In the Headlines
June 2009
EU to postpone climate finance decision until autumn • Australia delays renewable energy laws until August • Bonn: Climate change talks move at slow pace • US, China wrap up climate talks • India plans much solar power, slower emissions rise • Duke Energy partners with Cisco to spur development of utility’s smart grid • President Lula: Brazil open to adopt greenhouse targets • Pew study shows strong US green job growth • China launches green power revolution to catch up on west • Airlines call for CO2 targets, climate fund
EU to postpone decision on climate finance until autumn
19 June
EurActiv
EU leaders postponed crucial decisions on financing the fight against climate change in developing countries until their October meeting, in line with draft conclusions. But leaders agreed on the principles setting out the terms for financial contributions.
Australia delays renewable energy laws until August
18 June
Reuters
Australian laws to promote up to $22 billion of renewable energy investment were postponed until August on Thursday, angering the industry and government, which is struggling to pass its climate change agenda.
Bonn: Climate change talks move at slow pace as nations hold on to bargaining chips
13 June
Financial Times
Time is running out for climate change talks, with another meeting of world governments ending yesterday, this time in Bonn, with little progress towards a new agreement on greenhouse gases.
Officials are now pinning their hopes on the summit of the Group of Eight industrialised nations next month
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US, China wrap up climate talks
11 June
Yahoo! News/AFP
The United States and China made a “step in the right direction” toward a global climate pact in talks this week, the US said Thursday, without detailing any concrete proposals on emissions cuts.
India plans much solar power, slower emissions rise
11 June
Reuters
India will submit plans within weeks to slow its rise in carbon emissions significantly and to generate more solar power by 2020 than the whole world generates now, a senior climate official said on Thursday. But the world’s fourth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases cannot say when its emissions will peak and start to decline, said Shyam Saran, special climate envoy to Indian Prime Minster Manmohan Singh.
President Lula: Brazil open to adopt greenhouse targets
10 June
Reuters
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said… Brazil was open to adopting targets for greenhouse gas emissions if rich countries did more to curb climate change. “Brazil should not be afraid of the challenge,” Lula told Reuters in an interview at the presidential residence in the capital Brasilia.
Duke Energy partners with Cisco to spur development of utility’s smart grid
10 June
GreenBiz.com
Duke Energy, the third-largest electric utility in the U.S., will work with network communications giant Cisco Systems Inc. in an effort to speed development of an electric smart grid for the power company and its 11 million customers.
Pew study shows strong US green job growth
10 June
New York Times (Green Inc. blog)
A new study says that the number of green jobs in the United States grew 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, about two and a half times faster than job growth in the economy as a whole. The study, from the Pew Charitable Trusts, also breaks down green job growth on a state-by-state basis.
China launches green power revolution to catch up on west
10 June
Guardian
Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice-chairman of China’s national development and reform commission, told the Guardian that Beijing would easily surpass current 2020 targets for the use of wind and solar power and was now contemplating targets that were more than three times higher. In the current development plan, the goal for wind energy is 30 gigawatts. Zhang said the new goal could be 100GW by 2020…
Airlines call for CO2 targets, climate fund
9 June 2009
Reuters
Some of the world’s largest airlines called on Tuesday for the industry to set global emissions targets as part of efforts to include aviation in a broader climate agreement at the end of the year.