I always thought the one problem with carbon markets or pollution credits is that they allow companies to carry on polluting. They don't actually fix the problem. Now the UK policy group, the Cornerhouse has published a briefing attacking carbon trading. It was also published by the think think, Foreign Policy in Focus.

According to the Larry Lohmann, from the Cornerhouse: "In their efforts to deal with climate change, most governments are pinning their hopes largely on the carbon markets that, under US influence, have been enshrined in both the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
"This is a mistake"

So the spiral of violence in Nigeria continues. Although six hostages being held by militant youths in the Delta region of Nigeria have been released, a further three are still being held.

On the day that Tony Blair hosts a crisis Downing Street summit to address what he calls "the major long-term threat facing our planet", there is more bad news for the climate.

The Guardian reports how "the Earth's temperature could rise under the impact of global warming to levels far higher than previously predicted, according to the United Nations' team of climate experts".

According to a draft of the influential UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, scientists are now unable to place a reliable upper limit on how quickly the atmosphere will warm as carbon dioxide levels increase. The Guardian

The George Clooney movie, Syriana opens in cinemas across Europe this week. Some oil campaigners believe that any film that tries to portray the deep-rooted web of connections between oil companies and politicians is a worthwhile exercise. Others think that it is conspiratorial nonsense.

So what did the Financial Times energy correspondent, Carola Hoyos think of the film? Not much it seems. She called it “unbelievably confusing and, well, crude”.

She seems to think that governments and oil companies are NOT that bright to be involved in a conspiracy. “I am not saying that oil companies are responsible, transparent, generous organisations, and

More grim news from the American Advancement of Science annual meeting. According to scientists, the world's glaciers are in crisis, from Greeenland, Patagonia, Tibet to Africa and Antarctica. They are all melting rapidly.

The amount of ice the Greenland ice sheet is loosing has doubled over the last five years.
"Fifteen years ago, we thought Greenland [glaciers] were not doing anything," says Eric Rignot from NASA. Now, ice sheets below an elevation of 2 kilometers show "major melting," he said. "We're going over the edge," he argues. Temperatures along Antartica's peninsula are rising six times faster than the global average.

Mark Dyurgerov, a

Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta have suffered yet another significant legal setback. The oil company has been ordered by a Nigerian Court to pay $1.5 billion in damages to communities in Ijaw in Baylesa State for polluting their creeks and despoiling their crops.

The court decision is seen as a significant setback for Shell, already reeling from recent attacks on its installations and a spate of hostage-taking. Shell is also refusing to abide by another court ruling that has ordered the company to stop gas flaring.

It is now forty years since the first communities in the Delta started complaining of

It’s winter in Vermont, although it’s 40 degrees in Burlington, there’s no snow on the ground and my neighbor, Tom, is moping about the house. He has a new collapsible ice shanty, auger and tip-ups sitting in his basement unused, because the ice on Lake Champlain (what there is of it) is not thick enough to support ice fishing.

Britain and other EU countries worrried about climate change could lose thier ability to impose taxes or restrictions on airlines under a draft treaty between the EU and US which actually curtails the power of national governments.

The treaty which is known as the "Open Skies" agreement, is meant to liberalise aviation. But it includes a clause requiring EU states to reach agreement not only with each other but also the US before taking measures to tackle noise or air pollution from airlines.

So now we have a situation where Europe will have to gain approval from the US to curb air

New shocking research on climate change has been published. The alarming research is not from a pressure group but published by Britain's Environment Agency, and written by scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change.

The study, the first of its kind to examine climate change impacts beyond the end of this century, concluded that over the next millennium temperatures could increase by up to 15°C and seas rise by up to 11.4 metres, with vaste swathes of low-lying areas around the world under water.

The report's dire predictions include:

Global and regional warming could more than quadruple after 2100: Temperatures could rise

More on Kyoto: The environment group, Friends of the Earth has said that Governments who signed up to the Protocol are failing to take the necessary action to ensure that emission targets are met.

According to FoE, emissions data from countries who signed up to Kyoto reveal that many are still failing to bring carbon emissions under control - with emissions in Italy, Canada, and Austria all increasing since 1990. UK emissions are also now rising - putting the UK's Kyoto commitments in jeopardy.

Mike Childs, Head of Campaigns at FoE argues: "The UK likes to claim world leadership on climate change.