Alaskan Inuits, Australian aborigines and Pygmies from Cameroon have a message for a warming world: native traditions can be a potent weapon against climate change.

At a summit starting Monday in Anchorage, Alaska, some 400 indigenous people from 80 nations are gathering to hone this message in the hope that it can be a key part of international climate negotiations.

European Union emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for stoking global warming fell by 1.2 percent in 2007, paradoxically aided by a mild winter that cut heating demand, EU data showed on Friday.

Emissions by the 27-nation bloc in 2007, before the current global economic downturn, dipped to 9.2 percent below a 1990 benchmark year under the UN's Kyoto Protocol for fighting climate change.

Global warming may strike faster than thought

By David Adam, The Guardian
The poll of those who follow global warming most closely exposes a widening gulf between political rhetoric and scientific opinions on climate change.

Russia's greenhouse gas emissions rose by a tiny 0.3 percent in 2007 to the highest in more than a decade, sharply lagging an oil-backed surge in economic growth, official data showed.

Russia's greenhouse gas emissions rose by a tiny 0.3 percent in 2007 to the highest since 1990s economic downturn caused by the break-up of the Soviet Union, according to data submitted to the United Nations.

Australia's planned emissions trading scheme might not be worth implementing without raising the upper limit of emissions cuts from 15 to 25 percent by 2020, the scheme's architect said on Thursday.

The government's top climate adviser, Ross Garnaut, expressed doubts during a parliamentary inquiry into the planned scheme.

New Zealand expects to allocate up to 1 million emissions permits to forestry owners by next month, a fraction of the 8 million set aside for issuance this year to the sector, the government said on Thursday.

In theory, the world

New Zealand will better its target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol because of drought and reassessment of its forests, a government report said on Wednesday.

The country was now expected to produce around 9.6 million tonnes less of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases than allowed in the protocol's first commitment period of 2008-2012.

There are positive signs a climate summit in December will forge a broader pact between rich and poorer nations to fight global warming, a top Australian official and an influential Chinese expert said on Wednesday.