Sanjay Jog

Mumbai: Amid heated debate over climate change, India

Indonesia may cut subsidies for fossil fuels and introduce policies requiring state electricity firm PLN to use renewable energy sources for part of its supply within a year, a senior environment official said Monday.

Ranked the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in a 2007 World Bank report, Indonesia is considered a key player in the fight against climate change.

Key US lawmakers on Friday defended their plans to establish a system capping greenhouse gas emissions, disputing attacks from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin that climate change legislation in Congress would destroy jobs and hurt the economy.

The environment won a temporary reprieve in the recession as Americans slammed the brakes on one of their favorite pastimes: consuming stuff.

But while the austerity brought by a battered economy has cut pollution, it has also hit investment in green technology, which could damage the environment in the longer term, experts say.

Combating global warming is one of several topics being discussed at high-level meetings this week between US and Chinese government officials.

Progress between the world's two largest emitters of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases would boost an international summit set for December in Copenhagen that aims to craft new global goals on controlling climate change.

Companies are taking a selective approach to reducing their impact on the environment, moving slowly on bigger investments while embracing strategies like energy efficiency and waste reduction that quickly lift profits.

As concerns over global warming grow, the number of firms announcing plans to become "greener" have proliferated, with previous laggards now racing to catch up.

The dream of cellulosic ethanol powered vehicles and biorefineries is slowly coming to life, climbing through contentious issues of fuel versus food, low petroleum oil prices and sustainability. Brazil is growing quickly alongside the expanding biofuel market with predicted long term demand.

Negotiators face a mammoth task to try to agree by the end of the year on the outlines of broader climate pact to replace the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol.

Key issues such as financing climate change adaptation programs in developing nations, transfer of clean-energy technology and disagreements over rich nations' targets to cut planet-warming emissions still need to be resolved.

Shastry V. Mallady and Meera Srinivasan

MADURAI/CHENNAI: A project initiated by the State