BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Fewer United Nations climate summits and more incentives through carbon pricing could speed up international efforts to slow the pace of global warming, a draft European Commission paper seen by Reuters says.

U.N. climate talks have yet to recover from a disastrous Copenhagen summit in 2009 when talks ended in failure and subsequent annual meetings have been heavily criticized for dragging on for weeks yet achieving little.

BRUSSELS/LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) – Britain’s plans to
reward nuclear plant operators through fixed prices for
low-carbon energy are illegal under existing EU rules and
efforts to adapt them are likely to draw opposition from other
member states, EU and legal sources said.

Britain plans to reform its electricity market to fix a
minimum price for nuclear, wind and solar-generated power, which
is carbon free.

BRUSSELS, March 21 (Reuters) – European Union member states
are making gradual progress towards agreement on an emergency
fix to support the carbon market, which has sunk to record lows,
a spokeswoman for the EU Presidency told reporters on Thursday.

“The position in the council (of member states) is making
progress towards majority support,” the spokeswoman said.

BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) – EU politicians backed a
compromise on Tuesday that would give carmakers limited leeway
in the race to cut CO2 emissions in line with targets while
rejecting German calls for more lenient rules.

The issue of how strictly to enforce European Union (EU)
efficiency rules to reduce fuel use, curb reliance on expensive
oil imports and lower greenhouse gas emissions has divided the
car industry.

BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) – Europe appears set to agree
rules forcing oil, gas and mining companies to declare payments
to governments, as part of efforts to end poverty in
resource-rich nations by ensuring the wealth is shared out.

EU officials say Tuesday’s round of negotiations on a legal
text could be the last, but it is not yet clear whether the
European Union’s rules will be as rigorous as U.S. legislation,
which has led to a challenge through the courts.

BRUSSELS, March 18 (Reuters) – Proposed European legislation
on auto fuel efficiency, to be debated this week, could create
around 400,000 jobs and save the bloc tens of billions of euros
in annual fuel costs, according to a new study.

The fuel efficiency proposals, set for an initial vote in
the European Parliament on Tuesday, have split the industry.
Germany, home to luxury carmakers, has pressed for supercredits,
which the European Commission says would dilute its plans.

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) – A group of leading
economists, including eight Nobel Prize winners, has written to
U.S. President Barack Obama urging him to support a carbon price
on aviation.

An EU law requiring all aircraft using EU airports to pay
for emissions via the bloc’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) last
year stirred international outcry and threats of a trade war.

BRUSSELS, March 13 (Reuters) – Germany has written to the EU
executive with a new set of proposals aiming to break a deadlock
over law requiring carmakers to stop using extremely potent
greenhouse gases in air cooling systems, EU sources said.

The problem for Germany is that luxury car giant Daimler AG
says the new, less polluting fluid on the market is
dangerously flammable and is refusing to use it.

BRUSSELS, March 12 (Reuters) – The European Commission has
outlined new targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and
using more green energy by 2030, according to a policy paper
seen by Reuters.

The paper reflects industry demands that climate goals have
to take account of the economic crisis but still presses for an
economy that produces less carbon and is less dependent on
expensive fossil fuel imports.

BRUSSELS, March 11 (Reuters) – Europe will lag China, Japan
and the United States unless it embraces a proposed law
requiring millions of new refuelling points across the European
Union for electric and natural gas vehicles, the EU transport
boss said on Monday.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas was kicking off the
first ministerial debate on a proposal some in the industry say
is the most significant yet for alternative transport fuel.