The outcome of the historic climate change negotiations in Copenhagen hinges on the issues of emissions reductions and financing, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he urged world leaders to use the final days of the talks to strike an ambitious new agreement. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that to stave off the worst effects of climate change, industrialized countries must slash greenhouse...

After three days of deadlock, the United Nations climate talks here are moving again, propelled by a quickly approaching deadline, the prospect of 130 world leaders in the same city, and “sustained pressure” by major developing countries, including India. With less than 24 hours left before the end of the summit, negotiators are back to working on both the Kyoto Protocol and long-term action draft texts. In other encouraging signs for...

Spewing summit The Copenhagen summit will generate more carbon emissions than any previous climate conference, equivalent to the annual output by 2,300 Americans or 660,000 Ethiopians. Delegates, journalists, activists and observers from almost 200 countries have gathered at the December 7-18 summit and their travel and work will create 46,200 tonnes of CO2, most of it from their flights to Copenhagen. This would fill nearly 10,000 Olympic swimming pools. The calculation includes...

India, China and 128 other countries briefly walked out of the climate change talks here today in protest against the failure of industrialised countries to make firm commitments on greenhouse gas emission cuts in the years beyond 2012. The walkout by the developing countries followed an exchange between Australian and African delegates at a meeting called to set emission reduction targets for the industrialised countries. Australia refused to make any commitment on...

World leaders arriving at the United Nations conference in Copenhagen next week will be greeted with over100 real-life stories demonstrating the devastating impact global warming has on lives and livelihoods of people around the world. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today installed the UN Climate Wall - high-tech touch-screens broadcasting the sights and sounds of a changing climate - near the conference hall where the majority of the world's heads...