Europeans seek momentum for climate change deal in talks with Obama

October 30th, 2009 EU leaders assess new climate change finance dealBRUSSELS — The European Union is seeking to maintain a united stand on climate change by giving leeway to poorer member states to pay less into global climate aid fund. EU leaders opened a final day of summit talks Friday facing a new proposal that would allow cash-strapped eastern EU states to pay less into a fund to entice developing nations to join an international climate pact by helping them cope with the effects of global warming.

October 30th, 2009 EU offers billions to climate fundBRUSSELS — European Union leaders agreed Friday to contribute to a euro50 billion ($74 billion) annual aid fund that would help developing nations adapt to climate change — but failed to set a firm figure for exactly how much the EU would pay. "We are ready to offer if our partners deliver" and put up other financing that the EU says poor nations will need by 2020, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at the end of a two-day EU summit.

October 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - India has proposed annual bilateral dialogues with the United States and the European Union to exchange notes on the issue of climate change, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has said. The proposed dialogue with the Europeans and the Americans could be on the lines of the first India-China energy dialogue scheduled to take place in New Delhi Oct 21, he said at a press conference here Friday at the end of his US visit.

September 23rd, 2009 Obama pleads for harder work on climate changeUNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama has implored world leaders to confront climate change, saying there can be no peace without cooperative work to preserve the planet. Appearing before global leaders gathered at the United Nations, Obama said Wednesday that "the danger posed by climate change cannot be denied — and our responsibility to meet it must not be deferred." The president said "this is why the days when America dragged its feet on this issue are over." He said he understood the tempation of nations to put economic recovery from recession ahead of climate change work, but said that must not be allowed to happen.

September 22nd, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - Warning that the global economic recession could hinder the ability of countries to take necessary steps to combat climate change, President Barack Obama Tuesday told world leaders "we are determined to act". "The journey is hard.

September 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States' top climate official said there had been a "narrowing of differences" after a meeting of the world's 17 top polluters that are critical to reaching any international deal on curbing climate change. Todd Stern, the US State Department's envoy on climate change, said Friday some "concrete initiatives" that could help broker a deal were considered during two days of talks by the climate officials in Washington.

September 8th, 2009 UN to add YouTube to live TV for climate momentumUNITED NATIONS — The U.N. is turning to YouTube to jolt the world's plodding climate diplomacy into higher gear.

August 24th, 2009 STOCKHOLM - Participants at the World Water Week conference here have urged the governments to include the problem of water shortage in the negotiations on climate change. Access to drinking water has a significant impact on economy, health, agriculture and other spheres of life, they said.

July 27th, 2009 Obama: US, China interested in clean energyWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the U.S. and China have a shared interest in creating clean and secure energy sources.

June 27th, 2009 Obama, Brown speak on climate change, economyWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday spoke with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to discuss climate change and the global economic recovery. Obama spoke with his counterpart by telephone as part of their ongoing consultations.

April 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama wants India and the United States to build a renewable energy partnership as they work together to find solutions to climate change issues. Obama conveyed this to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy on climate change issues, Shyam Saran, during a meeting Monday with leaders of delegations to a meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate here.

March 29th, 2009 BONN - A new round of UN climate change negotiations kicks off in Bonn Sunday, as 2,000 delegates from around 180 countries gather in the former German capital. The 10-day conference is the first of three planned meetings paving the way for December's Copenhagen summit, where final talks are due on a renewal of the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012.

March 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy on nuclear issues and climate change Shyam Saran is holding talks with the Obama administration focusing on cooperation in the field of renewable and clean energy. Saran Monday articulated India's view on how to tackle the crucial issue taking into account the concerns of developing and emerging economies at meetings with Todd Stern, US Special Envoy on Climate Change and Nancy Helen Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

January 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new climate change envoy Monday as part of a bolstered US presence on the international stage to address global warming. Todd Stern will become the country's chief climate negotiator with the international community, which is hoping to agree to a new climate treaty by the end of this year.

January 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama Monday said Washington would take on a new leading role in confronting climate change and weaning the country off its dependence on foreign oil. Obama signalled a clean break in climate and energy policy from the administration of former president George W Bush, which was criticized for playing down the dangers of climate change.