Hamburg, Germany - Sea levels around the world will rise one metre this century, according to German scientists who warn that global warming is happening much faster than hitherto predicted. Citing UN date on climate change, two senior German scientists say that previous predictions were far too cautious and optimistic.

- European biofuels could receive a boost from a change in the way the European Union calculates their impact on the environment, a document shows, angering environmentalists who think they do more harm than good.

The European Council document seen by Reuters on Wednesday also annoyed European biodiesel producers who see a bias towards bioethanol.

Rising sea levels as a result of climate change will erode Sydney's iconic beaches by 2050, with some at risk of disappearing, and threaten beachfront homes and commercial properties, a new climate change study said.

Rising carbon dioxide levels in the world's oceans due to climate change, combined with rising sea temperatures, could accelerate coral bleaching, destroying some reefs before 2050, says a new Australian study.

The study says earlier research may have significantly understated the likely damage to the world's reefs caused by man-made change to the Earth's atmosphere.

European leaders handed concessions to heavy industry and former communist nations on Thursday to smooth the path to a December agreement on fighting climate change amid economic turmoil.

France, Germany and Austria called on Friday for an easing of EU climate ambitions to help industries facing an economic downturn, causing green groups to warn that the battle against climate change was in jeopardy.

Shanghai, China's most populous city and an aspiring global financial centre, is also among the world's most vulnerable urban areas to a rise in sea levels as global warming melts polar ice.