Top executives from companies likely to win from climate change policies demanded on Tuesday that governments turn away from fossil fuels when they sign a new climate pact, expected in December.

The head of shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk called on Tuesday on governments to reach a global climate deal for the shipping industry when they meet on a new climate treaty in December.

International shipping was not included in the Kyoto Protocol, a replacement for which the world will try to thrash out in Copenhagen in seven months.

Plans for the world's most comprehensive carbon-trading scheme face defeat or parliamentary delay after Australia's opposition said on Tuesday it will try to postpone a vote on the laws this year.

Industry needs financial backing to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change, business leaders told a climate conference on Monday, drawing criticism that they put profits before the environment.

Tens of billions of dollars are likely to be needed to help poor nations curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change under a new U.N. treaty, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.

Stavros Dimas
Signs are increasing that the worldwide recession is bottoming out. As economic growth picks up again, so will demand for energy

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday he was confident the world would sign a global deal to combat climate change in Copenhagen in December.

Barroso urged European industry to gear up for a green technology race instead of shoring up outdated, high-carbon business models.

Terry Macalister
A vital meeting in Copenhagen this weekend that will help shape the agenda for the most important climate change talks since the Kyoto protocol has been hijacked by some of the biggest polluters in the world, critics claimed last night.

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.