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Chris Smith - the respectable radical who is plotting a green revolution

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Chris Smith is the respectable radical. He was the first openly gay MP. As the Culture Secretary in Tony Blair’s Government, he pioneered free admissions to museums. Later, from the back benches, he masterminded opposition in the House of Commons to the war in Iraq. Now Lord Smith of Finsbury wants to start a green revolution — and the mild-mannered rambler might just succeed.

Obama set to announce US target for cutting emissions at summit

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

President Obama is preparing to break the deadlock in negotiations on a global deal on climate change by announcing a target for cutting US greenhouse gas emissions.

All hope is lost for Copenhagen climate treaty, British officials say

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

A world treaty on climate change will be delayed by up to a year and is likely to be watered down because countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions are refusing to commit to legally binding reductions.

Farmers have been told to go green or face the financial consequences

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

English farmers have been given a last chance to adopt greener practices that benefit wildlife and help to combat climate change or face deductions from their state hand-outs of cash.

One in five mammals threatened with extinction

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:20:09 GMT

A fifth of the world’s known mammals, a third of amphibians and reptiles and more than two thirds of plants are threatened with extinction, according to the latest “Red List” of endangered species.

Rent clothes to cut carbon emissions, says green watchdog

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Large wardrobes of seldom-used clothes are no longer environmentally acceptable and people should instead rent outfits and accessories, according to the Government’s waste watchdog.

Prince’s Foundation causes alarm with close links to housebuilder

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The Prince of Wales’s sustainable architecture charity is working so closely with a housebuilder developing new estates in beauty spots that it is causing alarm about its independence.

Kilimanjaro's snows melt away in dramatic evidence of climate change

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro will be gone within two decades, according to scientists who say that the rapid melting of its glacier cap over the past century provides dramatic physical evidence of global climate change.

Merkel: no chance of Kyoto-style agreement at Copenhagen

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:58:32 GMT

Angela Merkel tried to give the world a wake up call to the glacial progress being made towards a climate deal in Copenhagen yesterday by writing off the chances of achieving a succesor to the Kyoto treaty this year.

European leaders edge closer to agreement on global climate change fund

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:39:48 GMT

European leaders were edging towards agreement today on a massive international fund for developing countries to combat climate change after an appeal for them to show leadership from Ban Ki Moon, the UN General-Secretary.

Government cost cutting looks set to scupper £23bn Severn Barrage tidal project

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Plans to build a ten-mile tidal barrage across the River Severn that could generate up to 5 per cent of Britain’s electricity are likely to be shelved under a government cost-cutting drive, The Times has learnt.

Q&A: what do we know about climate change and the world's future?

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Is the world warming?

Methane’s impact on global warming far higher than previously thought

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The effects of a critical greenhouse gas on global warming have been significantly underestimated, according to research suggesting that emissions controls and climate models may need to be revised

Exaggerated claims undermine drive to cut emissions, scientists warn

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:41 GMT

Exaggerated and inaccurate claims about the threat from global warming risk undermining efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and contain climate change, senior scientists have told The Times.

Climate change ‘will put endangered monkeys at further risk’

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:59 GMT

Several endangered species of monkey are likely to be pushed further towards extinction by the effects of climate change, research has suggested.

Critics round on Lord Stern over vegetarian call

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Farmers and meat companies across Britain reacted with a mixture of anger and exasperation yesterday after one of the world’s leading climate change campaigners urged people to become vegetarian to help to fight global warming.

Australians 'could be forced to evacuate seaside homes'

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:10 GMT

Australia’s fabled beachside life of sea, surf and sundowners overlooking the ocean is under threat from rising sea levels. Those living in coastal areas most at risk could be ordered out of their homes for their own safety, while construction in other sensitive seaside areas may be banned.

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:56 GMT

People will need to turn vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming.

Rare Queen of Spain butterflies may form breeding colony in Sussex

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

A rare migrant butterfly from Europe may be establishing a breeding colony on the South Coast, say conservationists. The Queen of Spain fritillary was rarely seen in Britain before 1990, but a small group has been spotted in the past month, and seen mating, the charity Butterfly Conservation said.

Gordon Brown’s climate change finance package hangs in balance

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Gordon Brown’s plan for Europe to lead the world in tackling climate change stands on the brink of failure as a row about its cost threatens to overshadow the European Council.

UK’s new marine reserves are threatened by legal loophole

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Legislation to designate marine reserves around the coast of Britain is likely to contain a loophole that will allow fishermen to damage the fragile areas of seabed without fear of fines.

President Obama won’t talk climate change in Copenhagen

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

President Obama will almost certainly not travel to the Copenhagen climate change summit in December and may instead use his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech to set out US environmental goals, The Times has learnt.

Hope of cleaner skies as Beijing residents switch from coal to electricity

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:32 GMT

The brick walls are grey, the sky is leaden, the alley is choked with dust and rubble as workmen fill in a long channel running along Tanggong Hutong, in the heart of old Beijing (Jane Macartney writes). The men have just finished laying an electricity cable as part of the sweeping campaign by China to clean up its act.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband accuses public of climate change apathy

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The Foreign Secretary accused the public yesterday of lacking a sense of urgency in the face of the potentially devastating consequences of climate change.

Four-year drought pushes 23 million Africans to brink of starvation

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT

“The last time I had a good harvest was 2003 — there has been nothing at all for the last three years,” said Mutindi Maithya, 36, a widow who lives with her six children on a four- acre plot of sun-baked land.