Reuters: Global warming could trigger mass migration, disrupt trade and lead to conflicts over farmland and water resources from Africa to Asia, a report released at climate talks in Bali said on Monday. The report by the German Advisory Council on Global Change says time is running out for nations to agree on binding cuts of greenhouse gases before higher temperatures, rising seas, melting glaciers and more droughts and floods sowed chaos. Developing nations, and particularly those …

Reuters: Bulgaria, unhappy about the EU cutting its 2008-12 carbon emission quota by 37 percent, will not seek a total review of the plan but accuses Brussels of ignoring key factors, the environment minister said on Monday. Dzhevdet Chakarov said the European Commission (EC) had put the new EU member state in an unfavourable position by missing factors such the enforced closure of its nuclear reactors, which had increased its need to emit greenhouse gases. He said Bulgaria was still …

Reuters: Agriculture in Britain is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the energy sector but has the potential to be almost carbon neutral, an industry report issued on Monday said. "Through acclerated uptake of energy efficiency and a range of renewable energy technologies, there is potential for agriculture ultimately to become almost carbon neutral," the report said. The report was issued by a climate-change task force backed by Britain’s National Farmers …

Reuters: Spain plans to give people grants to make their homes more environmentally-friendly, the prime minister said on Monday, a sign the government wants to push the green issue ahead of March’s general election. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Monday said the Socialist government would hand out 1 billion euros (US$1.47 billion) in direct subsidies to renovate old, energy-inefficient homes in 2008-2012, 200 million euros more than previously announced. It will also …

Indo-Asian News Service: India found itself alone and the subject of criticism from many sides over the issue of being paid to conserve forests at the UN climate change conference here Tuesday. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has decided to include the fight against deforestation as a part of the fight against climate change after scientists proved that deforestation is leading to 20 percent of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that lead to global …

Reuters: Humans must help animals and plants adapt to a warmer world, environmentalists said on Thursday, because it is too expensive to rebuild entire ecosystems and their loss makes people even more vulnerable. Conservation efforts should focus on protecting a variety of the most resilient or adaptable communities, and providing protected corridors of land or sea to allow species to shift habitats if their old range becomes unliveable, they said. "The scale of the problem means …

Reuters: Washington rejected stiff 2020 targets for greenhouse gas cuts by rich nations at UN talks in Bali on Monday as part of a "roadmap" to work out a new global pact to fight climate change by 2009. "It’s prejudging what the outcome should be," chief negotiator Harlan Watson said of a draft suggesting that rich nations should aim to axe emissions of heat-trapping gases by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. He said that Washington wanted the …

Reuters: The Netherlands warned on Monday it will not renew subsidies for palm-based biofuel until global producers meet its environmental requirements. The world’s biggest palm-oil producers, including Malaysia and Indonesia, may take about two years to meet the needed levels, Dutch Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer said, following a meeting with Malaysian Commodities Minister Peter Chin. The Netherlands, the largest consumer of palm oil in the European Union, will renew its …

Reuters: Under threat from a thaw of Arctic sea ice, polar bears seem to be having a population explosion at UN climate talks on the tropical island of Bali. Environmental activists have repeatedly paraded in polar bear suits at Dec. 3-14 UN talks to warn of climate threats to wildlife. Yet the UN climate panel says 20 to 30 percent of all species may face more risks of extinction from warming. So should activists focus more on other threatened species closer at hand in Asia, such as …

Jakarta Post: For small island states, identified by scientists as the most vulnerable countries to global warming, the adaptation fund is a do or die battle for their citizens. Delegates from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Saturday pleaded for the world to take immediate action on the causes behind climate change, otherwise rising sea levels will wipe their homes off the world map. "Urgent action is needed in the area of mitigation…adaptation financing is something we need …