Solar power plants in deserts using mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays have the potential to generate up to a quarter of the world's electricity by 2050, a report by pro-solar groups said on Monday.

A rise in concentrations of a powerful greenhouse gas over the Arctic after a decade of stability is stirring worries about a possible thaw of vast stores trapped in permafrost, experts said.

Industry should play its part in the fight against climate change by persuading governments to aid carbon cuts rather than lobbying against them, the UN Secretary-General told a business conference on Sunday.

Industry should play its part in the fight against climate change by persuading governments to boost carbon cuts rather than lobbying against them, the UN Secretary-General told a business conference.

The United States will try to persuade rich and poor countries to share the burden of fighting climate change next week, with a big US pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions likely to help mend ties.

BHP Billiton moved closer to developing Australia's second-biggest un-mined uranium deposit by applying for environmental permits, but warned it might mothball or sell a big nickel refinery as that market languishes.

The passage of the cap-and-trade bill through the committee stage has driven a wedge through the US environmental lobby, Fiona Harvey reports .

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, splitting largely along party lines, approved on Thursday the most ambitious energy and global warming legislation ever debated in Congress.

Rich nations should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels as part of a new global climate change pact, China said on Thursday, spelling out its stance ahead of negotiations.
Photo: Shannon Stapleton

U.S. lawmakers pushing to include greater recognition for existing nuclear power in a national renewable energy standard failed to win new breaks for the industry when a U.S. congressional panel on Wednesday voted down an amendment to a controversial climate change bill.