Tag Archive

Gulfs remain after climate talks

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UN climate talks end in Bonn with talk of an improved mood but major gulfs remain between blocs. This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. »

New UN climate chief urges action

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The incoming head of the UN climate convention says rich nations must pledge bigger emission cuts. This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. »

A new direction for climate policy

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VIEWPOINT Does the failure of December’s UN climate conference mean the world needs a completely new approach to tackling climate change? It does, a group of academics is arguing this week – and one of them, Mike Hulme, explains why, and what it is that they are recommending. The gap between the pre-Copenhagen rhetoric of "what... »

Society to review climate message

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By Roger HarrabinEnvironment analyst, BBC News There is debate over “feedback” effects on the climate The UK's Royal Society is reviewing its public statements on climate change after 43 Fellows complained that it had oversimplified its messages. They said the communications did not properly distinguish between what was widely agreed on climate science and what is... »

Climate ‘distraction’ on malaria

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Climate change is likely to have a minimal impact on malaria spread compared with society’s capacity for controlling it, a study finds. This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. »

UN picks new climate change chief

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Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres is to be the new head of the UN climate convention, BBC News understands. This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. »

Climate link to lizard extinction

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Climate change could wipe out 20% of the world’s lizard species by 2080, according to a global-scale study. This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. »

IPCC chief defends climate body

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The IPCC chief defends the work of the climate body, but says it must “listen and learn” from recent criticism. This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. »

US senators unveil climate bill

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The details of a long-awaited US bill on climate change are to be made public later, but analysts are warning it faces a tough battle to be made law. The bill, backed by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, will propose cutting US carbon emissions by 17% by 2020. But it is also expected to... »

US senators to unveil climate bill

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The details of a long-awaited US bill on climate change are to be made public later, but analysts are warning it faces a tough battle to be made law. The bill, backed by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, will propose cutting US carbon emissions by 17% by 2020. But it is also expected to... »

EU must increase climate goals

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VIEWPOINT The EU is not doing enough to deliver meaningful cuts in its emissions, says Bryony Worthington. In this week’s Green Room, she says the economic recession has resulted in a sharp fall in emissions, meaning the 27-nation bloc can hit current targets with little effort and little investment in green technologies. Emissions in the European... »

Climate concerns

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Tackling climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing South Asia. Regional leaders are meeting in Bhutan this week, but are they any nearer agreeing to an action plan? The BBC’s Navin Singh Khadka reports. The issue of climate change is the main item on the agenda of the summit of the South... »

Prospects for climate deal ’slim’

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Prospects of finalising a new binding agreement on climate change by the end of the year are "slim", according to UN climate convention chief Yvo de Boer. He said the process used to draw up the Copenhagen Accord, the document produced at the end of December’s UN climate summit, had worsened distrust. About 110 countries... »

Climate ‘more urgent than ever’

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The need for a new global climate deal is "greater than ever", according to developing country delegates speaking at the opening of UN climate talks. Blocs representing the poorest nations called for intensive talks during the year, leading to agreement on a legally binding treaty in December. The EU backed the call, re-stating that the... »

Climate deal fear as talks resume

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The first round of UN climate talks since December’s bitter Copenhagen summit opens in Bonn on Friday with the future of the process uncertain. Developing countries are adamant that the UN climate convention is the right forum for negotiating a global deal and want it done by the year’s end. But others, notably the US,... »

Climate science ‘openness’ urged

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MPs investigating the climate change row at the UK’s University of East Anglia (UEA) have demanded greater transparency from climate scientists. The Commons Science and Technology Committee criticised UEA authorities for failing to respond to requests for data from climate change sceptics. But it found no evidence Professor Phil Jones, whose e-mails were hacked and... »

Step up climate efforts, MPs say

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Far more needs to be done by the government to help the UK adapt to climate change, MPs have said. The Environmental Audit Committee says a programme to "retrofit" homes to make them more energy and water efficient and resilient to flooding is required. Its report says adapting to climate change needs to become as... »

UN to look at climate meat link

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By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News UN specialists are to look again at the contribution of meat production to climate change, after claims that an earlier report exaggerated the link. A 2006 report concluded meat production was responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions – more than transport. The report has been cited by people campaigning... »

Chair announced for climate probe

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A chairman has been appointed to an independent review into the science published by the research unit at the centre of the "Climategate" row. Lord Oxburgh is a former chairman of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. "The shadow hanging over climate change and science more generally at present makes it... »

Africans ‘take blame for climate’

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By Matt McGrathBBC environment reporter A new survey suggests many Africans blame themselves for climate change even though fossil fuel emissions there are less than 4% of the global total. The report, the most extensive survey ever conducted on public understanding of the issue, found that others blamed God for changes in weather patterns. It... »

Africa ‘lacks climate vocabulary’

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By Matt McGrathBBC environment reporter A new survey suggests many Africans blame themselves for climate change even though fossil fuel emissions there are less than 4% of the global total. The report, the most extensive survey ever conducted on public understanding of the issue, found that others blamed God for changes in weather patterns. It... »

Ads ‘exaggerated climate change’

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Two government press adverts which used nursery rhymes to raise awareness of climate change have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). It said the advertisements went beyond mainstream scientific consensus in asserting that climate change would cause flooding and drought. A total of 939 people complained to the ASA about the "Act on... »

‘Arrogance’ undid climate talks

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By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News The "disappointing" outcome of December’s climate summit was largely down to "arrogance" on the part of rich countries, according to Lord Stern. The economist told BBC News that the US and EU nations had not understood well enough the concerns of poorer nations. But, he said, the summit had led... »

Toxic troubles for climate ‘fix’

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By Richard BlackEnvironment correspondent, BBC News Fertilising the oceans with iron to absorb carbon dioxide could increase concentrations of a chemical that can kill marine mammals, a study has found. Iron stimulates growth of marine algae that absorb CO2 from the air, and has been touted as a "climate fix". Now researchers have shown that the... »

Climate linked to smaller birds

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Songbirds on the US east coast are becoming smaller, a trend thought to be driven by climate changes. »

Scientists to review climate body

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the world’s science academies to review work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Work will be co-ordinated by the Inter-Academy Council, which brings together bodies such as the UK’s Royal Society. The IPCC has been under pressure over small errors in its last major assessment of climate... »