U.S. wavering on climate commitment could undermine action to save the planet, the director of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said on the sidelines of a conference on Monday.

Aviation and shipping should cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions to 10 and 20 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade, the European Union is likely to propose at global climate talks this week.

The European Union and the United States are holding talks on forging a pact with OECD countries and China to eliminate duties on green goods as part of incentives to Beijing in a potential global climate deal.

Britain said on Monday it would host a meeting of major economies next month ahead of talks to reach a new U.N deal to fight climate change.

The United States had asked Britain to hold the meeting of the 17-member Major Economies Forum (MEF) it set up earlier this year to provide an informal forum to discuss climate issues in London on October 18 and 19.

Delegates at U.N. climate talks in Bangkok are trying to whittle down a complex negotiating text that will form the basis of a broader global pact to curb the pace of climate change.

THE diplomatic process leading up to the climate-change conference in Copenhagen in December is gathering speed. Preparatory meetings are flashing by: the Major Economies Forum last week, the UN climate-change summit and the G20 this week, pre-Copenhagen negotiations in Bangkok next week.

South Korea and China lead the world's 20 largest economies in the percentage of economic stimulus money they invest in environmental projects, the U.N. Environment Program reported on Thursday.

Other members of the Group of 20 leading economic powers, including the United States, trail behind in percentage of green investment from stimulus money, the agency found.

In a landmark for carbon financing in India, the BMC on Tuesday earned Rs 26 crore for the scientific closure of its Gorai dumping
ground. The cheque from the Asian Development Bank is an advance for future delivery of carbon credits.

A global trading scheme is the most effective means of cutting carbon emissions in the shipping sector, five shipping industry associations said in a study on Wednesday.

Shipping and aviation are the only industry sectors not regulated under the Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets for greenhouse gas emissions by rich countries from 2008-12.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh commended the commitments made by Chinese President Hu Jintao during the high-level Climate Change Summit here and said India can learn lessons from China to help save the planet.