Forget emissions, focus on research
Cutting energy use would push billions in the developing world from just above subsistence back to the dark ages, write Nancy Birdsall and Arvind Subramanian
Copenhagen climate conference
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As the countdown to the COP15 climate change conference starting in Copenhagen on December 7 gets under way, countries are wrangling over the shape of a possible deal to curb their carbon emissions
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Clearing ground for a deal to save forests
At the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next month, part of the agreement is expected to include the principles of a new scheme where carbon credits will be offered for maintaining standing forests
Switching from destruction to protection
Protecting carbon-rich tropical forests such as Indonesia’s remote Sebangau National Park is likely to become part of the new global agreement to tackle climate change
Europe’s appliance industry makes the grade
Appliance makers have won changes to a new European energy efficiency labelling scheme after they warned that an earlier rescaling plan could have cost them more than €1.5bn ($2.2bn, £1.4bn) in lost sales
Russia raises its target for emissions cuts
Diplomats said Moscow was willing to reduce emissions by 20-25 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, compared with its previous commitment to cut by 10-15 per cent
Asia set to overtake US in green technology
Asian economies are rapidly increasing investment in manufacturing capacity and research and development into green technologies
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Comment & Analysis
Heating up
As talks ahead of December’s Copenhagen summit enter their final phase, much depends on how America will respond to offers in the absence of a congressional deal
Beijing has played climate cards beautifully
In the frantic round of talks ahead of Copenhagen, Beijing’s negotiators can take comfort from the fact that the real pressure on climate change is being felt in other capitals
The deal we need from Copenhagen
Businesses buying emissions permits in a global market would be politically more palatable than development aid. If most countries can see what is in it for them, a deal may yet be within reach
Follow the science on climate change
A good reason the world should invest hundreds of billions of dollars in cutting carbon emissions is to insure against cataclysmic change that might destroy industrial civilisation
Climate talks must make progress at Pittsburgh
Developing countries are already sceptical of western promises, but if the G20 fails to agree on aid it could make a deal on carbon reduction later this year impossible, write Antonio Palocci and Stephen Byers
Westminster blog: Brown to visit Copenhagen
Gordon Brown has told Newsweek that he will – ‘if it is necessary’ – go to the UN gathering. Cynics may suggest that the prime minister is trying to piggyback a popular issue for his own ends. That might be unfair
Cart before horse
The world does not need to agree now on just how much money flows between countries as a result of climate change. It needs agreement on carbon targets
Climate activists in denial
Most activists believe a failure to achieve an agreement in Copenhagen would be catastrophic. But they also know that, even if a deal is reached, it is likely to be ineffective. If they admit this publicly, they risk creating a climate of despair and inaction. But if they press ahead, they are putting all their energy into an approach that is unlikely to deliver, writes Gideon Rachman
Global Insight: Was G8 more than hot air?
When the G8 discussions on global warming and the Major Economies Forum in Italy were derided as a damp squib, that was only to be expected, writes Fiona Harvey
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