Little progress has been made so far on a new pact to combat global warming, with "commercial and political interests" continuing to prevail, China's senior climate change official said on Monday.

Any unilateral solution sought to be imposed on developing countries in Copenhagen violating the equity principle is likely to be thwarted by the combined might of the G-77, the developing countries plus China, says Prashant Goyal

China appears committed to stronger steps to contain swelling greenhouse gas emissions, the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said after meetings in Beijing, urging practical hopes of climate treaty negotiations.

Blair said on Thursday that his talks with Premier Wen Jiabao indicated that climate change had moved closer to the heart of Chinese policy-setting.

The Maldives on Wednesday said a budget crisis will keep its president from attending landmark U.N. climate talks, the results of which could have a huge effect on the future of the low-lying archipelago.

R. Ramachandran
The G8 summit has delivered precious little on climate change for the developing countries even as the developed countries have hailed the consensus on the 2oC limit on global warming as a major achievement.

New Zealand set itself a goal on Monday to cut carbon emissions by between 10 and 20 percent by 2020, holding off setting a hard target until a broader global climate pact now under negotiation takes shape.

Global carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 rose 1.94 percent year-on-year to 31.5 billion metric tons, German renewable energy industry institute IWR said on Monday, based on official information and its own research.

The G-8 climate action agenda calling for 80 per cent reduction in emission by 2050 has been rightly criticised as mere hot air. Without any specific short-term targets or a roadmap to get there, lofty declarations like the one made in L

RASHME SEHGAL