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"But some positive news from the biggest developing nations--China, India, and Brazil--have encouraged the proceedings. Each has pledged to reduce carbon emissions on some level, and Obama has put forward an emissions reduction target based on the climate bill that passed the House of Representatives last summer. At 17% below 2005 levels, it's hardly what the international community was looking for--but it's progress nonetheless. Most importantly, hope seems to be in the air--real progress can be made in the coming days."

"Today, the State Council announced that China will commit to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, or carbon intensity, by 40 to 45 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. It was also announced separately by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Premier Wen Jiabao (also the chair of the State Council, and pictured right, showing what President Hu meant by a "notable margin"…at least in my imagination) will attend the Copenhagen climate conference that begins in less than two weeks."

Photo via DC Streets Blog The Obama administration formally made its pledge to reduce emissions in the United States 17% below 2005 by 2020 levels yesterday. This is in accordance to the pledge he put forth at the Copenhagen.

"Its short lifespan and greater potency means tackling methane emissions now could have a dramatic effect on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations"

Stunning graphic that shows where emissions come from the in the world. A few countries put out most of the emissions in the world.

"10:10 Campaign Director Eugenie Harvey responded to the news by saying, 'Today's announcement from the Tories is truly remarkable. This would mean that all central Government buildings, from Big Ben to Belmarsh Prison will follow the inspiring example set by families, businesses, schools, and faith groups across the country in making an ambitious 10% emissions reduction in 2010.'"

Indonesia will rehabilitate degraded forests and plant millions of hectares of new forests to meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent from projected levels by 2020, reports Reuters.

"Confidential UN analysis shows that if the current offers on the table at the Copenhagen climate summit are agreed, global temperatures will rise on average by 3C."

Experts warn that Scotland's targets on cutting emissions will be hard to achieve without a wider international agreement.

Challenged by strict air-quality rules, dairy farmers face costly changes to generators used to burn methane to produce power. With the intention of using these generators to eliminate methane waste, along with electricity bills, farmers now meet an unexpected consequence- the conversion of methane into electricity produces nitrogen oxides, or NOx. This pollutant exacerbates the state's smog problem. After already spending several hundreds of thousands of dollars on their "dairy digester" systems at the urge of the state, farmers are forced to abide by the state's air quality standards by purchasing expensive additional equipment, or shut down their waste-consuming generators. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District's limit of 11 parts per million of NOx for new digester systems works out to equal the emissions of 26 cars for every 1,000 cows, said Frank Mitloehner, an associate professor at UC Davis' department of animal science.

"Studying past climates can help scientists predict how the planet will change in the future. Using historical data, scientists at the University of Bristol, have developed a new model of climate change they believe is more accurate than previous estimates. Leaving certain data out of climate models, researchers discovered, has led to exceedingly modest estimates of the effect of carbon emissions on the planet."

"We know, for example, that Portland has actually reduced its aggregate carbon emissions since 1990 despite growing 18 percent in population, largely due to land-use and transportation strategies that stress infill locations, walkable neighborhoods, and transit-oriented development."

">In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the problems associated with climate change are regarded with great apprehension. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in a report released during the conference, warned that the region could bear one of the heaviest costs of climate change. The organization said that up to 40 percent of the biodiversity of some Latin American nations could be wiped out by 2100 if steps are not taken immediately to control carbon emissions."

"he Kasigau Corridor REDD Project aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.5 million tons over its 20-year lifetime, generating carbon credits that may receive a premium relative to other credits due to the CCB certification."

"If deforestation were happening in your city, how quickly would you work to stop it?" the video asks, pointing out that 90 acres of rainforest are destroyed every minute. Deforestation threatens half of the world's species, and is responsible for 20% of global warming emissions."

"The U.Va. research, just published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, demonstrates that algae production consumes more energy, has higher greenhouse gas emissions and uses more water than other biofuel sources, such as switchgrass, canola and corn."

Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame

New research shows that the 2010 Amazon drought may have been even more devastating to the region's rainforests than the unusual 2005 drought, which was previously billed as a one-in-100 year event.

A lot depends on how 'peat' and 'natural forest' are defined and how rights are agreed upon. Strong lobbies from the forest and tree-crop plantation industry argue that the economy will be harmed if 'business as usual' is interrupted. According to news sources, definitions of 'natural forest' and 'peat' differ between drafts prepared by the Indonesian Government's emissions reduction taskforce and by the Ministry of Forestry. There are several key issues that need to be resolved.

The world's coral reefs are in danger of dying out in the next 20 years unless carbon emissions are cut drastically, warns a coalition of scientists led by Sir David Attenborough.