa in from the cold

For Africa to effectively adapt to climate change, the rules of the game must change in Copenhagen, says Araya Asfaw. Africa is the continent most affected by climate change, yet it has gained the least from past climate change negotiations.
4 March SciDev Net opinion

Prices drop early and recover

European carbon emissions futures hit a new 5-month low early mid-week before climbing back into positive territory on the back of stronger German power prices, traders said.
26 November Reuters article

NZ approves trading

After fierce debate New Zealand's parliament has passed its emissions trading scheme, with the legislation scraping through 63 votes to 58.
25 November ABC article

World 'better off without ETS'

Australia and other countries would be better off with no ETS. Offsetting denies the right of poor countries to develop and at the same time retards structural change designed to reduce emissions in advanced industrial countries.
23 November The Age opinion by Kenneth Davidson

Offsets market 'needs US involvement'

An injection of United States talent into the $6.5 billion market in carbon offsets would help clear bureaucratic bottlenecks, making way for increased investment in clean energy, the CEO of a $310 million environmental fund said.
19 November Reuters article

Trading 'at a crossroads'

Emissions trading stands at a crossroads - a future as a $2 trillion market if the United States bolsters it, or as a modest sideline to energy and commodities trade if a new climate treaty is not agreed.
18 November Reuters analysis

More automatic approval for CDM projects

The chairman of the world’s largest carbon-offset market, the Clean Development Mechanism, said more emissions-reduction projects will be automatically approved after the rate plunged from a year earlier, curbing investor funding.
16 November Bloomberg article

Lithuania wants to sell credits

Lithuania wants to sell 50 million tonnes of emission rights from its 2008-2012 period quota, the Lithuania environment ministry said.
16 November Reuters article

European market fears storm

The European carbon market is bracing itself for a storm as another wave of selling by industrial companies is anticipated at the end of December or early January.
12 November Reuters article

Merger talks

Britain's Trading Emissions and Leaf Clean Energy are in early merger talks in a move that would create the largest carbon-focused company listed in London.
10 November Reuters article

Carbon futures fall

European Union carbon emissions futures slid toward 14 euros a tonne after oil prices fell by more than $2, traders said.
9 November Reuters article

Traders deny carbon is 'next sub-prime crisis'

Carbon traders have refuted claims that the European emissions trading market is “the next sub-prime crisis”, after a report by Friends of the Earth called for the system to be abolished. The environmental charity said not only does the current system of trading permits fail to tackle climate change, it is also financially dangerous.
5 November Telegraph article

Poland to sell surplus credits

Poland will soon sign a deal to sell a total 40 million euros ($60 million) of surplus greenhouse gas emission rights to Spain and Ireland, the country's first such government-to-government deal under the Kyoto Protocol, its environment minister said.
26 October Reuters article

Trading industry 'needs firm signal'

The global carbon industry is expected to perform well this year despite the global financial crisis — but it is fast running out of time, a carbon expert said. What it needs is a clear signal from world leaders that there will be a firm price on carbon past the Kyoto agreement which expires in 2012, said fund manager Josh Carmody of the Asia-Pacific Carbon Fund under the Asian Development Bank.
26 October Malaysian Insider article

India, Norway co-operate on CDM    

India and Norway signed a three-year agreement to cooperate in the area of climate change and implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism projects of the Kyoto Protocol.
23 October Business Standard article

Standard Bank to launch forestry fund

South Africa's Standard Bank is close to launching a A$250 million ($230 million) forestry fund in Australia, aimed at selling carbon offsets to companies, in what is believed to be the largest fund of its kind so far. It will focus on companies that will need to meet emissions reduction targets under carbon trading laws awaiting approval by the Australian Senate, said Singapore-based William Pazos, global head of origination and finance at Standard Bank.
21 October Reuters article through Planet Ark

Uncertainty hanging over carbon market

The uncertain outcome of December's climate summit in Copenhagen is hanging over the carbon market, denting confidence in the future of emissions trading, market participants said.
20 October Reuters article

CDM reforms in danger

Necessary reforms to the Clean Development Mechanism were in danger of being overshadowed by other issues in talks to form a new climate change pact later this year, the head of the International Emissions Trading Association said.
20 October Reuters article

China to start trading

China will certainly start a domestic carbon trading market within the next year, Gao Zhengqi, general manager of Tianjin Emission Exchange, said.
14 October People's Daily article

China plans pilot trading system

China plans to include a pilot emissions trading system in its five-year plan for economic development until 2015, the Environment Ministry said, but declined to comment on whether it would cover carbon dioxide.
27 September Reuters article

As others struggle, Europe deepens reliance on trading

Even as European nations deepen their reliance on carbon trading, governments elsewhere still are struggling to put such systems in place.
27 September New York Times article

European trading takes a blow

The Europe-wide carbon trading market suffered a severe blow when a European court issued a ruling that will weaken carbon prices and undermine efforts by the European Commission to curb carbon emissions further.
24 September Times article

Carbon market standard for China

A French emissions exchange and a Chinese group are forming a carbon market standard for China, marking a step toward a voluntary system to limit greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and forestry in the world's top emitter.
23 September Reuters article

Europe moves to protect industry

Experts from the European Union agreed on a list of industries ranging from plastics manufacturing to iron and food processing that will be largely exempted from carbon trading after 2013 for fears that their inclusion would move production abroad.
21 September EurActiv brief

France announces carbon tax

France has announced that they will begin to impose a new carbon tax next year.  The new tax, announced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, will cover the use coal, gas and oil and cost 17 euros per tonne of emitted carbon dioxide. Sarkozy has said the money brought in from the new tax, an estimated 4.3 billion euros, would be returned to taxpayers through tax cuts in other areas as well as “green checks.”
14 September Trans World News article
11 September Independent article

France to set low tax level

France's proposed carbon tax is expected to be included in the 2010 budget but will probably be set below the 32 euros per tonne level recommended by a special advisory panel, Budget Minister Eric Woerth said.
26 August Reuters article through Planet Ark

Poland may ban sale of free credits

Poland may ban utilities from selling European Union carbon emissions permits many of them will get for free from 2013 as a way of curbing windfall profits, a government source said.
26 August Reuters article 

Price rise 'exaggerated'

The near doubling of United Nations and European Union carbon prices in the past six months was “exaggerated” as sellers unwound hedges to lock in profit, according to traders.
26 August Bloomberg article 

Credits sale

World Energy Solutions is selling 15 million sovereign Kyoto Protocol carbon emissions rights through its World Green Exchange, the Massachusetts-based company said in a statement,
26 August Reuters article through Planet Ark 

India looks to cap and trade

The Indian government has provided early approval of a national energy-efficiency plan, including provisions for a cap-and-trade market that could be worth about $15bn a year.
26 August BusinessGreen article

US looks to trade in sinks

The United States, which has lagged in addressing global warming, claims to lead the world in developing a market for forests that soak up carbon dioxide emissions.
21 August Reuters article

Arrests over credits scam

Officers from HM Revenues and Customs, working with Europol, have now arrested seven men and two women following a suspected 38 million pounds value-added tax scam related to carbon credit trading. Further arrests are expected.
21 August Reuters article through Planet Ark

Futures Commissions stakes territory

A proposal by the United States of America Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee a greenhouse gas contract on a voluntary Chicago trading exchange shows the agency is staking out its territory before Congress decides which agencies should regulate the country's burgeoning carbon market.
20 August Reuters article through Planet Ark 

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed increasing federal oversight of the Chicago Climate Exchange's carbon spot contract.
19 August Reuters article through Planet Ark

South Korea seeks to become trading hub

South Korea, one of the world's fastest growing polluters, said it hopes to become Asia's trading hub for carbon emission certificates and related products under its plan for a new carbon exchange from 2011.
19 August Reuters article

North American cooperation

The United States, Canada and Mexico said they would put in place infrastructure to cooperate on greenhouse gas emissions trading.
12 August Reuters article through Planet Ark 

UN sees trading timing a domestic matter for Australia

Australia's Climate Minister Penny Wong firmly supports commencing an emsissions trading scheme before the December global negotiatons, saying not having a deal in place would weaken Australia's bargaining position.
31 July The Age article
31 July ABC article

‘Dark Market’ trades banned

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer said a new version of a “cap-and-trade” bill passed by the U.S. House last month will sharply curtail over-the-counter, or “dark market,” trading in carbon dioxide permits which is generally not subject to regulation and offers less transparency on pricing.
21 July Bloomberg article

Hot air a worry

Too many permits for trading and no way to account for falling demand are key concerns in the Sanbag.org report analysing the EU-Emissions Trading Scheme. Some real emission cuts may be avoided if permits are traded for so called 'Hot Air Credits' which only represent flaws in the system's accounting practices.
20 July Guardian article
Report

Computer sofware to the rescue?

Microsoft created an online tool called 'Project 2 Degrees' for cities across the world to monitor and then reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They have tailored an online carbon accounting tool for cities, businesses are increasingly turning on to the benefits and need to track their own GHGs, opening up an area for enterprise software companies to provide the best tools for the job.
20 July CNN article

Australian carbon cops

Carbon trading may require a new kind of policing says a climate change lawyer who indicates that the Australian Federal Police may need to employ new experts to avoid scams. The federal government's carbon pollution reduction scheme aims to reduce Australia's carbon emissions through a cap and trade system.
20 July News.com article

Expanding global market

The global market for low carbon goods and services could grow by a third or more in six years. A UK government policy paper says the carbon trading sector could expand to 4.3 trillion pounds ($7,047 billion) by 2015 from 3 trillion pounds in 2007/08, boosted by countries looking for ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions
15 July Reuters article

Carbon markets expected to rise after the fall

According to a new book 'Carbon Markets: An International Business Guide', the volumes of carbon credits continue to rise with carbon markets expected to treble in size by 2012. It suggests that irrespective of any agreement in Copenhagen, growth will be driven by new emissions-trading schemes in the US, Australia and New Zealand and the broadening of the European Emissions-Trading Scheme (EU-ETS).
2 July RedOrbit article

Australian carbon trade debate deferred

The Australian parliament will resume carbon trading debate on August 13, but there are no signs that either the conservative opposition that says the laws will punish business or the Green opposition that wants much tougher measures are ready to cede ground to allow the scheme to pass.
25 June Reuters article
25 June ABC article

Fake carbon credits in PNG

The government of Papua New Guinea is to conduct an investigation into claims of con men selling fake carbon-trading certificates to small landowners. At least 500 villagers, mostly in Oro province on the northwest coast, have paid upwards of $400 to register as shareholders in a carbon-trading company.
25 June UPI article

Australia's emissions trading plan in trouble

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which aims to cut Australian emissions by at least 5 percent of 2000 levels by 2020, or by as much as 25 percent overall if other major emitters agree, passed easily through the Labour-controlled House of Representatives this month. But the Senate, which is controlled by conservatives and minor parties, has vowed to defeat the bill.
21 June New York Times article

EU subsidy for green energy trials

Under the European Union's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) 300 million emissions permits will be divided between companies testing new technologies that slash CO₂ emissions from power generation. A new report gives the first list of eligible technologies including superheated solar towers and gas from trees.
10 June EurActiv article

Carbon Market uncertainty 

Uncertainty that a global climate change deal can be reached at Copenhagen in December has dented confidence in the U. S. and Europe for the global greenhouse gas emissions market. The survey The Greenhouse Gas Market Sentiment, was launched by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) at a carbon conference in Barcelona.
28 May Reuters article

Australian ETS vote may wait for global talks

Forces in the Australian parliament may work together in delaying legislation setting up the domestic emissions trading scheme, which is now not scheduled to start until mid-2011. The Greens and the Senate independents said they would consider a Coalition option to delay a vote on the laws until after the international Copenhagen climate negotiations.
23 May The Australian article

Clean development given offset credit

World Bank's carbon finance unit says emissions offsets will play an important role in any future global climate deal if moved from clean development projects to offset credit programmes. They aim to scale up the use of market mechanisms to encourage countries to take a more comprehensive and strategic approach to climate change mitigation.
19 May EurActiv article

EU carbon market looking up

The European carbon market, like its peers across energy and commodities, appears to be pinning its hopes on a big-picture economic recovery and ignoring a weak demand outlook closer to home. Prices for permits under the European Union's emissions trading scheme have nearly doubled since hitting a low of €8 in February.
15 May EurActiv article

America can stay competitive with emissions trading

A new Pew Centre study, The Competitiveness Impacts of Climate Change Mitigation Policies, allays fears that United States jobs and production will move to emerging economic powers like China and India if the U.S. moves forward with mandatory climate policy while other countries do not.
8 May ClimateBiz article
Report

Australian government delays start of carbon trading

Among changes to the scheme, a price cap will apply for the first year with carbon permits costing A$10 per tonne, followed by a floating price until July 2013. A 5-year emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries (EITE) review will look at whether the price cap should continue into the future.
4 May The Guardian article
4 May BBC article

Carbon trading boosts natural gas

Ian Cronshaw, head of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) energy diversification division argued that strong prices of around €25-28 a tonne at the beginning of last year gave gas-fired companies a big competitive advantage in the UK, for example. "High carbon prices are a very strong driver of gas-fired power," he said.
4 May EurActive article

New Zealand power company supports emissions trading

According to the Contact Energy chief executive, carbon emissions trading scheme would raise New Zealand electricity power prices by around 4 per cent, He said the company supported an ETS, which underpinned the more than $2 billion of renewable energy projects it has in advanced stages of development.
13 April New Zealand Herald article

Canadians argue: carbon tax or trade?

Leading up to the May 12 provincial election in Canada's pacific province of British Columbia, the New Democratic Party has moved its support from a carbon tax to a 'cap and trade' system. The first of its kind in Canada, B.C.'s plan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by one-third by 2020.
17 April Vancouver Sun article
17 April Times Colonist article
4 April CBC article

Penny Wong addresses US policy centre

During a visit from the Australian climate minister, the head of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change says Australia and America will have much to learn from one another to construct a carbon trading system to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Both economies are heavily dependent on coal with industries sensitive to international competitiveness.
11 April NY Times article

Don't throw out the baby...

A paper from the French Institute of International Relations claims that a cap & trade system will better address emissions reductions worldwide than carbon taxation. They caution throwing out the baby with the bath water, pointing out those current emission reductions due to economic downturn will be short lived and the developing trade system has become more robust over time.
2 April Euractive article
Report

Japan to float trial carbon market with 202 users

A trial carbon market is to float in Japan with 202 compliance participants, the government said, marking a rather low-key start for a country whose greenhouse gas emissions are well above its Kyoto target. Japanese industry's voluntary reductions in energy-origin carbon dioxide (CO2) are a core part of Japan's plan to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, and a carbon market is in theory helps to promote their efforts by putting a price on CO2.
26 March Reuters article

Carbon Bazaar to facilitate investments in CDM market

The Indian environment ministry is organising a ‘Carbon Bazaar’ with an aim to tap growing global Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) market and facilitate investment in carbon offset projects. The event, being held for the first time in India, is expected to draw stakeholders from across the world, offering opportunity to local firms to develop green projects.
26 March The Financial Express article

Top China think tank proposes greenhouse gas plan

A top Chinese state think tank has proposed a global greenhouse gas trading plan to reflect the different historic emissions of rich and poor nations, indicating deepening discussion in Beijing about climate change policy.
25 March Reuters through Yahoo News article

US will have cap-and-trade law: Obama

US President Barack Obama has expressed confidence that a budget plan being thrashed out by lawmakers will include a cap-and-trade system to cut carbon emissions, despite opposition in Congress.
25 March The Sydney Morning Herald article

US Big Steel pushes for carbon fees on China

China's steel industry should face fees on its exports into the United States if Washington adopts greenhouse gas cuts and Beijing does not, US steel industry officials and advocates said.
23 March Reuters article

RGGI carbon prices buoyant after auction

The third auction under North America’s first mandatory emissions cap and trade scheme has seen 31.5 million permits sold at a clearing price of $3.51 each. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) sees Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont combining to cap emissions from power stations over the next decade.
23 March Carbon Positive article

Mixed verdict on CDM technology transfer

The UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) stands to produce $95 billion on clean technology transfer to developing countries from richer nations, according to analysis of the scheme by the UNFCCC. But the bulk of the potential technology transfer is yet to occur, with only $5 billion yet identified from registered projects. And there are question marks over how wide the distribution of clean or low-emissions technology is around the developing world.
23 March Carbon Positive article

Japan buys Ukraine carbon credits to keep within cap

Japan, seeking to meet a 2012 cap on greenhouse-gas emissions, agreed to purchase carbon dioxide credits from Ukraine in its first such overseas deal. The two countries signed a contract for the sale of credits under the United Nations-sponsored Kyoto Protocol, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko said.
19 March Bloomberg article

Carbon-market backers split over Obama climate plan

Barack Obama’s proposal to charge billions of dollars for pollution permits has divided businesses, environmentalists and Democrats all needed to help pass a US law to limit climate damage from greenhouse gases.
19 March Bloomberg article

Voluntary carbon standard registry debuts

The Voluntary Carbon Standard Association launched an online registry and database of approved projects and carbon credits issued under its program. Proponents say the move will boost credibility of the voluntary carbon market because the credits, called Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs), can be tracked from the time they are issued until retirement to avoid double-counting.
18 March ClimateBiz article

Climate change: A development mechanism that cleans little

The clean development mechanism, the Kyoto Protocol instrument that allows industries in rich countries to earn emission reduction credits by financing environment-friendly projects in developing countries, is a perverse but at the moment necessary tool to fight global warming, says a German environmental expert.
18 March IPS article

'Cap the rich' to keep emissions targets fair

The phrase "it's not fair" is not just the preserve of petty childhood tantrums – you hear it a lot in climate negotiations between global leaders too. Now, a proposal to force rich people everywhere to stick to personal emissions targets offers hope for a fairer climate deal.
17 March New Scientist article

UN may allow carbon credits even as rules tightened

The United Nations may allow greenhouse-gas cutting projects to get credits for as long as 21 years even if developing countries change their policies on emissions. Projects that get credits from the UN-managed clean development mechanism “may continue until the end of their current crediting period,” under rules being considered at a meeting later this month in Bonn, according to a document on the Web site of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
16 March Bloomberg article

Obama compromise on carbon could cut revenues

If the United States gives industry too many permits to emit greenhouse gases in a future climate regulation plan, it could cut revenues that had been expected to fund tax breaks and clean energy development. President Barack Obama indicated to the Business Roundtable he had some flexibility in making carbon emitters -- like coal-fired power plants, cement makers and oil refineries -- buy all of the permits in any cap-and-trade emissions plan.
16 March Reuters through Planet Ark analysis

Carbon credits may help cover fast-track costs

With the global recession deepening and Chinese banks increasingly reluctant to lend, Indonesia is looking to carbon credits to offset at least some of the expense of its massive $17.25 billion fast-track energy development program. The government has reached an agreement on carbon credits from developed countries that could potentially generate $30 billion, said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro.
15 March Jakarta Globe article

US senators attack cap-and-trade for climate change

The United States should not impose a cap-and-trade system to battle climate change this year because it amounts to a painful tax during a deep recession, some senators argued. "Now is not the time to put a national sales tax on every electric bill and every gasoline purchase," Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, who sits on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters.
12 March AFP article

International trade rules and climate change policy

The Obama Administration has provided new leadership for tackling climate change. Yet with the limits of international trade rules, how can an effective cap and trade policy be crafted? In the first part of his series, Kevin M. Dempsey, partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf, explains the complicated consequences of discriminating against imports based on carbon emissions. In the second part, he explains the benefits of carbon auctions — and the complications they may create under WTO law.
11 March The Globalist opinion (Part 1)
12 March The Globalist opinion (Part 2)

Energy reform: Heavy hitters seek to sway cap and trade debate

As President Obama continues his push for a market-based cap on greenhouse gas emissions, an unprecedented number of powerful lobbying groups are preparing to leave their mark on the impending federal policy.
12 March Fox News article

Climate Exchange profits up as volumes soar

Pre-tax profits more than trebled at Climate Exchange, operator of the leading US and European carbon exchanges, as volumes continue to grow. The group reported pro-forma pre-tax profits of £2.8 million ($3.9 million) for last year, up from £0.85 million in 2007. Factoring in non-cash share-based payments turns this to a pre-tax loss of £2.5 million, but this is down from a £8.3 million loss in 2007. Revenues were up by 67%, to £22.7 million.
12 March Environmental Finance article

Carbon tax 'only way to keep planet cool'

Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut more quickly and deeply than thought only two years ago to avoid dire consequences, and a straight-up carbon tax is the only realistic way to do it, top climate scientist James Hansen says.
12 March The Sydney Morning Herald article

China's approach to tree-planting cannot get us out of the climate crunch

Carbon offsetting from reforestation is over-estimated: we must enable countries with the world's remaining forests to stop chopping down trees.
11 March Guardian article

S&P adds green index

Investors have received another tool designed to track green themes and greenbacks. Standard & Poor's launched its S&P US Carbon Efficient Index, designed to measure the performance of large-cap US companies operating with a low carbon emissions footprint.
9 March CNET article
10 March ClimateBiz article

US House panels seek to limit effect of climate plan on nation's pocketbook

The race to write global warming legislation continues with two House hearings on how to help Americans cope with the higher energy costs that inevitably would result from a new US climate policy. The Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee will study different proposals designed to help low- and moderate-income households deal with the projected price increases on energy and energy-intensive goods and services that comes from implementation of a cap-and-trade program.
9 March The New York Times article

New House bill sparks carbon tax vs cap-and-trade debate

The debate over the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions heated up with the introduction of a House bill proposing a carbon tax, rather than the cap-and-trade approach. Representative John Larson (D-Conn.) introduced America's Energy Security Trust Fund Act of 2009, which would tax carbon dioxide emissions at $15 per ton at the source, including refineries, coal mines and shipping terminals for imported fuel, and increase by $10 per year or higher, depending on how fast emissions decline.
8 March ClimateBiz article

Low carbon prices give EU jitters

As the price of EU emission allowances (EUAs) remains under €10, Ed Miliband, the UK's energy and climate change secretary, joined those demanding EU measures to prop up the market. Many experts, however, have warned against such intervention.
3 March EurActiv article

Responses to climate change

The 9th International NCCR Climate Summer School, Adaptation and Mitigation: Responses to Climate Change,  will be held from 29 August to 3 September 2010, in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
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International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE2010)

21-23 April 2010, Singapore. Energy Solutions for a Sustainable World. Based on the theme of “Energy Solutions for a Sustainable World”, ICAE2010 offers a wide range of topics covering clean energy and renewables, advanced energy systems, energy and the environment, energy in buildings, and energy policy.
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Global Biosecurity 2010: safeguarding agriculture and the environment

28 February – 3 March 2010, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The program will focus on agricultural and environmental biosecurity and includes conference streams examining: DRIVERS, IMPACTS, KNOWLEDGE and SYSTEMS
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Sussex Energy Group Conference

25-26 February. University of Sussex. United Kingdom. The Sussex Energy Group at SPRU (Science & Technology Policy Research), University of Sussex is organising and hosting an international conference to discuss and debate emerging research agendas in energy social science. Open to academics, policy makers, industry and non-governmental organisations working in the field of energy transitions.
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Forest Day 3

13 December 2009 Copenhagen, Denmark.Hosted by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, the Government of Denmark and CIFOR. Forest Day 3 aims to ensure forests are high on the agenda for future climate outcomes.
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Bioenergy Australia 2009

8-10 December 2009, Gold Coast, Queensland. (conference tour on 8 Dec) Concerned with all aspects of biomass and bioenergy, from production through to utilisation, and its work embraces technical, commercial, economic, societal, environmental, policy and market issues.
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15th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP15) and 5th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP5)

7-18 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark. These meetings will coincide with the 31st meetings of the UNFCCC’s subsidiary bodies. Under the “roadmap” agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007, COP 15 and COP/MOP 5 are expected to finalize an agreement on a framework for combating climate change post-2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends)
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