In view of the stalemate on climate legislation in the Senate President Obama has  instructed the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to prepare executive regulations for capping green house gas emissions from automobiles, trucks, refineries, power plants and major industrial emitters. These measures are designed to enter into force in early 2011 if no legislation has [...]

The decision by Areva, the French engineering company with a turn-over of some € 12 billion and employing 75 000 people around the world, to buy Ausra, a tiny US start-up company with less than 100 employees, is likely to give a further boost solar thermal power generation, after the launch of DESERTEC by a [...]

For those fighting to preserve the earth’s climate, the second decade of the 21st century has begun with two bad news:

·     UN member countries will not honour the deadline of February 1st, by which to submit their climate targets for 2020, as “agreed” in the “Copenhagen Accord”. That might be the beginning of [...]

At the Commission Hearings by the EP, January 15, the new Climate Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, has pleaded in favour of continuing to rely on the UN machinery as the way to reach an international agreement on climate change. After two years of unsuccessful preparations, in the UN framework, for the Copenhagen Climate Conference, this is [...]

As of January 1st, the new Brazilian climate legislation (“National Policy on Climate Change Act”) has entered into force. It fixes ambitious targets. By 2020 green house gas emissions should be 39 percent lower than “business as usual”, which should bring back Brazil‘s emissions back to 1994 levels.
To reach this objective, Brazil must first and [...]

Fighting climate change requires action by all countries, but in particular the small number of major  emitting countries- China, USA, EU, Russia, Japan, India, Gulf states, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Korea, South Africa – on which effective mitigation of global climate change hinges.
Up to now only the EU and Japan have taken stringent actions they [...]

Australia is one of the worst green house gas polluters on earth. With its population of 22 million people, a third of France, it emits annually 400 million tons of C02, more than France. Its per capita emissions are close to 20 tons, higher than any other country with the exception of Canada, USA and [...]

Climate change is bound to dramatically impair the living conditions of our children and grandchildren. To mitigate the extent of climate change robust action  willaction will have to be undertaken by all countries, but in particular by OECD countries, in the course of the coming 20 years. Without such action happening, then it will be [...]

After two years of preparation intense diplomatic activity humanity does not seem to ready be up to the task of for taking the necessary action for the dramatic substantial reduction of green houses gases that is necessary to preserve the decent livingclimatic conditions on our small planet earth.
As things stand, Formally speaking, tthe Copenhagen Climate [...]

China and India have signed a five-year agreement for strengthening their cooperation on energy conservation and efficiency and also taking the lead of developing countries in the run-up to Copenhagen.
This is excellent news. Developing countries should put their hand together in Copenhagen for obtaining maximum concessions from developed countries for both emission cuts and financial [...]