EU presses US Congress on climate change, says should cut carbon emissions

October 11th, 2009 Climate-change protesters scale UK ParliamentLONDON — Several dozen environmental activists scaled Britain's Parliament building Sunday to draw attention to climate change. Greenpeace said 55 of its members were atop the building, where they could be seen holding yellow banners reading "Change the politics, save the climate." One flew a giant flag from a turret in the shadow of the Big Ben clock tower.

October 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - A strict global carbon budget between now and 2050 based on a fair distribution between rich and poor nations has the potential to prevent dangerous climate change and keep temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius, a new WWF report shows. The report, called 'Sharing the effort under a global carbon budget' and released worldwide Friday, is based on research, calculations and analysis by the consultancy Ecofys and shows different ways to cut global emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050 and by 30 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

September 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Democrats introduced ambitious climate-change legislation Wednesday in the Senate with the goal of reducin greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, a larger reduction than the 17-percent approved in June by the House. The bill introduced by Democratic Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer outlines a plan to curb toxic emissions by creating a market for companies to buy and sell pollution permits.

September 24th, 2009 TORONTO - Capturing carbon directly from the air is the only way to prevent dangerous climate changes, says a pioneering Canadian scientist. University of Calgary scientist David Keith says governments need to earmark more research funding for technologies to capture carbon dioxide in surrounding air to save the planet.

September 18th, 2009 LONDON - Indian plans to set numerical targets for curbing greenhouse gas emissions were described Friday as a breakthrough that challenges the US and other rich nations over climate change action. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told The Times of London legislation was being drafted to limit India's carbon footprint ahead of a UN climate change summit in Copenhagen December.

August 10th, 2009 New Zealand sets greenhouse gas emissions targetWELLINGTON, New Zealand —New Zealand announced on Monday that it will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, the country's climate change minister said. The target, confirmed by the Cabinet, will be presented later Monday at an international climate change meeting in Bonn, Germany, Nick Smith said.

July 20th, 2009 Campaigners say EU carbon trading is flawedBRUSSELS — Climate change campaigners claimed Monday that flaws in the European Union's carbon trading program could allow major polluters avoid any real reduction in greenhouse gas emissions during the economic downturn. Cap-and-trade forms the main plank of EU efforts to slash carbon dioxide output by a fifth by 2020.

July 20th, 2009 NEW YORK - The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Monday said there remained a "glaring gap" between the policy and science on climate change. "We need to connect science and policy," Rajendra Pachauri said at a news conference organised by the United Nations Environment Programme.

July 18th, 2009 MUMBAI - There is "no inherent contradiction between poverty eradication and moving towards a low-carbon economy", US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday, signalling her government's approach towards India in the area of combating climate change. "The United States fully supports India's efforts to move all its people out of poverty," Clinton said at a news conference here.

July 15th, 2009 Britain presents plans to cut emissions, add jobsLONDON — The British government detailed ambitious plans Wednesday to cut carbon emissions substantially by 2020, and said 40 percent of the country's electricity by then would come from renewable sources. The proposal on fighting climate change envisions expansions in wind energy as well as continued use of nuclear power and clean coal.

July 15th, 2009 US urges China to set 2050 emissions targetsBEIJING — China and other developing countries should join the United States in setting mid-century targets to cut carbon emissions in the battle against global warming, the U.S. energy secretary said Wednesday.

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - The G8 or the world's most wealthy and developed countries have remained non-committal on setting targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, a demand being stressed by the emerging economies (G5) and other developing countries. Though the G8 and G5 came out with a joint declaration on various issues at this quake-hit Italian town, 100 km from Rome, the document neither set targets for reducing emissions nor any dateline.

June 25th, 2009 Dutch study: slowdown, oil prices slow CO2 growthAMSTERDAM — Dutch researchers say the global recession, high oil prices and more use of wind and other renewable energy sources cut the growth of carbon emissions by half last year. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency says emissions increased by 1.7 percent in 2008, compared to 3.3 percent in 2007 and an average annual growth of 4 percent since 2002.

June 5th, 2009 UN report: Nature best controls climate gasesAMSTERDAM — Nature's way is best for controlling the gases responsible for climate change, the U.N. Environment Program said in a report Friday.

May 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The level of carbon emissions into the Earth's atmosphere will surge nearly 40 percent by 2030 if the governments can't force more limits on pollutants blamed for global warming, a US report said Wednesday. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that energy consumption will increase 44 percent between 2006 and 2030, mainly because of higher demands from the developing world.