BEIJING: Chinese greenhouse gas pollution could more than double within two decades, a Chinese state research institute said in a study that casts stark light on the industrial giant's role in stoking global warming.

Tropical cyclones may be a tiny help in slowing global warming by washing large amounts of vegetation and soil containing greenhouse gases into the sea, scientists said on Sunday.

Britain will adopt a more severe target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, increasing this to 80 percent from 60 percent, newly installed Energy and Climate Minister Ed Miliband said on Thursday.

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to stick to a December deadline for agreeing ambitious measures to fight climate change, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

She told reporters on leaving a two-day summit early that the leaders agreed the package must take account of each country's specific situation, which suited Germany as a major industrial power.

Indian physicist and environmental activist Vandana Shiva said the financial crisis showed it was high time for countries to rebuild local, diverse farms to become independent from global turmoil.

Moscow doubts carbon trading can solve climate change because recent swings in stock and commodities prices show markets are unable to fix global problems, an official Russian document showed.

Fears of a sharp worldwide economic slowdown are threatening a hard-won European plan on climate change that European leaders hoped would set an example for the rest of the world.

Japan signed an agreement on Tuesday to buy allowances from Poland to emit greenhouse gas, helping Tokyo achieve its goals under the Kyoto Protocol, Japan's trade ministry said.

The deal, signed in Warsaw, is the fourth for the Japanese government following similar agreements with Hungary, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

An influential global network of governments, scientists and conservationists called on Tuesday for deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and said financial turmoil must not sideline work to safeguard animals and plants.