US industrial companies are spending heavily on environmentally friendly efforts even as the economic slowdown dents their profits. Fuelling the "green" trend are hopes that products that are made of recyclable materials or use less energy will win praise, forestall onerous regulation and cut rising costs. In particular, oil prices have jumped more than 20 percent this year. "Oil for $116 a barrel is staggering," said Donald Young, a spokesman for the International Facility Management Association professional group. "Companies are forging ahead."

Japanese and European Union leaders on Wednesday agreed to push for the launch by the Group of Eight powers of a new energy-saving framework to curb global warming at July's G-8 summit in Japan, while sharing

Aircraft makers, airlines, airports and air traffic controllers pledged on Tuesday to work towards "carbon-neutral growth" and reduce their industry's contribution to global warming. The declaration committed commercial players including Embraer, Bombardier, Boeing and Airbus to support cleaner fuels, improve fuel efficiency, better manage air routes, and work "to achieve greenhouse gas reductions wherever they are cost-effective." "We are committed to a pathway to carbon-neutral growth and aspire to a carbon-free future," the signatories said.

ROME - Biofuels will not solve the world's energy problem, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell said on Sunday, amid growing criticism of their environmental and social benefits. The remarks follow protests in Brazil and Europe against fuels derived from food crops. Food shortages and rising costs have set off rioting and protests in countries including Haiti, Cameroon, Niger and Indonesia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks here on Sunday with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and expressed skepticism over a U.S. initiative to halt the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, Japanese officials said. Merkel was quoted as telling Abe that she is

This commercial ship, partly powered by a giant kite, set off on its maiden voyage from the German city Bremen to Venezuela in the third week of January. Designers of the vessel, MS Beluga