The price of carbon dioxide in the European Union has fallen so low it no longer provides an incentive to low-carbon development, and seems unlikely to do so in the near future.

Permits to emit the gas, issued by the EU

The completion of the Doha trade round appeared as far away as ever at the weekend, when a gathering of trade ministers at the World Economic Forum in Davos descended into acrimony.

Normally, the closing session of the forum displays ritualistic expectation that the trade round will be completed in the coming year, but there was little such optimism in 2009.

Europe's first auction of carbon dioxide permits took place yesterday, with the UK government reaping about

The European patent office on Wednesday upheld a US biotechnology company

US oil demand has fallen 5 per cent this year - the biggest drop since 1981 - according to new figures which underline changing American attitudes towards energy use.

Gordon Brown, prime minister, yesterday signed a clean energy co--operation agreement with a leading renewable energy company in the United Arab Emirates.

On November 15, barely 10 days after the election of a new US president, the world

In the Darwinian struggle for global manufacturing orders, the "Wal-Mart price" has generally been short-hand for shaving production costs to the bare minimum.

The Nobel economics prize was awarded on Monday to Paul Krugman, one of the great popularisers of economic ideas and a trenchant critic of the Bush administration. However, the prize was awarded for work done almost three decades ago in developing what is known as

If you live in Japan and want to show your love for Mother Earth