CLIMATE

Voluntary carbon markets in the United States will grow especially at the regional level even if a stalled federal climate bill fails to impose cap and trade on American industry, the chairman of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he believed a global agreement to combat climate change might still be possible despite the limited results of last month's Copenhagen meeting.

A beef industry group has challenged a ruling by U.S. environmental regulators that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, saying the move would hurt agriculture.

Countries should stop blaming each other for the weak outcome of the Copenhagen climate talks and sit down together to move the process forward, the U.N.'s top climate change official said on Wednesday.

The UN climate chief said Wednesday the Copenhagen Accord was vague about climate funds pledged by rich countries to help poor countries fight against climate change.

The grouping of China, India, Brazil and South Africa has emerged as a significant force in Copenhagen and they could lead the way in future negotiations, the head of the U.N. climate panel said on Wednesday.

China condemned claims ascribed to Britain's climate change minister that it had hijacked negotiations in Copenhagen, saying on Tuesday the accusations were an attempt to sow discord among poor countries.

The Britain's climate change secretary Ed Miliband said Monday that China had led a group of countries that hijacked the negotiations, admitting that Copenhagen summit failed to achieve what had been hoped for.

The credibility of the European Union's flagship carbon trading scheme was dealt another blow on Monday after carbon prices fell to six-month lows as U.N. talks in Copenhagen failed to deliver a strong climate deal.

The world will find it hard to get U.N.-led climate talks back on track in Mexico in 2010 after an unambitious deal agreed in Copenhagen set no firm deadline for a legally binding treaty.

A U.N. climate meeting in Copenhagen committed on Saturday to try and complete its work on agreeing a new global pact by the end of 2010.

Several developing nations rejected on Saturday a climate deal worked out by U.S. President Barack Obama and four major emerging economies, saying it could not become a U.N. blueprint for fighting global warming.

A U.N. summit is considering a target of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius, backed by a new fund of $100 billion a year to aid developing nations, according to a draft text pulled together on Friday morning hours before world leaders met.

All countries agreed a deal to combat climate change at a summit in Copenhagen on Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has invited Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for another bilateral meeting to discuss outstanding issues on a U.N. climate change agreement, the White House said in a statement.

The following is text extracted from a draft of an Accord among Leaders at Copenhagen.

The White House said that world leaders had reached a meaningful agreement that would pave the way towards multi-laterally combatting global climate change.

U.S. President Barack Obama reached agreement with major developing powers on a climate deal on Friday, a U.S. official said, but he said the accord was only a first step and was insufficient to fight climate change.

U.S. President Barack Obama reached a climate agreement on Friday with leaders from India, South Africa and China that will be a historic step forward in combating global warming, a U.S. official said.

As President Barack Obama labored behind closed doors to break a deadlock over efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Republicans from the U.S. Congress were outside those meetings urging him not to bother.

World leaders worked toward a target of halving greenhouse gas emissions on Friday, but a draft text abandoned ambitions for a legally binding climate treaty next year in a sign divisions remain.