Swedish town prides itself as environmental role model

The Swedish town of Vaexjoe will be "green" or will not be at all. That's the slogan in this town that has become a world leader in environmental protection and has even loftier goals.

While the European Union (EU) aims to raise its share of renewable energy consumption to 20 percent by 2020, Vaexjoe, a town of 80,000 people nestled between lakes and forests in Sweden's south, can boast of already exceeding 50 percent -- and 90 percent when it comes to heating.

Carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant dropped by 30 percent between 1993 and 2006.

"It's a lot but we're not satisfied, we want to reduce them further," says Henrik Johansson, an environmental expert at city hall.

In fact, Vaexjoe, which in 1996 set the ambitious goal of ultimately reducing its consumption of fossil fuels to zero, wants to halve its CO2 emissions by 2010 and reduce them by 70 percent by 2050.

Those goals exceed by far the EU's objectives, which call for a reduction of 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.

Vaexjoe's efforts have been lauded by the European Commission, which in 2007 awarded it the Sustainable Energy for Europe award.

"We try to influence people's behaviour. It's not easy, in fact it's actually quite hard," says Johansson.

But their efforts are paying off, with people adapting to a new way of life thanks to bicycle lanes, tax breaks and free parking for "green" cars, and calendars that provide useful tips on how to protect the environment.

-- 'Today we can swim, fish and eat the fish' --

Since winning the European Commission prize, Vaexjoe has played host to numerous foreign delegations, led by China, who have come to tour the area and seek inspiration from the local initiatives.

According to the town's conservative mayor Bo Frank, Vaexjoe owes its "green" success to a longstanding commitment to the environment as well as to a tradition of political consensus on the issue.

It all began in the early 1970s, when the town agreed to clean up its heavily polluted lakes.

"Today we can swim, fish and eat the fish" from the local waters, Johansson triumphs.

Then, in 1980, following the second international oil crisis, the local heating plant which had been running on oil introduced a new fuel based on wood -- an abundant raw material in Vaexjoe's surroundings and able to provide the town with an independent source of energy.

Today, the wood fuel accounts for 98.7 percent of the fuel used at the plant, which heats the homes of 50,000 habitants in Vaexjoe and whose network continues to grow, explains Lars Ehrlen of the plant's energy unit.

In order to convince residents to change their living habits in the fight against climate change Mayor Frank believes in using both "the carrot and the stick."

He recalls that some of the measures that have been introduced have been unwelcome, but adds: "Nothing is ever popular in the beginning but people get used to everything."

For example, when the town announced some six months ago that it would only hold its conferences in cafes or restaurants that had obtained a special environmental certificate, Mats Pettersson, the co-owner of a small chain of restaurants, was disgruntled.

"I found that pretty bothersome at the beginning ... but now I think it's a good idea. The problem ... was that it was hard to find organic products," he says.

"But suppliers increasingly have what we need," he adds.

Despite the criticism, Mayor Frank remains philosophical and confident of the path he has chosen for the town.

"No one is a prophet in his own country," he says.

"It's up to Vaexjoe to lead by example," he insists, noting that he walks to work, owns a "green" car and uses low energy consumption lightbulbs in his own home.

Negotiators gather to push new UN climate treaty

Negotiators from up to 180 countries began gathering here on Sunday for talks aimed at reaching the most ambitious treaty yet for sparing the Earth from the worst ravages of global warming.

The five-day talks, starting Monday, follow marathon negotiations in December on the Indonesian island of Bali where the world set a 2009 deadline for thrashing out a landmark pact to battle climate change.

The Bangkok meeting is the first step toward reaching that new agreement, which should take effect when commitments on cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions under the existing Kyoto Protocol expire in 2012.

Even the United States, which pulled out of the Kyoto deal, is taking part despite its reputation as a naysayer in efforts to cut emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which trap the sun's heat and warm the planet.

The talks "are critical in the sense that the conference in Bali last year formally agreed to launch negotiations, which have to be concluded at the end of 2009," said Yvo de Boer, head of the UN climate body tasked with hammering out the treaty.

"I don't expect many sticking points at this meeting. What this meeting has to do is agree a work programme and agree what is going to be discussed so that we know that we can meet the deadline in a year-and-a-half's time," de Boer told AFP.

He urged countries to stay focused on the task at hand, and not get bogged down in the kind of details that almost derailed the Bali talks.

"If you look at the amount of time available in Bangkok ... there is an awful amount of work to be done in very little time," he cautioned.

Talks in Bali almost fell apart as nations fought over who was historically responsible for climate change, who should foot the bill, and whether both rich and poor nations should have binding targets on cutting carbon emissions.

Europe and developing countries want rich nations to set a binding target for 2020, requiring them to slash greenhouse gas emissions to 25 to 40 percent below their levels in 1990.

Under US pressure the final Bali Roadmap did not include explicit goals. Frustration with the US stance grew so great in Bali that American delegates were booed during the conference's closing hours.

However, with the US presidential elections later this year, President George W. Bush's administration may not want to leave the White House with a legacy as holdouts against environmental progress, activists said.

"There is a kind of a legacy issue at play here for the Bush administration, I think they want to be viewed as constructive in its last year," said Angela Anderson, director of the global warming programme at the Washington-based Pew Environment Group.

No one expects a major breakthrough at the Bangkok talks, which are designed to allow countries to stake their starting positions in negotiations that will continue through next year.

"Every country comes at this now trying to figure out what's in their individual interests as well as the global interests," said Anderson.

But activists around the world have kept up the pressure by keeping the issue in the spotlight, sometimes by turning the spotlight off.

At least 26 cities across the globe joined an "Earth Hour" campaign on Saturday evening, dimming their lights for one hour to demonstrate how the planet can save energy.

The human risks of climate change were also highlighted Friday when the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution declaring the problem a human rights issue, noting that the poor are more vulnerable to the effects of global warming.

Global scientists last year delivered their starkest warning yet -- that without action, global warming could have an irreversible impact on the world, bringing hunger, floods, drought and the extinction of many plants and animals.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is holding the Bangkok talks, has 192 member nations.

Global climate talks in Bangkok to set stage for future pact

World climate negotiators will next week stake out their starting positions as talks begin in Bangkok on a landmark pact designed to save the Earth from the worst ravages of global warming.

Meeting for the first time since marathon talks in December on the Indonesian island of Bali, members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will try to thrash out differences that almost derailed their last gathering.

The five-day meeting, beginning on Monday in Bangkok, aims to set out a detailed work plan that should lead to the most ambitious treaty yet for reining in greenhouse gas emissions and battling global warming.

"I hope that Bangkok is a very practical meeting, that is focused on what it is supposed to focus on, which is to agree a work programme for the next year and a half," UNFCCC head Yvo de Boer told AFP by phone from Switzerland.

Nations have until late 2009 to wrestle with the nitty-gritty of any new deal, giving them time to ratify it before their commitments on slashing harmful emissions under the existing Kyoto Protocol expire in 2012.

John Hay, the UNFCCC's spokesman, said that Bali saw countries, including the United States -- which never ratified the Kyoto deal -- agree to launch the new negotiations.

Now in Bangkok, nations should produce a specific plan "outlining who does what, when and why," he said. "Generally the mood is quite constructive, much more constructive than it was at Bali."

Talks in Bali almost fell apart as nations fought over who was historically responsible for climate change, who should foot the bill, and whether both rich and poor nations should have binding targets on cutting carbon emissions.

Europe and developing countries want rich nations to set a binding target to cut emissions by between 25 to 40 percent by 2020 compared with their 1990 levels, but under US pressure the final Bali Roadmap did not include explicit goals.

"It is of course a reality that there are vastly differing interests at stake in all of this and some dramatically different positions amongst countries," de Boer said.

"Those differences of views and differences of interests will make it even more challenging."

The crucial question of emissions will likely dominate negotiations leading up to the final December 2009 meeting in Copenhagen, but activists warned that no agreement on the issue would come out of the Bangkok talks.

"There are no great breakthroughs to be expected, because the countries are wrestling for their starting positions," said Martin Hiller, spokesman of conservation group WWF.

Angela Anderson, director of the global warming programme with the US-based Pew Environment Group, said she expected positive momentum in Bangkok, but warned that individual interests would be on the climate brokers' minds.

"They are out of the dialogue process and into negotiating, so countries tend to lay down some stronger markers at the beginning," she told AFP.

"You're going to see some tough positions floated, probably some pretty serious reaction."

During the Bangkok talks, the United States would likely keep domestic industry interests in mind, Anderson said, but as the Bush administration's days come to an end, negotiators will also be considering what legacy they want to leave behind.

The United States, the only major industrialised nation to reject Kyoto, has become increasingly isolated in its climate stance. Its reputation as an environmental pariah peaked in Bali when US delegates were booed during the closing hours of the conference.

The UNFCCC currently has 192 member nations. Government negotiators from at least 150 countries are expected to come to Bangkok.

Global scientists last year delivered their starkest warning yet -- that without action, global warming could have an irreversible impact on the world, bringing hunger, floods, drought and the extinction of many plants and animals.

"The Bangkok talks will be the first test to see if the governments in Bali negotiated in earnest," WWF's climate policy coordinator Kathrin Gutmann said in a statement.

California lowers auto emissions rule

California air regulators on Thursday slashed the number of battery-powered and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that must be sold in the state, a setback for environmentalists and health advocates.

The decision is expected to affect 12 other states that had adopted California's target for zero-emission vehicles.

The California Air Resources Board voted to lower by 70 percent the number of those vehicles that automakers must sell here and in the states that intended to follow California's get-tough rules for vehicle emissions.

Instead, the air board said the six largest automakers must sell nearly 60,000 hybrid vehicles while they develop the more advanced technology that will allow mass production of pure zero-emission vehicles.

Board chairwoman Mary Nichols described the move as a major step toward putting cleaner cars on the road. The plug-in hybrids envisioned by the air board have yet to be designed, she said.

"We're introducing a whole new category of vehicles to the public," Nichols said. "I don't think it's a step backwards in the real world."

In essence, the air board took two steps on Thursday: It cut the number of zero-emission vehicles it wants on the road by 2014, while at the same time offering an alternative — the gas-electric hybrids.

Environmentalists and health advocates criticized the lowering of the zero-emission goal for vehicles. They said the threats posed by global warming, combined with rising gasoline prices, lends urgency to greatly reducing vehicle emissions.

Auto manufacturers said they could not meet the California standard and needed more time to make affordable hydrogen and battery-powered cars.

"Pushing this technology into the market before they are commercially viable ties up resources that could be better utilized by advancing core technologies," said Sara Rudy, an emissions regulatory manager at Ford. "It is important at this stage to be nimble."

California adopted its zero-emission vehicle mandate in 1990 as part of an attempt to reduce smog-forming emissions such as nitrogen oxide.

The rule required that 10 percent of new cars sold in the state by the country's six leading auto manufacturers be completely nonpolluting by 2003.

The rules have been modified four times since they were introduced. The biggest change came in 2003, when the Air Resources Board significantly scaled back the mandate and ruled that hydrogen cars, hybrids and cleaner-burning gasoline vehicles could meet the state's goals.

The regulators were concerned that battery-powered cars could not be mass-produced and favored hydrogen cars. They also faced a lawsuit from the auto industry.

Although some lower-emission vehicles — especially hybrids — have begun making an impression in the marketplace, the main automakers still do not have a commercial zero-emission vehicle.

The revised 2003 rules set a goal of putting at least 25,000 zero-emission cars on the road by 2014, far below the original 10 percent mandate. The rules adopted Thursday put the number at 7,500, a 70 percent reduction from the 2003 target.

Vietnam must improve sea defence in climate change fight

Vietnam will have to upgrade its sea defences to brace for rising ocean levels and stronger typhoons caused by global warming, a senior scientist has said, state media reported Thursday.

The country must spend more than 600 million dollars until 2020 to reinforce and raise sea dykes between central Quang Ngai and southern Kien Giang provinces, the water resources expert said, the official Vietnam News daily reported.

Work is needed on about 520 kilometres (320 miles) of sea dykes and over 320 kilometres of river dykes that are unable to resist flood tides and storms, said Southern Institute of Water Resources director Le Manh Hung.

Vietnam has more too lose from climate change than almost any other country, facing a risk on par with some island-states and low-lying countries such as Bangladesh.

With a 3,200-kilometre coastline and two of the largest low-lying river deltas in the world, Vietnam tops the world's developing countries in the risk it faces from climate change, the World Bank has warned.

"Scientific evidence is now overwhelming" that climate change and rising sea levels are real threats, and the impact on Vietnam would be "potentially catastrophic," the World Bank said in a report last year.

If sea levels rose by five metres due to a breakup of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, this would impact 16 percent of Vietnam's land area, second only to the Bahamas out of the 84 countries surveyed, it said.

Most of the impact would be in Vietnam's 'rice bowls' and population and industrial centres -- the southern Mekong delta near the largest city and port, Ho Chi Minh City, and the northern Red River delta, site of the capital Hanoi.

One-third of Vietnam's people would be affected by a five-metre sea level rise, the bank said, while a one-metre rise would affect 10.8 percent of its people, the largest impact globally.

The World Conservation Union has also said climate change was "a critical issue for Vietnam" that threatens crop failures, biodiversity loss and damage to wetlands, coral reefs and other critical ecosystems.

Last year, six major storms from the South China Sea battered Vietnam, killing more than 400 people, displacing thousands and leaving areas in central Vietnam inundated for months.

Australian wine industry feels heat from climate change

Australian grape growers reckon they are the canary in the coalmine of global warming, as a long drought forces winemakers to rethink the styles of wine they can produce and the regions they can grow in.

The three largest grape-growing regions in Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, all depend on irrigation to survive. The high cost of water has made life tough for growers.

Some say they probably won't survive this year's harvest, because of the cost of keeping vines alive. Water prices surged above A$1,000 a megaliter last year from around A$300.

"On the back of three very ordinary years, this year is probably the worst that could have occurred with the drought and the high costs of water," said Michael de Palma, a mid-sized grower in Redcliffe near Mildura in the Murray Valley, one of the country's three big wine regions.

"In this depressed situation, growers have only two choices, stick it out as long as they can or to cut their losses and get out," said de Palma, who is part-way through a weather-influenced early harvest on his 40-hectare vineyard.

Recent rains have bypassed the country's parched inland wine regions, and have fallen half-way through the harvest in eastern Australia, too late to help the berries and instead causing a mildew-like disease.

De Palma, the chairman of Murray Valley Winegrowers, said he would wait to see the results of his harvest before deciding whether to sell up or hold on to his vineyard, which mainly supplies Foster's Group, Australia's largest wine company.

He estimated around 40 percent of grape growers in the Murray Valley who had access to water trading couldn't afford to buy water last year, while most of the others had to borrow to do so, going deeper into debt.

Industry groups estimate up to 1,000 winegrowers out of around 7,000 may be forced to leave the industry this year because their vineyards are no longer financially viable.

"There's a Darwinian economics going on at the moment, and the outcome remains to be seen," said Paul Henry, general manager of market development at Australian Wine and Brandy Corp.

"One might say we're guilty of the charge of being slow to change thus far, but the experience of this harvest will change the outlook for Australian producers."

In some regions, such as the Murray Valley, wine grape yields are down 30-40 percent.

Australia's harvest is forecast to be down on average years, which may cut into exports in the A$6 billion industry.

Wine exports total some A$3 billion. Australia is the number one supplier of imported wine in the United Kingdom with a market share of 23 percent and it is second in the United States.

The smaller 2008 vintage, made worse by a record-breaking heatwave which withered grapes on the vines, is expected to push up prices and spell the end of cheap bulk wine after a three-year glut that produced a rash of no-name brands called "cleanskins."

WARMER AND DRIER

Scientists say Australia's vast inland winegrowing districts face the greatest degrees of warming.

These are the Riverland on the Murray River in South Australia, the Murray Valley, and the Riverina on the Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales.

And it is the grape-growers in these semi-arid areas that already face the greatest hardship, with calls to rural financial counseling services soaring in recent months.

"We believe there are 800 to 1,000 growers predominantly in Murray Valley and the Riverland in South Australia who are going to have to make a decision this year about whether they stay or go," said Wine Grape Growers chief Mark McKenzie.

A landmark study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) found these areas would warm by 2.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.

Last year was one of the warmest on record for southern Australia, where all of the nation's winegrowing regions lie, as well as one of the driest.

And that is enough to change harvesting times as berries ripen earlier, which can also affect their quality.

"Climate change is the biggest issue we face. Relatively small changes in temperature and precipitation do have reasonably large impacts in terms of wine style," said Winemakers' Federation Chief Executive Stephen Strachan.

"Wine is a bit of a bellwether in terms of some of the very immediate impacts you see from climate change."

According to the CSIRO, grape quality could fall by 23 percent by 2030 because of the climate changes, and suitable land for viticulture could be cut by 10 percent.

By 2050, some 44 percent of current grape-growing areas would be affected, the study found.

The solution may be for cooler climate areas, such as the bayside Mornington Peninsula south-east of Melbourne and the Yarra Valley to the east, to expand the varieties they grow.

The southern island state of Tasmania is also attracting attention as a region that could dramatically boost its grape cultivation, with its mild weather closer to that of New Zealand than the parched mainland.

Indeed, wine-growers in neighboring New Zealand are upbeat about a future that includes climate change, because higher temperatures are expected to make cold areas of New Zealand more temperate and better suited to grape growing.

CHANGING TASTES

Warmer temperatures and less rainfall will also mean changes in the grape varieties the traditional growing areas produce.

"Styles in existing regions will change," said Strachan of the Winemakers' Federation.

"Most regions can produce most grape varieties, but whether they can produce them to quality levels that the market expects is the big question."

While Australia's signature shiraz fares quite well in a hot climate, cabernet, pinot noir and merlot among the reds and chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and riesling among the whites may have a tougher time.

"Merlot is relatively intolerant of water stress, and it doesn't cope well with periods of very high temperatures," said Snow Barlow, a winemaker and the chairman of the agriculture school at Melbourne University, who co-authored the CSIRO study.

Experts say Australian growers need to experiment with tougher varieties from Spain and Sicily. Tempranillo from Spain is one of Australia's fastest-growing varieties, while along the Murray river, the Corsican grape Vermentino is being planted.

"Wine companies build up brands. Whether we can convince the world to take to Australian Sicilian varieties in same way they take to Australian shiraz, that's quite a big commercial question," said Barlow.

Barlow, who owns the boutique Baddaginnie Run vineyard nestled in the foothills of the Strathbogie Ranges in Victoria state, said climate change shaped his decisions on what varieties to plant when he started his vineyard 10 years ago.

Even so, merlot has proved problematic and he did not produce a merlot last year because of poor quality. His $20 merlot has won awards in better years.

Over time, different root stocks that are able to provide good fruit with lower water requirements will become more common.

But it can take months or years to import new varieties through Australia's strict quarantine system, and three to four years to establish new rootstock for commercial production.

For grape growers already deep in debt, that is simply too long to wait.

(Editing by Megan Goldin)

($1=A$1.11)

Japan's baseball stadiums urged to drop octopus, save planet

Animal rights activists on Tuesday urged Japanese baseball stadiums to give up their usual fare of hot dogs and fried octopus balls and go vegetarian to fight global warming.

Japan's baseball commissioners announced as the season opened last week that the national pastime would take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in particular by speeding up games.

But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said it would be more effective for concession stands to serve exclusively vegetarian fare.

"By selling only vegetarian foods, your baseball league will become a leader in the fight against global warming," PETA said in a letter to Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Yasuchika Negoro.

"Because vegetarians are less prone to serious illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and obesity than meat-eaters, fans will be happier and healthier while cheering on their favourite team," it said.

A 2006 study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation found that the livestock industry contributed more to global warming than all of the world's transportation.

PETA, which is based in the United States, noted that many North American baseball stadiums now offered vegetarian food including burgers made of soy or beans.

The appeal was released hours before the Boston Red Sox, the defending World Series champions, open their regular season against the Oakland Athletics with two games in Tokyo.

Curbing soot could blunt global warming: study

Sharply reducing the amount of black carbon -- commonly known as soot -- in the atmosphere could help slow global warming and buy precious time in the long-term fight against climate change, according to a study released Sunday.

Curbing soot emissions could also be a life saver, said the study, published Sunday in the British journal Nature.

Each year, more than 400,000 deaths among women and children in India alone, and 1.6 million worldwide, are attributed to smoke inhalation during indoor cooking using biofuels such as wood or dung, one of the primary sources of black carbon, according to the World Health Organisation.

Reviewing dozens of recent scientific studies, two researchers in the United States calculated that black carbon is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels.

In addition, the eight million metric tonnes of soot released into the atmosphere every year have created a number of "hot spots" around the world, contributing significantly to rising temperatures.

The plains of south Asia along the Ganges River and continental east Asia are both such hotspots, in part because up to 35 percent of global black carbon output comes from China and India.

Emissions in China alone doubled between 2000 and 2006, according to the study, published in 2006.

Fine black soot settling on snow and ice -- and thus trapping more of the Sun's radiative force -- have also accelerated the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas and ice cover in the Arctic, two regions that have been hit especially hard by climate change in recent decades.

"A major focus on decreasing black carbon emissions offers an opportunity to mitigate the effects of global warming trends in the short term," the authors conclude.

While the presence of black carbon, sometimes in the form of great plumes several kilometres high called atmospheric brown clouds, has been known to scientists for some time, their impact on warming has been hard to assess.

Direct measurement requires multiple aircraft flying over the same domain at different altitudes for an extensive period at the same time.

Significantly cutting back on black carbon emissions is not only possible, but would yield rapid benefits, say the authors, Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Scripps Institute in San Diego, California, and Greg Carmichael of the University of Iowa.

Forty percent of soot comes from the same sources as greenhouses gases, notably the burning of coal and oil, and will only be reduced as quickly or slowly as economies become less carbon intensive.

But the remaining 60 percent of black carbon in the atmosphere comes from the more easily altered practices of burning biofuels and forests, the authors say.

Also, cutting back soot output would have an almost immediate effect.

Unlike carbon dioxide, which lingers in the atmosphere for 100 years after it is released, black carbon has an atmospheric life cycle of approximately one week.

"Providing alternative energy-efficient and smoke-free cookers, and introducing transferring technology for reducing soot emissions from coal combustion in small industries could have major impacts" on reducing soot's role in global warming, they conclude.

Such measures would result in a 70-80 percent reduction in heating caused by black carbon in south Asia, and a 20-40 percent cut in China, according to the study.

The authors caution, however, that soot reduction can only help delay unprecedented climate change, which is due primarily to CO2 emissions.

Japan must lead way on nuclear energy, say advisors

A government advisory body on Friday urged Tokyo to take the lead in promoting nuclear energy worldwide as part of efforts to fight global warming.

Japan is struggling to meet its obligations to slash greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol and is also being hit hard by high oil prices as Asia's largest economy has virtually no natural energy resources.

The Atomic Energy Commission, which is in charge of setting the country's nuclear energy policies, made the call for more nuclear power in an annual paper submitted Friday to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's cabinet.

"Our country should work for the international community to have a common recognition that an expansion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy is inevitable as a measure against global warming," it said.

The commission forecast the number of nuclear reactors worldwide will surge to 790 by about 2030. There were 435 in 2006, when nuclear energy accounted for some 16 percent of global power generation.

Calls are growing for the use of nuclear power, which emits no greenhouse gases, at a time of high oil prices and growing consciousness about global warming.

US President George W. Bush in 2006 launched a push to resume construction of nuclear power plants which was halted after an accident at the Three Mile Island station in 1979 when a reactor was destroyed.

Nuclear cooperation is expected to be high on the agenda during a trip to Japan next month by Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France, the only member of the Group of Eight industrial powers that relies on nuclear power for more than half of its energy needs.

But there is wide opposition to atomic energy in Japan, the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the world's largest nuclear power plant, located northwest of Tokyo, was hit last year by an earthquake, causing a fire, a small radiation leak and the shutdown of the plant.

Japan must lead way on nuclear energy, say advisors

A government advisory body on Friday urged Tokyo to take the lead in promoting nuclear energy worldwide as part of efforts to fight global warming.

Japan is struggling to meet its obligations to slash greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol and is also being hit hard by high oil prices as Asia's largest economy has virtually no natural energy resources.

The Atomic Energy Commission, which is in charge of setting the country's nuclear energy policies, made the call for more nuclear power in an annual paper submitted Friday to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's cabinet.

"Our country should work for the international community to have a common recognition that an expansion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy is inevitable as a measure against global warming," it said.

The commission forecast the number of nuclear reactors worldwide will surge to 790 by about 2030. There were 435 in 2006, when nuclear energy accounted for some 16 percent of global power generation.

Calls are growing for the use of nuclear power, which emits no greenhouse gases, at a time of high oil prices and growing consciousness about global warming.

US President George W. Bush in 2006 launched a push to resume construction of nuclear power plants which was halted after an accident at the Three Mile Island station in 1979 when a reactor was destroyed.

Nuclear cooperation is expected to be high on the agenda during a trip to Japan next month by Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France, the only member of the Group of Eight industrial powers that relies on nuclear power for more than half of its energy needs.

But there is wide opposition to atomic energy in Japan, the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the world's largest nuclear power plant, located northwest of Tokyo, was hit last year by an earthquake, causing a fire, a small radiation leak and the shutdown of the plant.

Early life on Earth - no predators, plenty of sex

Sexual reproduction may be nearly as old as animal life itself, according to researchers who discovered a new species of organism that lived 540 million years ago.

The tube-like creatures called Funisia dorothea anchored themselves in abundant flocks onto the shallow, sandy seabed of what is now the Australian outback.

Nothing appears to have evolved yet to eat them, so they lived peaceful lives, reproducing sexually at times and by asexual methods such as budding at other times, Mary Droser of the University of California Riverside and colleagues reported in the journal Science.

They behaved very much like modern corals, sponges and other multicellular animals, Droser said in a telephone interview.

"They would have been hitting you mid-calf as you walked in these very dense clusters," she said. "Almost always, organisms that do this do it as a result of sexual reproduction."

Dense clusters allow eggs and sperm floated in the water to meet up safely.

The fossilized remains also show the creatures formed buds that grew into full-sized animals, something that coral and sponges do today.

"They were complicated enough to have different modes of reproduction and a fairly complex ecosystem in general," Droser said.

They lived in dense groups of similar size and aged animals, like mussels and oysters do. "It is common modern ecological strategy, and these guys were doing it in the earliest animal ecosystems on this planet," she said.

"We think of these strategies as having been in response to competition and in response to predation."

But there is no evidence of predators. Nothing had yet evolved with teeth or even bones.

Multicellular animal life is believed to have arisen around 600 million years ago.

Funisia dorothea's name comes from the word for rope in Latin and dorothea after Dorothy, Droser's mother.

"She's come with me on digs and done all the cooking and taken care of the kids," Droser said. "It seemed the right thing to do."

(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Will Dunham and Eric Beech)

Greenpeace goes prehistoric to protest coal-fired plant in Germany

Activists from environmental group Greenpeace on Wednesday placed a steel dinosaur in front of the Hamburg offices for energy giant Vattenfall to protest plans for a new coal-fired power plant.

Some 30 protesters also displayed a banner saying "We are stopping dinosaur technology" and dumped three tonnes of coal in front of the company's offices.

The steel dinosaur weighed one tonne and was five metres high (16 feet), the organisation said.

Sweden-based Vattenfall plans to build a 1,600-megawatt coal-fired plant in Hamburg at a cost of two billion euros (three billion dollars).

Emissions from coal-fired plants are believed to be one of the main contributors to global warming.

Japan to hold climate, Africa summits at G8: minister

Japan said Tuesday it will hold parallel summits on climate change and African development on the sidelines of the Group of Eight gathering of major rich nations in July.

Tokyo has invited heads of state and government from 15 nations for meetings involving the G8 members during the July 7-9 gathering in the northern mountain resort of Toyako, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said.

For the July 7 parallel summit on Africa, Japan has invited Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and the chairman of the African Union, Komura told reporters.

For the climate change meeting on July 9, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa have been invited, he said.

Japan hopes to use the climate change meeting to push ahead negotiations aimed at drafting a successor to the Kyoto Protocol by the end of next year.

The parallel summit would be in line with a US initiative aimed at showing leadership on the climate issue that brings together negotiators from 16 major emitting nations.

The United States is the only major industrial nation to reject the Kyoto treaty, which President George W. Bush argues is unfair as it makes no demands of emerging economies such as China and India.

Some developing nations have been sceptical about climate meetings outside the UN framework that drafted Kyoto, fearing being lumped together with rich nations as major emitters when their pollution is less per capita.

Japan played host to a 20-nation climate meeting in suburban Tokyo on Saturday and Sunday, which showed a continued rift between industrial and developing nations.

Jos Delbeke, the EU's deputy director general for the environment, on Tuesday renewed the Europeans' call for clear numerical targets in cutting emissions after Kyoto's obligations expire in 2012.

The Europeans would see the July summit as a success "if a long-term ambitious target could be spelled out for 2050," Delbeke said, as quoted by Kyodo News.

Japan has championed the Kyoto Protocol but is far behind in meeting its own commitments as its economy wakes up from a long slumber.

Australia to have carbon trading scheme by 2010: minister

Australia will have a carbon emissions trading scheme in place by 2010, under a plan released Monday by the minister for climate change, Penny Wong.

Senator Wong said the national scheme would "constitute the most significant economic and structural reform undertaken in Australia since the trade liberalisation of the 1980s."

Emissions trading schemes place a limit on the amount of greenhouse gas pollution which companies can produce, forcing heavy polluters to buy credits from companies that pollute less -- thereby creating financial incentives to fight global warming.

Wong said consultations with industry and non-government groups had already started and she hoped to have a draft proposal on the mechanics of the scheme available for public comment by July.

She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the draft would address: "How we are going to set the targets, what sort of issues we are going to address, how we will address the impacts on various aspects of the economy and how the scheme will work."

She said the scheme would see a price placed on greenhouse gas emissions, such as those from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gas.

"We will set a level of emissions, we will have permits up to that level, and the market will trade and the market will set the price," she said.

Wong said she wanted to have the bill before parliament by early 2009 and the new laws into force and a regulator established by later that year.

In establishing the scheme, the government would aim to minimise the risks for the Australian economy, Wong said.

Australia's newly elected centre-left Labor government has promised a change in direction on environmental issues from that of the previous conservative government of John Howard.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed Australia up to the landmark United Nations document on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, as his first official act in government.

Top polluters divided on climate change goals

The world's top 20 greenhouse gas emitters agreed Sunday to work together to draft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol but rich and developing nations remained divided on their roles.

Envoys from the 20 countries, which are together responsible for 80 percent of the world's emissions blamed for global warming, were trying to bridge gaps on what to do after Kyoto's obligations expire at the end of 2012.

"We reconfirmed the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in negotiating the next deal for 2013 and onward," said Japan's Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita, the co-chair of the weekend talks in suburban Tokyo.

"It was made clear that there are a variety of positions among developed countries, emerging countries and developing countries," Kamoshita said.

A UN climate conference in December in Bali set a deadline for the end of 2009 for a post-Kyoto deal. The next negotiations start at the end of the month in Bangkok.

"The talks here are very useful, because this is the first opportunity after the Bali meeting," said Halldor Thorgeirsson, director of the Bali roadmap for the UN climate body, told AFP.

But disagreements were out in the open, with developing countries insisting they not be held up to the same targets as wealthy nations in slashing emissions.

The United States has shunned the Kyoto Protocol, saying it is unfair by making no demands of developing nations. But virtually all countries agreed in Bali to take part in negotiating Kyoto's successor.

Japan, which lags behind in meeting its own Kyoto targets, has also been lukewarm on EU-led calls to set further broad binding targets for each nation.

Japan pushed at the conference for a "sectoral" approach -- setting energy efficiency goals for each industry -- but met with scepticism from developing countries.

Kamoshita defended Tokyo's position, saying: "Our proposal was meaningful in that it showed a new idea that's different from emission targets for each nation" championed by the European Union.

South Africa was particularly vocal against the Japanese proposal.

"It is clear that developed and developing countries are still far apart on sectoral approaches," South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.

But he said some of the developing nations' concerns were addressed by the end of the talks, adding "as a developing country, we stand ready to contribute our fair share in a climate regime."

Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is tasked with bridging differences in talks, had opened the conference with an impassioned call for developing nations to join the rich world in steep binding cuts.

Japan in July hosts the Group of Eight summit of rich nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- which it hopes will make progress in a climate deal.

Last year's G8 summit in Germany said rich nations would "seriously consider" slashing emissions by half by 2050. But there was no binding commitment and the base year was vague.

World Wildlife Fund Japan's Yurika Ayukawa, who is the vice chairwoman of non-governmental groups meeting for the G8 summit, said Tokyo should drop its focus on a sectoral approach.

"What we want from the Japanese government at the G8 is leadership, which means to have a mid-term goal by 2020 of a 25-40 percent reduction target from 1990 levels," she said.

Jennifer Morgan, the climate change programme director for Britain's E3G group, said the EU and developing countries had a "similar will" in fighting climate change, while US President George W. Bush's administration was sidelined.

"So, really, the question is how Japan will rebuild its credibility moving up towards the G8," she said.

Top polluters divided on climate change goals

The world's top 20 greenhouse gas emitters agreed Sunday to work together to draft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol but rich and developing nations remained divided on their roles.

Envoys from the 20 countries, which are together responsible for 80 percent of the world's emissions blamed for global warming, were trying to bridge gaps on what to do after Kyoto's obligations expire at the end of 2012.

"We reconfirmed the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in negotiating the next deal for 2013 and onward," said Japan's Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita, the co-chair of the weekend talks in suburban Tokyo.

"It was made clear that there are a variety of positions among developed countries, emerging countries and developing countries," Kamoshita said.

A UN climate conference in December in Bali set a deadline of the end of 2009 for a post-Kyoto deal. The next negotiations start at the end of the month in Bangkok.

"The talks here are very useful, because this is the first opportunity after the Bali meeting," said Halldor Thorgeirsson, director of the Bali roadmap for the UN climate body, told AFP.

But disagreements were out in the open with developing countries insisting that they not be held up to the same targets as wealthy nations in slashing emissions.

The United States has shunned the Kyoto Protocol, saying it is unfair by making no demands of developing nations. But virtually all countries agreed in Bali to take part in negotiating Kyoto's successor.

Japan, which lags behind in meeting its own Kyoto targets, has like the United States been lukewarm on EU-led calls to set further broad binding targets for each nation.

Japan pushed at the conference for a "sectoral" approach -- setting energy efficiency goals for each industry -- but met with scepticism from developing countries.

Kamoshita defended Japan's position, saying: "Our proposal was meaningful in that it showed a new idea that's different from emission targets for each nation" championed by the European Union.

South Africa was particularly vocal against the Japanese proposal.

"It is clear that developed and developing countries are still far apart on sectoral approaches," South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.

But he said that some of the developing nations' concerns were addressed by the end of the talks.

"South Africa understands the urgency of action," he said. "As a developing country, we stand ready to contribute our fair share in a climate regime."

Alden Meyer, the strategy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said he had worried that Japan's promotion at the conference of sector-specific targets may "impede the momentum that we had from Bali."

But in the end, "many constructive ideas were put on the table," he said.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is tasked with bridging differences in talks, had opened the conference with an impassioned call for developing nations to join the rich world in steep binding cuts.

Japan in July hosts the Group of Eight summit of rich nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- which it hopes will make progress in a climate deal.

"Japan's role as the (G8) host will be how to coordinate these opinions. And I think what's important is how Japan can send a message that strengthening support to developing countries is important," Kamoshita said.

"Also important is how the G8 members can go further to achieve our current emission cuts targets, and what we can do to realise the long-term goal of halving the global emission by 2050," he added.

Last year's G8 summit in Germany said rich nations would "seriously consider" slashing emissions by half by 2050. But there was no binding commitment and the base year was vague.

"Major emitters" tag upsets poor nations at G20 talks

Developing countries urged rich states on Saturday to be clear about funds to fight global warming and said the label "major emitters" for nations like India and Brazil was unfair.

Twenty of the world's top greenhouse gas emitters were meeting in Chiba, near Tokyo, to discuss ways to reach a global pact to curb rising carbon dioxide emissions by the end of 2009.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged G20 members to launch a revolution to fight climate change.

"We have reached the critical moment of decision on climate change. There are few, if any, genuine doubters left," Blair told G20 energy and environment ministers and announced a new initiative to try to work out the shape of a global agreement.

About 190 nations agreed last December in Bali to thrash out a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, but differences between rich and poor states over funding, technology transfer and binding emissions targets remain.

South Africa, Indonesia, India and Brazil told the meeting they objected to the term "major emitters" since on a per-capita basis, their carbon emissions were a fraction of the roughly 24 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent produced by the average American.

Washington says it will accept binding commitments to cut emissions if "major emitting nations" signed up too.

President George W. Bush has initiated a separate process outside U.N.-led talks to engage many of the G20 members, a process some developing nations have expressed doubts about.

G20 members, which include G8 nations, are responsible for about 80 percent of mankind's greenhouse gas emissions.

FUND FIGHT

South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk told Reuters it was crucial developing nations had greater involvement in the management of clean technology funds.

Bush has pledged $2 billion to the fund over the next three years, while Britain has pledged part of its 800 million-pound ($1.6 billion) Environmental Transformation Fund and Japan has announced the creation of a $10 billion financial mechanism to support developing countries.

But van Schalkwyk said it was only in the past few weeks that developing nations had even been consulted on the fund, to be administered by the World Bank.

It was also unclear if the money was new.

"A number of countries voiced quite strongly their concerns about how these funds will be run," said Ailun Yang of Greenpeace China.

"Our position is that this is not a kind of charity. It is funding in which implementation is closely linked to the post-2012 agreement, so this has to be done in a much more respectful way and have more consultation with developing countries," she said.

Japan is promoting the concept of sectoral emissions targets for industry at the talks but this, too, has run into problems, with Europe and some developing nations questioning the concept.

"The sectoral approach cannot replace the national binding targets under the UNFCCC," said Tomaz Jersic, deputy economy minister of Slovenia, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, referring to the peak U.N. convention on tackling climate change.

"Not every country has the same position to develop this approach."

India also voiced concerns.

"It is something on which there is not yet clarity on what it will look like," said Indian delegate Ajay Mathur.

"So it is very difficult to say whether we will support it or not at this time."

Blair said a new initiative was needed to inform and advise the U.N.-led talks and he would lead the work politically.

He said the Climate Group, a non-profit body backed by industry and government, would assemble a group of experts to try to sketch out what a global deal would look like.

"We will publish a report in June before Japan's G8 summit and then carry on the work so that we can feed a final report into the G8 and U.N. negotiations next year," he said.

-- For Reuters latest environment blogs click on:

http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/

(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo and David Fogarty; Writing by David Fogarty; Editing by Charles Dick)

EU leaders aim to seal climate action plan this year

European Union leaders were set Friday to agree to enact an ambitious global warming action plan by early next year, in order to set the tone for international climate talks in 2009.

"It's a very good proposal and I believe that tomorrow we'll be able to support it by way of council (summit) conclusions. We must reach agreement in the first months of 2009 at the latest," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said after the first day of an EU summit in Brussels Thursday.

Jansa and other European leaders want the EU to be in a strong position for climate change negotiations with its global partners, particularly China, Brazil and the United States.

"The European Union will continue to lead in this area," he said.

In written conclusions from their summit in Brussels, the leaders are expected to commit to come up with a "coherent package" of laws that should be adopted "at the latest early in 2009", according to a draft.

The plan aims to meet the 27-country EU's over-arching goal to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide -- the main gas responsible for global warming -- by 20 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.

They have committed to go to 30 percent if other countries would match them.

To achieve that figure, EU states are obliged to make renewable energies, such as solar and wind power, the source of 20 percent of the total energy consumption across the bloc by 2020. The current level is just 6-7 percent.

They have also given a political commitment that eco-friendly biofuels, made from plants, should make up 10 percent of total vehicle fuel in Europe by 2020.

However on Thursday Jansa cast some doubt on that initiative, telling a press conference that the biofuels target could be amended amid fears it will further hit soaring food prices as fuel crops such as colza take land from traditional crops.

"The EU is committed to maintaining international leadership on climate change and energy and to keeping up the momentum of negotiations" internationally, according to the summit's draft conclusions.

The plan, presented by the European Commission in January, set targets for individual nations to help achieve the bloc's goals, and would oblige industry to start paying for the gases emitted.

EU leaders argued a year ago that such targets would help put the bloc at the forefront of international efforts to fight climate change, but some countries fear they will struggle to meet them.

Several ex-communist nations have criticised the EU executive arm's proposals, fearing the costs for their relatively poor, coal dependent economies.

Poland, in particular, has called for the package to afford a bigger role for investments in cleaner ways of extracting energy from fossil fuel.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters Thursday that EU leaders now "have to translate this commitment into concrete legislation."

"The European Union would lose all credibility if one year after having given a strong signal, it was unable to meet its targets," he warned.

McCain to talk security on Europe and Mideast trip

Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he will emphasize national security issues from Afghanistan to global climate change on a visit to Europe and the Middle East next week.

McCain, who will be his party's presidential nominee to face the Democrats' choice in the November election, will visit Israel, Britain and France as part of a congressional delegation.

He will be joined by two of his closest Senate allies, Democrat-turned-Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham.

McCain told reporters on his campaign bus on Wednesday that while many in Europe might want to take his measure as a potential president, he was going as a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not as a candidate.

"I won't be offering them my vision because I'm going as a member of the Armed Services Committee, not as the nominee of our party," said McCain, who at 71 would be the oldest person ever elected to a first presidential term.

Still, the visit gives him an excuse to grab some headlines and television news time that is otherwise being taken up by the fierce Democratic contest between Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

While riding in his bus from New Hampshire to Boston, McCain sometimes gazed overhead at a television showing the Fox News Channel and saw the Democrats dominating coverage with occasional snatches of himself on the screen.

He said he would avoid politics on his trip "by not talking politics, only talking national security."

McCain has had notable differences with President George W. Bush on a host of issues although both are from the same political party.

He is a stronger advocate than Bush on taking steps to control global warming; disagreed for a long time with U.S. strategy in Iraq; believes the United States should shut down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where terrorism suspects are held; and battled Bush on the issue of torture.

"There are obvious differences," said McCain. But, he said, "I certainly won't articulate them overseas."

McCain and his colleagues will hold talks with Israeli, British and French leaders. A side trip to Iraq is possible. He has met both British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the past.

"I know these people. It's not as if they're seeing an unknown quantity. It's not the leaders taking measure -- maybe people will in those countries, but the leaders I have strong relationships with."

McCain said he expected Brown in particular to talk about climate change, an issue that former Prime Minister Tony Blair brought to the fore.

McCain has said in the past he believes the United States and its allies should adopt a "cap and trade" system of capping greenhouse gas emissions, a step the Bush administration opposes.

"They (European leaders) do view climate change as a national security issue," said McCain.

On the same bus ride, Lieberman said he expected European leaders would want to talk about the possible expansion of NATO and relations with Russia.

The Russian government of Vladimir Putin has voiced concern about expanding NATO to countries in the former Soviet empire.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

China announces 'super-ministries', including one for environment

China announced Tuesday it would set up five new "super ministries", including its first one dedicated to environmental protection, in an effort to streamline the government and fight corruption.

The reshuffle of the nation's cabinet will also see the health ministry upgraded to oversee food and drug safety, according to a copy of the plan given to journalists that will be approved at the ongoing session of parliament.

Cabinet secretary general Hua Jianmin told parliament that the changes were necessary to make the government more efficient and to curb abuse of power.

"Public administration and public services are still weak," Hua said.

"The phenomena of misuse of authority, abusing power for personal gains and corruption still exist."

Hua said the problems of overlapping responsibilities and low efficiency within the government remained "quite serious", while some areas of the bureaucracy were not being adequately supervised.

The five new ministries will be: the Ministry of Industry and Information, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, and the Ministry of Transport.

A National Bureau of Energy will also be set up to oversee energy policy across all ministries.

In an effort to improve macro-economic policies, the government will establish a body to co-ordinate between the central bank, finance ministry and the main economic planning body.

Under the new system, China's cabinet, or State Council, will have 27 ministries and commissions, one less than before. No timeline was given for when the reformed cabinet would come into effect.

The establishment of the new environment ministry is part of the government's efforts to give more muscle to those in charge of the long-running and seemingly losing struggle against China's pollution problems.

"Environmental protection is a basic policy of our nation. It is linked to our national development," Hua said, adding that China had to "expand the scope of environmental management" and "create an environmentally friendly society."

The State Environment Protection Administration, which has previously suffered from low levels of staffing and resources, will be upgraded to take charge of the new portfolio.

"The establishment of the Environment Ministry will signal a turning point at which environmental issues are moving from the margin to the centre of governance in China," Greenpeace Campaign Director Lo Sze Ping said.

"We hope the promotion will also give the new ministry real teeth' to enforce China's environmental regulations and to counter the vested interests of growth-at-all-cost," Lo said in a statement.

The decision to place food and drug safety under the umbrella of the health ministry is part of China's efforts to resurrect the reputation of those sectors following a series of scandals both at home and abroad.

The former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, was executed last year after being convicted of taking bribes in return for approving hundreds of medicines, some that proved dangerous.

Tainted food exports have also caused major tensions with some of China's biggest trading partners, including Japan and the United States.

The new "super" transport ministry will bring together the bodies responsible for aviation, road and shipping.

But an independent ministry for rail has been retained, apparently signalling a win for those in charge of the lucrative sector who had reportedly fought hard to hold on to their powers.

The National People's Congress, or parliament, is due to vote on the ruling Communist party's plans before the two-week annual session ends on Tuesday. The NPC is a rubber stamp body that endorses the plans of the party.

Canadian emission rules target new oil sands plants

Canada announced new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Monday, targeting future oil sands facilities and power plants, in a plan immediately derided by environmentalists as too little, too late.

Oil sands facilities that go into operation starting in 2012 will be required to capture and store the bulk of their emissions of carbon dioxide, which is blamed for climate change, the Conservative government said.

Existing facilities -- which process the tar-like bitumen from Alberta's massive oil sands into refinery-ready light crude -- and those that start operating before the end of 2011 will have to reduce emissions using cleaner fuels according to the rules that will be finalized next year.

"The oils sands (are) an important national resource but we we've got to expand (them) in an environmentally friendly way," Environment Minister John Baird said in Ottawa.

The rules are needed for Canada to meet its target for reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent below 2006 levels by 2020 -- a plan that has been panned as inadequate by many environmental groups.

The government also said it will ban the building of new "dirty" coal-fired power plants starting in 2012, with new generating stations required to have carbon capture and storage capacity ready and deployed.

"There is no future for dirty coal," Baird said.

The new plan also confirmed last year's announcement that Ottawa will establish a carbon emissions trading market, including a carbon offset system to help establish a market price for carbon.

The regulations, which will go into force at the start of 2010, will apply to 16 industrial sectors ranging from energy to forestry. "Our regulations will apply to all big industry," Baird said.

Canada has signed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, but the Conservative government has said the country cannot meet those commitments without harming the economy.

Environmentalists panned Monday's plan as doing little to cut actual emissions because most of the oil sands facilities now in the works will already be operating by 2012.

"They're closing the barn doors and the horse is already gone," said John Bennett of ClimateforChange.

Environmentalists want Ottawa to put hard caps on carbon emissions, but the government plans to use "intensity-based" caps that have producers cut a percentage of emission increases.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said the plan left the industry with uncertainties, and it did not appear 2012 was a mandatory date for the installation of carbon capture technology.

"That's not what we interpret it to be. There will be a new standard. For some of them, there's not going to be infrastructure to do it," CAPP President Pierre Alvarez said.

Alberta provincial government said it supports fighting climate change but cautioned Ottawa that it was attempting to regulate a provincially owned resource.

The new rules follow a government study that was released quietly on Friday and warned that Canada is already suffering the effects of climate change, with more problems coming from devastating storms, droughts and melting permafrost.

"The economic costs resulting from extreme weather events in Canada in the past decade have been greater than for all previous years combined," said the study, which involved work by more than 140 scientists.

(Additional reporting by Scott Haggett, Jeffrey Jones and David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)

Conservation groups sue over polar bears

Three conservation groups sued the Department of the Interior on Monday for missing a deadline on a decision to list polar bears as threatened because of the loss of Arctic sea ice. A decision was due Jan. 9, one year after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the animals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Agency Director Dale Hall said in January that officials needed a few more weeks to make a decision. But two months later, no decision has been announced.

Polar bears depend on sea ice for hunting seals, denning and giving birth. Conservation groups claim the loss of sea ice due to global warming is accelerating.

"Doing nothing means extinction for the polar bear. That's what the administration is doing — nothing," said Kassie Siegel, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity and the lead author of the 2005 petition that sought the listing.

Her group, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace Inc. asked the federal court in San Francisco to order administration officials to make the decision.

Hall said in January he did not like missing the deadline but, "It is far more important to us to do it right and have it explained properly to the public."

Bruce Woods, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman in Anchorage, said he could not comment on pending legal action. "We are still working as fast as we can to get the decision announced," he said.

Alaska has the only two polar bear populations in the United States: the Beaufort Sea group off the state's north coast and the Chukchi Sea group, shared with Russia, off Alaska's northwest coast.

Summer sea ice in Alaska last year shrunk to about 1.65 million square miles last year, the lowest level in 38 years of satellite record-keeping and nearly 40 percent less ice than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000. Some climate models have predicted the Arctic will be free of summer sea ice by 2030. A U.S. Geological Survey study predicted polar bears in Alaska could be wiped out by 2050.

A decision to list polar bears due to global warming could trigger consequences beyond Alaska.

Opponents fear a recovery plan would subject projects such as new power plants to review if they generate greenhouse gases that add to warming in the Arctic. Conservation groups hope that's the case.

"We believe if and when the polar bear is listed, all federal agencies approving major sources of greenhouse gas emissions will have to look at ways to reduce those emissions to protect polar bears," Siegel said.

Last week, the Interior Department's inspector general said it was beginning a preliminary investigation into why the department had not made a decision.

The inquiry was opened in response to environmental groups and would determine whether a full-fledged investigation was warranted, the department said.

EU report cites climate change threats

Climate change will worsen tensions and instability between nations competing for arable land, water and other resources, according to a European Union report.

The report prepared for a meeting of the 27 EU leaders said member nations must lose no time in preparing for the impact of climate change on the security of Western Europe.

The report to the EU leaders — a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press — says climate change will trigger humanitarian crises, political and economic instability, border disputes, ethnic tensions and "environmentally induced" migration of millions of people from Africa and the Middle East to Europe. It urges the EU to put climate change high on the international agenda.

The EU leaders hold their spring summit in Brussels, Belgium on March 13 and 14.

The report drafted by Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security affairs chief, says the EU must become much more assertive in reversing global warming, boosting global warming research and increasing international cooperation on climate change.

The report said the EU was well equipped to push others to combat climate change because of its multilateral approach to global politics and its experience in conflict prevention and management.

OECD: World must act on climate change

The world must respond to climate change and other environmental challenges now while the cost is low or else pay a stiffer price later for its indecision, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Wednesday.

A new report by 30-nation organization looks at "red light issues" in the environment, including global warming, water shortages, energy, biodiversity loss, transportation, agriculture and fisheries.

"A window of opportunity to act is now open," the report said. "We need forward-looking policies today to avoid high costs of inaction or delayed action over the longer term.

"Without more ambitious policies, increasing pressures on the environment could cause irreversible damage within the next few decades," said the summary, which was released in advance of the report.

The report, called Environmental Outlook to 2030, was to be presented by the organization's secretary-general, Angel Gurria, in Norway's capital Wednesday.

It recommends that governments create policies such as "green taxes" that encourage sound, environmentally friendly technologies and practices. The rich world must help poor countries develop without spewing pollution by providing them with technology and expertise, it says.

The report includes a model of the impact on the environment if no steps are taken, compared to the result if the report's policy recommendations are adopted worldwide. Economic growth would be nearly the same in both cases, but with a much healthier environment if the recommendations are adopted, it says.