With just over a month to go until Australia's mandatory carbon emissions reporting scheme comes into force, heads of business remain confused about its requirements. From July 1, the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act 2007 requires business to begin collecting mandatory information about their output of greenhouse gas emissions and their production and consumption of energy. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) director Sean Lucy says he expects many Australian business will be caught unawares by the mandatory reporting requirements.

Rich nations need to cut per-capita greenhouse gas emissions to India's current levels by mid-century to avoid devastating climate change, Britain's former chief scientific adviser said on Wednesday. Global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels from burning fossil fuels were already rising quickly and rich nations needed to quickly figure out how to maintain economic growth while committing to deep cuts in emissions, said David King.

The rise in concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human activities is influencing climate patterns and vegetation across the United States and will significantly disrupt water supplies, agriculture, forestry and ecosystems for decades, a new U.S. government report says.

Toyota Motor Co this week planted approximately 50,000 trees at the Tsutsumi plant as one of the company's sustainable plant activities. Based on the local greenery, 55 types of native trees were planted to create a multi-layered natural environment. Toyota has also planted NOx-absorbing vegetation on the rooftop of the Tsutsumi plant.

"Fred and Wilma Flintstone" were arrested as they approached the European Parliament on Monday to protest about the influence of the auto industry on proposals to curb carbon dioxide emissions from cars. Six Greenpeace activists dressed as cavemen and travelling in a Flintstones-style vehicle were detained along with three others for public order offences, police said. A stone tablet accusing car lobbyists of driving climate change was confiscated before it could be delivered to lawmakers, a Greenpeace spokeswoman said.

Britain should consider giving individuals a personal carbon emissions allowance in order to help the country meet its CO2 emissions target, a report by a committee of lawmakers said on Monday. Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee said the government had to reduce carbon emissions from individuals and households, as well as businesses and industry, if it was to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent by 2050 as planned.

Environment ministers from the G8 rich nations on Monday urged their leaders to set a global target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a small but vital step in the fight against climate change. But they stopped short of suggesting specific interim targets ahead of 2050, a key demand of developing countries in tough UN-led talks to forge a new treaty on global warming by the end of next year. Germany's secretary of state for the environment, Matthias Machnig, said the ministers had sent an important signal to their leaders on the direction in which talks needed to go.

Norway could become "Europe's battery" by developing huge sea-based wind parks costing up to $44 billion by 2025, Norway's Oil and Energy Minister said on Monday. Norway's Energy Council, comprising business leaders and officials, said green exports could help the European Union reach a goal of getting 20 percent of its electricity by 2020 from renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydro or wave power.