Carbon market professionals hope speedy US Congressional approval of a federal cap and trade scheme will boost emissions trading, which is threatened by recession and slow UN climate talks.

Carbon credits derived from a fledgling forest conservation scheme for developing nations will struggle to compete with palm oil as an investment, industry advisers and conservationists said on Friday.

As the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen scheduled in December approaches, the debate over responsibility for the danger we have created is heating up. The industrialised world is urging developing nations such as China and India to accept limits on carbon-dioxide emission as a pre-condition for their own emissions-reduction plan.

The high costs Japan would incur if Tokyo promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 would be hard for the public to accept during the recession, Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Friday.

Low price, high value
CFLs use only 20 per cent of the energy an incandescent bulb uses, to generate the same amount of illumination. They also last much longer. But they cost up to 10 times more. If made available at Rs 10-15, they will be great value for money.

The plan