Major industrialised countries are expected to create a multibillion-dollar fund later this year to help developing countries cut greenhouse gas emissions, World Bank President Robert Zoellick was quoted as saying. In an interview with Japan's Asahi newspaper published on Thursday, Zoellick said the fund would likely be finalised at the Group of Eight summit to be held on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido on July 7-9.

The Bush administration released a climate change assessment on Thursday -- four years late and pushed forward by a court order -- that said human-induced global warming will likely lead to problems like droughts in the US West and stronger hurricanes. President George W. Bush's stance on the issue has evolved from denying climate science to acknowledging that global warming is happening. In March, watchdog groups said Bush's decision to intervene in setting air pollution standards was part of a pattern of meddling in environmental science.

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 Bush administration, bowing to a court order, released a fresh summary of federal and independent research pointing to large, and mainly harmful, impacts in the United States from human-caused global warming. The report is online at climatescience.gov, along with a new report updating the administration's priorities for climate research.

Warmer temperatures brought on by climate change could trim output of some US crops like corn in coming decades, but increase yields from other crops like soybeans, government scientists said on Tuesday. US corn output dips and rises from year-to-year but has risen overall as farmers use new seeds and fertilizers to maximize growth.

The international fight to control climate change heads to a new arena in June when the Senate is to debate a bill that could cut total US global warming emissions by 66 percent by 2050. Environmentalists are supportive but want more in the legislation, the business community questions the economic impact, and the politicians who have shepherded it seem gratified that it has managed to get this far -- even though it is unlikely to become law this year.

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.

Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita voiced expectations Sunday that Group of Eight leaders will agree to a Japan-advocated long-term target of halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 during their July summit in Hokkaido. On the second day of a three-day meeting of G-8 environment ministers in Kobe, Kamoshita called for the launch of an international network of institutions to facilitate the transition to low-carbon societies, a prerequisite to achieving the target.