SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Air pollution in 39 smog-prone northern Chinese cities soared in February, making it increasingly unlikely they will meet their annual winter air quality targets, Reuters analy

Smoke rises from chimneys and facilities of steel plants on a hazy day in Benxi, Liaoning province November 3, 2013.

Global climate talks in South Africa next month will not produce a "big bang" capable of producing a new and binding pact to slash greenhouse gases, but steady progress could be made, a senior Euro

Excess exports from China's rare earth industry kept prices artificially low for years, and it was now "unrealistic" to expect them to fall back to previous levels as Beijing reins in the sector, a

China needs to set absolute restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions if it is to fulfill its aim to set up a carbon market over the next five years, a cabinet office think tank said in a paper publ

Some of the world's leading clothing brands rely on Chinese suppliers that pollute rivers with toxic, hormone-disrupting chemicals banned in Europe and elsewhere, environment group Greenpeace said on Wednesday.

Adidas, Nike, Puma, Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Abercrombie and Fitch and China's Li Ning were among the global names identified in the Greenpeace report following a year-long investigation.

Plans to use massive new hydropower development to boost China's power capacity by nearly half by 2015 will not dent coal demand enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions and could further damage the country's strained river system.

China wants to raise installed power capacity by 490 gigawatts (GW) to 1,440 GW by 2015.

The Huadian Corp will go ahead with controversial plans to dam the Nu River in southwest China as it strives to raise its total hydro capacity by 10 gigawatts before the end of 2015, the official China Daily reported on Tuesday.

The report said the company, one of China's big five state-owned utilities, plans to raise its total hydroelectric capacity to 26 gigawatts by the end of 2015, up from

The Chinese government will impose binding emission targets on its regions as part of its efforts to meet 2020 national carbon intensity goals, a senior Chinese climate official said on Wednesday.

Su Wei, the director general of the climate change department at the National Development and Reform Commission, said a working group would be set up to draw up specific targets and policies, Thomson