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Some of the world

When Barack Obama, US president, decided late last week to attend the final stages of the fortnight-long United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, which begins on Monday, the gasp of relief from delegates heading to the Danish capital was almost audible.

The world is "within closing distance" of agreeing cuts in greenhouse gases that would satisfy scientific demands, according to a new analysis.

Officials from the governments of more than 190 countries arrived at the talks yesterday with the aim of forging a new global deal on climate change.

Since the inception of the cap and trade model under the Kyoto Protocol, many environmentalists have argued it will do little to cut emissions, but will instead give companies permission to pollute while generating lucrative trading fees for the banks that trade the government-issued allowances which form the backbone of the scheme.

Book cover of 'The Economics and Politics of Climate Change' edited by Dieter Helm and Cameron HepburnThe Economics and Politics of Climate Change
Edited by Dieter Helm and Cameron Hepburn
Oxford University Press

Jim Inhofe has one mission for the Copenhagen climate change summit: to be a self-declared

China began the year with a certain amount of trepidation about the Copenhagen climate change talks. Two years ago, researchers calculated that China had become the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, overtaking the US. Environmental groups slammed the country

When US climate change negotiators arrive in Copenhagen next week, they will find themselves in something of a Catch-22 situation. How can they sign up to an international agreement setting binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions without a clear mandate from the US Congress?

In negotiating the new climate change protocol in Copenhagen this month, we must not lose sight of our objective: to reduce the rate of annual global emissions so that we stay below the threshold of 450 parts per million for the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.