UN climate chief: World cannot afford worsening disasters

The world cannot afford escalating disasters of the kind recently witnessed in Pakistan and Russia, the top UN climate change official said on Thursday, underscoring the need for governments to take swift action to lead the world towards a low-carbon future. "There is a growing sense of urgency amongst governments that they need to take this next step in Cancun," Christiana Figueres, said on the margins of a financing for climate change meeting in Geneva. She stressed that "concrete proposals on how to do financing are now required."

Financing said vital for world climate change deal

A global fund to help poorer countries switch to green industrial technology is vital in any new international pact to battle global warming, according to Franz Perrez, Switzerland's top climate negotiator, writes Reuters. He spoke on the eve of a two-day gathering of environmental ministers and experts from some 45 countries in Geneva. The talks will try to pin down differences on how the funding will be set up and who might provide it. "An agreement might be reached by 2012 on how to create the mechanism," Perrez, whose country has organized the meeting together with Mexico, hoped.

China restricts exports of rare earths

China, which produces about 90 percent of rare earths in the world, will gradually reduce the production and exports of these minerals, according to Xinhua. Rare earths are widely used in solar cells and batteries for electric cars, for instance. "Rare earths exist in land where environment is very fragile, so a large amount of extraction hurts China's natural environment. Thus, we had to impose limits on production and trade of rare earths," said Minister of Commerce Chen Deming.

U.S. cars to get new fuel economy labels

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are proposing changes to the fuel economy labels consumers see on the window of every new vehicle. The new labels would provide straightforward energy and environmental comparisons across all types of vehicles, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and conventional gasoline-powered vehicles. The new labels would appear on the windows of as many 2012 model year vehicles as possible.

U.N. climate panel urged to reform, stick to science

The U.N. climate panel should only make predictions when it has solid evidence and should avoid policy advocacy, scientists said in a report on Monday that called for thorough reform of the body, writes Reuters. The report called, for instance, for an overhaul of the panel's management, including the creation of an executive committee that would include people from outside the IPCC. Regarding the errors in IPCC reports, the review group called for stronger enforcement of the panel's scientific review procedures to minimize future mistakes.

Japan plans to bind large firms to CO2 caps

Japan's compulsory emissions trading scheme is set to start in April 2013 and cover large CO2 emitting companies, a draft of the government's proposals showed on Monday, but several issues are still open to debate. The draft, obtained by Reuters, will be presented on Tuesday to an expert committee at the Environment Ministry, which aims to finalize its proposal for Japan's cap-and-trade scheme by the end of this year.

U.S. on track to double renewable capacity by 2012

A new report, unveiled by Vice President Joe Biden this week, finds that the USD100 billion stimulus investment in innovation accelerates significant advances in renewable energy technology and capacity. Over USD23 billion investments are directly contributing to the doubling U.S. renewable energy generation capacity from wind, solar, and geothermal by 2012. As a result of today's investments, the cost of solar energy is forecast to drop by half between 2009 and 2015 putting it on par with the cost of retail electricity from the grid.

Huge California plant - a new milestone in solar expansion

U.S. Federal regulators are nearing final approval of what would be the largest solar power plant in the world, writes The New York Times. This milestone sets a new standard for the industry and marks a major advancement in the Obama administration's efforts to expand renewable energy production nationwide. When fully operational, the solar thermal power plant would have the capacity to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity - enough to power roughly 800,000 homes. In all, nine solar projects in California have been placed on a "fast-track" permitting schedule.

China clean energy plan hinges on coal price

China's USD736-billion push to harness clean energy sources hinges on making the cleaner energy competitive with cheap and CO2-intensive coal without derailing surging industrial growth. But the country faces formidable challenges to make the plan work, writes Reuters. "Parallel policies are essential," said Wang Yi, deputy head of Institute of Policy and management, China Academy of Science. "The government must gradually lift fossil fuel prices while granting incentives to non-fossil fuels to establish a long-term price signal."

Nobel Laureate expects a new solar-wind era

The global photovoltaic energy production increased by a factor of about 90 and wind energy by a factor of about 10 over the last decade and vigorous growth of these two would continue during the next decade and beyond. "Continuous research and development of alternative energy could soon lead to a new era in human history in which two renewable sources will become Earth's dominant contributor of energy," said Walter Kohn as speaking at a special symposium at the American Chemical Society. Dr. Kohn shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Germany assists West African countries to combat climate change

The German government on Tuesday promised to establish a regional science center to assist the ECOWAS countries (fifteen West African States) to combat climate change, writes Xinhua. Germany would finance the center for the first five years and would provide opportunity for its sustainability. The center would also make available to the West African research community the expertise existing in Germany on climate change and adaptive land management through partnerships.

Poor countries are the MDG trailblazers

In September, world leaders will assemble in New York to review progress toward the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For discussions, the Center for Global Development has published a paper that assesses how on or off track countries are toward the targets. The authors find evidence of dramatic achievements by many poor countries, such as Honduras, Laos, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Cambodia, and Ghana. The laggards largely consists of countries devastated by conflict over the last few decades.

Zero Race raises awareness about green transport

Teams from three continents have decided to complete a tour of the world in 80 days with electric cars. They are obliged to power their vehicle by renewable energy, by feeding electricity into the grid in their home country from sources such as solar, wind or others. All teams have developed a new hi-tech electric vehicle especially for the race that is not only about speed. It is also going to be a competition for the latest electric vehicle technology - such as reliability, energy efficiency, utility to every day life, design and safety.

China plans charging standards for electric cars

China plans to issue new standards to regulate the charging infrastructure needed for electric cars, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday, writes Reuters. The government aims to introduce three standards in October that would cover technical requirements, among others, for the charging facilities for electrical vehicles, the Securities News said, citing an unnamed source from the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Global standards to measure emissions one step closer

More than 60 companies have completed the road testing of new global standards designed to help measure the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with individual products across their life-cycles and of corporations across their value chains. Most testers agree that the standards, developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, help in identifying GHG reduction opportunities and prioritizing reduction efforts. The final versions of the standards will be published by March 2011.