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.
Details

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.
Details

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
Details

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.
Details

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.
Details

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.
Details

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)
Details

Severe drought brings rationing and wildfires

In Rwanda, water rationing will start due to shortages caused by a prolonged drought in parts of the country, now facing a deficit of up to 22,000 cubic metres of water every day. Environmental specialists blame the drought on climate change, with erratic rainfall and frequent dry spells which have led to wildfires burning into Uganda.
3 July Daily Nation article
9 July AllAfrica.com article
19 July AllAfrica.com article

El Nino threatens surge in  emissions of forest carbon

Greenhouse emissions from the burning of Asian tropical forests are set to spiral over the next couple of years if a predicted El Nino weather pattern sets in, carbon scientists warn. Past El Ninos have brought massive burning of forests in South-East Asia as land users find the conditions ripe for fire-clearing, according to the Global Carbon Project.
7July CarbonPositive article
7 July Independent Online article

U.S. climate bill could reward farmers

The climate bill nearing a vote in the U.S. will have the Agriculture Department oversee projects by farmers and ranchers to lock carbon into the soil by reduced tillage or planting trees and temporarily reduce obstacles to corn-based ethanol production.
24 June Reuters article

Rural land use decisions out of farmers hands?

Anxieties about food security and a possible global food crisis join climate change to bring additional demands on land according to leading academics. Complex decisions juggle space for growing new biofuel crops, water storage, additional room for mobile or flexible infrastructure and accommodating more people than ever.
9 June Science Daily article

Climate change crop failure Insurance

UN negotiators in Bonn are considering an innovative insurance scheme as a central component of climate change adaptation measures in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In India's Kolhapur province next year up to 600,000 farmers might be able to insure against their rice crops failing due to drought or heavy rains.
8 June The Guardian article

Water footprint a crop cost

Determining the water footprint for thirteen crops helped researchers to choose a specific crop and production region to plan water efficient bioelectricity production. The study may be used to assist selection of crops and countries that produce bio-energy in the most water-efficient way.
3 June PNAS open access article
4 June Science Daily article

Animal diseases linked to climate change

The impact of climate change on the emergence and re-emergence of animal diseases has been confirmed in a worldwide study conducted by the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health). More and more countries are indicating that climate change has been responsible for at least one emerging or re-emerging disease occurring on their territory.
2 June PigProgess article
OIE Report

Big drops in African crops

By 2050, hotter conditions, coupled with shifting rainfall patterns, could make 500,000 to one million square kilometres of marginal African farmland no longer able to support even a subsistence level of food crops but may still support livestock. The land currently supports 20 to 35 million people.
2 June Science Daily article

Shellfish larva vulnerable to high carbon water

Now high concentrations of dissolved carbon in seawater may join overfishing and disease to threaten shellfish populations in many of the world's temperate estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Acidification of open ocean, coastal and estuarine waters have been shown to slow the development of shells and may even cause them to dissolve.
28 May Science Daily article

Satellite Crop forecasting

A NASA group has improved assessments of current soil moisture conditions, or "nowcasts," which makes a big difference in the precision of crop forecasts. Soil moisture is essential for seeds to germinate and for crops to grow and record droughts and scorching temperatures have caused soil to dry up regionally, crippling crop production.
28 May Science Daily article

Birds threatened globally

Climate change is "significantly amplifying" the threats facing the world's bird populations, a global assessment show one in eight of all bird species are threatened. The 2008 IUCN Bird Red List warns that long-term droughts and extreme weather puts additional stress on key habitats.
19 May BBC article

British envoy calls for investment in food security

UK agriculture Secretary, meeting with the new American administration, Europe and the United Nations representiives, called for investment that bolsters global food security to meet the he challenges of sustainable food production, feeding the world and climate change.
16 May Farmers Weekly Interactive article

Threats to the ocean off the West Coast of the United States

A two-year study to focus attention on the hot-spots where coordinated management of land and ocean activities is needed along the US Coastline plotted 25 human-derived sources of ecological stress, including climate change, commercial and recreational fishing, land-based sources of pollution and ocean-based commercial activities.
15 May Science Daily article

Avoided emissions adds to conservation cash

The Ducks Unlimited Avoided Grassland Conversion Project, a waterfowl-breeding habitat in the U.S. and Canada, has been validated to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity standards as avoiding greenhouse gas emissions, allowing offsets related to it to be sold.
8 May Climate Biz article

Regrowth clearing on hold

Queensland Parliament has imposed a three-month temporary ban on the clearing of regrowth vegetation. The land clearing moratorium aims to stop panic clearing while the Government talks to landholders about proposed restrictions on clearing revegetation.
24 April ABC article

Mainstream climate for agriculture education

A symposium organized to share information on climate change challenges for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa explored methods of mainstreaming climate change knowledge into agricultural education and identified recommendations on effective policies, institutions and capacity.
23 April WorldAgroforestry article
Report (pdf 3.14Mb)

Alert for sleeper weeds

CSIRO report ed for the Australian Government’s Land and Water Australia on 41 weeds that pose a threat to agriculture (“sleeper” species) and the natural environment (“alert” species). They show that climate change will cause most of these weeds to shift south, with wet tropical species moving over 1000km.
16 April Science Daily article

Forest carbon sinks may be stuffed

 “Adaptation of Forests and People to Climate Change – A Global Assessment”, a report by 35 of the world’s top forestry scientists, shows that Earth’s forests could stop soaking up about 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and even become a new source if the Earth heats up another 2.5 degrees Celsius.
16 April EurekAlert article
17 April RedOrbit article
Report

Food for thought

An International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) policy paper published last month proposes that international climate talks must include agriculture, which emits 14% of total greenhouse gas emissions. They say it also has a "unique role" in absorbing carbon emitted from other sectors.
10 April EurActiv article

Agriculture wants a place at the table

Looking for inclusion at the global climate negotiations in December, agriculture will be vulnerable to changing climate but can also contribute to reducing emissions according to a paper, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute.
1 April SciDev.net article

Climate change adaptation innovations

Modeling studies undertaken by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) on the potential impact of climate change on dryland crops show that the drop in yields can be minimized through the use of adapted and improved crop varieties plus soil and water management innovations. The interventions can be further strengthened through developing improved varieties and hybrids that are better targeted for climate change adaptation including enhancing capacities of the farming communities.
30 March The New Nation article

Australia wants forest CO2 trade in Copenhagen pact

Australia has submitted a proposal to UN climate negotiators that outlines a scheme to use carbon credits to protect rain forests, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said. "We think a post-2012 agreement will need to include forests in some way," Wong told Reuters in an interview in New York after addressing UN diplomats at the International Peace Institute, a think tank devoted to peace and security.
27 March Reuters article

Hotter days ahead to change farming, greenhouse conference told

Australia is hotter than ever and is expected to get hotter, with huge consequences for the nation's farming industry. CSIRO scientist Mark Howden has warned that changes in climate, even though only slight, meant the nation needed to re-think approaches to agriculture.
27 March The Australian article

Farmers want Obama to make carbon a cash crop under climate law

Rex Woollen grows corn and soybeans. In 2007, the Wilcox, Nebraska, farmer started cultivating a new commodity: carbon. By not tilling his 800 acres, Woollen by some estimates keeps 470 tons of carbon per year in the ground and out of the atmosphere. Because of that, Woollen gets carbon credits he can sell on the Chicago Climate Exchange.
26 March Bloomberg article

Farmers face growing climate change dilemma: scientist

Farmers of the future will have to use cattle and sheep that belch less methane, crops that emit far less planet-warming nitrous oxide and become experts in reporting their greenhouse gas emissions to the government. Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gases and globally that share will rise as demand for food from growing human populations also increases, scientist Richard John Eckard of the University of Melbourne said.
26 March Reuters article

'Crunch year' for world's forests

Efforts to mitigate climate change could be hampered if nations do not agree to protect the world's forests by the end of the year, warn researchers. Earthwatch says it is vital for leaders attending a key UN summit in December to find a way to halt deforestation.
25 March BBC News online article

'Reducing deforestation cheapest way to arrest global warming'

Minimising the cutting of wood and its use as fuel can go a long way to fight global warming, and do so in an affordable way, an expert asserts. "Forest clearance and wood burning have emerged as a major cause of global warming over the last few decades. Deforestation alone contributes over 25 per cent gases responsible for global warming," Michael Kleine of International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) told IANS.
25 March The Hindu article

Nepal faces food crisis amid global climate change

Nepal is facing an acute food shortage as the adverse impact of global climate change has translated into long spells of drought-like situation. According to The Himalayan Times, figures available with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) suggest that lack of rainfall for the last five months has led to a 60 percent drop in yield of winter crops as compared to last year.
25 March China View article

Soil neglected asset in greenhouse gas fight

Scientists complain that the world has so far failed to support agriculture in the fight against climate change, focusing instead on more visible emissions from factories and power plants.
19 March Reuters article

REDD funds approved for pilot nations

UN agencies have released initial funding to five pilot countries to prepare avoided deforestation action plans. The move is a further step in the development of an international financial payments system to stem the loss of climate-critical tropical rainforests.
19 March Carbon Positive article
18 March UN News Centre article

Brazil soy growers fear green backlash, plant trees

Soybean farmer Clovis Cortezia has started replanting native rainforest trees on his farm to meet demands of international buyers keen to be environmentally responsible. Like other growers in Brazil's No. 1 soy-producing state Mato Grosso, Cortezia started replanting trees native to Brazil's center-west savanna in 2007 on 4.6 hectares of his 8,000-hectare farm in Lucas do Rio Verde.
17 March Thomas Reuters Foundation article

EU calls on farmers to start adapting to climate

Europe's farmers must think how to adapt to climate change in coming decades, altering their practices to cut greenhouse gas emissions, make agriculture more resilient and keep land in use, a European Commission paper said.
17 March Reuters through Planet Ark article

Ghana: Women lose their farms to biofuel production

Ghanaian small scale farmers, particularly women, are facing displacement from their farm lands. In recent times, the northern parts of Ghana are said to be witnessing an influx of foreign companies engaged in jatropha and sugar-cane plantation for biofuel production.
16 March allAfrica.com article

Economic crisis poses dire consequences for forests, warns new UN report

The global economic turmoil has resulted in reduced demand for wood, shrinking investments in industries and forest management, according to this year’s United Nations State of the World’s Forests report.
16 March UN News Centre article

Climate change mitigation: Tapping the potential of agriculture

Agriculture needs to be part and parcel of efforts to meet international and national climate change objectives. It is a key source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (14% or 6.8 Gt of CO2 eq.), with a high technical mitigation potential (5.5-6 Gt of CO2 eq. per year by 2030), particularly vis-à-vis emissions from the sector. 89% of this potential could be achieved through soil carbon sequestration. Mitigation options from agriculture are already known, readily available and relatively inexpensive.
12 March IISD Reporting Services article

Organic no-till agriculture could solve global carbon crisis

Combining two new innovations in agriculture -- organic farming and no-till farming -- organic no-till agriculture could present one of the industry's best options for sequestering carbon. If the new method was adopted for all the world's 3.5 billion acres of farmland, organic no-till agriculture could be used to absorb half of all the world's carbon emissions every year, according to researchers.
12 March The Christian Science Monitor article

FAO: Forest management can create new jobs worldwide

Investing in sustainable forest management may create 10 million new jobs, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. "As more jobs are lost due to the current economic downturn, sustainable forest management could become a means of creating millions of green jobs, thus helping to reduce poverty and improve the environment," Jan Heino, assistant director-general of the FAO's forestry department, said.
10 March China View article
11 March The Hindu article

Poor soil management could speed climate change, report warns

Poor soil management could worsen climate change, a new European Commission report warns. Globally, soils contain around twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and three times the amount found in vegetation, so soil is both "a source and a sink of greenhouse gases", the report says. Describing the balance between the two functions as "very delicate", it says: "If carbon is released from soil to the atmosphere or if methane and nitrous oxide emissions increase, climate change will be exacerbated.
11 March edie article

'Cow tax' may be introduced to reduce emissions

The Irish government may have to introduce a “cow tax” to help it meet new tough targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions laid out in the EU’s climate change strategy. It has also been warned that Irish firms may relocate outside Europe to escape the cost of complying with European legislation requiring emissions cuts of 20 per cent by 2020.
9 March The Irish Times article