UNFCCC headlines

Source: Reuters - Britain's climate policies can help shield the economy from oil and gas price shocks triggered by external factors such as the Arab Spring, an analysis commissioned by the government showed on Friday.

Source: Guardian - The Canadian government is to mark the 25th anniversary of its green business advisers by shutting the agency down

Source: The Australian - AUSTRALIA is set to play a key role in the development of a new global-debt security, with work under way on an initiative to arrange a dollar "climate bond" in what could be a world first.

Source: UN News Centre - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today emphasized the need to optimize the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to support sustainable development.

Source: UN News Centre - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today asked young people from all over the world to “make some noise” to help accelerate progress on the negotiations of the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20) which will take place in Brazil next month.

Source: National Geographic - Negotiators picked up discussions toward a new global climate treaty in Bonn, Germany this week.

Source: Climate Central - The latest round of U.N. climate talks are underway in Bonn, Germany, in preparation for higher-profile negotiations in Doha, Qatar later this year.

Source: UPI - The outcome of China's planned carbon emissions scheme could have a transforming effect on efforts to tackle climate change, experts say.

Source: swissinfo.ch - Newly installed in a 19th-century mansion in the leafy suburb of Versoix, a short hop from the city centre, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s non-profit environmental group R20 is the latest addition to International Geneva’s burgeoning green hub.

Source: AFP - UN members on Thursday took their first steps in a marathon to negotiate a new global pact by 2015 that for the first time will place rich and poor under a common legal regime to tackle climate change.

Source: Reuters - Countries which agreed to sign a deal in 2015 to cut greenhouse gas emissions should set milestones this year to ensure the necessary work is done on time, the United Nations' climate chief said on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters - The number of extreme rainstorms - deluges that dump 3 inches or more in a day - doubled in the U.S. Midwest over the last half-century, causing billions of dollars in flood damage in a trend climate advocates link to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: UN News Service - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is helping Tanzania determine how much carbon is stored in forests and forest soils, in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

Source: Financial Times - This year is not turning out well for the climate change business. The pace of global climate talks is sluggish. Prices have collapsed in the world’s biggest carbon market. Eurozone woes have shoved environmental concerns well down the list of priorities for leaders worldwide.

Source: Bernama - Barbados is set to host one of the most important conferences on the 2012 calendar when the second CARICOM-Mexico summit comes to Bridgetown next Monday May 21.

Source: The National - Abdullah Al Attiyah, named by Qatar to the presidency of the United Nations climate-change talks that the country is to host this year, began his term quietly this week.

Source: AlertNet - The East African archipelago of Zanzibar is attempting to win "environmental independence" from Tanzania by joining an organisation that promotes the sustainable development of islands in the Indian Ocean.

Source: Times of India - On the second day of the Bonn climate change negotiations, the US, the EU and other developed countries tried to stall discussions on whether the rich countries had met their obligations on reducing emissions and financing the poor countries.

Source: The Himalayan Times -

Source: The Zimbabwean - The Zimbabwe climate change negotiating team for the Conference of the Parties negotiations must include lawyers to help interpret the cumbersome processes involved, stakeholders agreed at a recent COP 17 report back meeting.