SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Global carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose about three percent in a weak global economy this year, a study released on Monday showed, adding fresh urgency to efforts to control planet-warming gases at U.N. climate talks in South Africa.

The study by the Global Carbon Project, an annual report card on mankind’s CO2 pollution, says a slowdown in emissions during the 2008-09 global financial crisis was a mere speed bump, and the gain in 2011 followed a 6 percent surge in 2010.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Soaring use of man-made gases used in refrigerators, airconditioners and fire extinguishers risks speeding up global warming and industry should adopt alternatives, a U.N. report said on Monday.

In the most dire forecast, unless governments and industry act to limit the growth, the annual emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, by 2050 could equate to pumping nearly 9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — about a third of mankind’s CO2 emissions now.

SINGAPORE, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Soaring use of man-made
gases used in refrigerators, airconditioners and fire
extinguishers risks speeding up global warming and industry
should adopt alternatives, a U.N. report said on Monday.

In the most dire forecast, unless governments and industry
act to limit the growth, the annual emissions of
hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, by 2050 could equate to pumping
nearly 9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere –
about a third of mankind’s CO2 emissions now.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Insured losses from Thai floods could be in double-digit billions and the disaster will lead to a re-assessment of weather risks to industries in Asia, a senior official from global insurer Allianz said.

Calculating the true cost of the floods could take years in terms of working out the lost business to Thailand from investors who might now choose to invest in other countries, said Lutz Fullgraf, Allianz’s regional CEO for global corporate and specialty.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Delegates from nearly 200 countries meet in South Africa from November 28 for major climate talks with the most likely outcome modest steps toward a broader deal to cut greenhouse gas pollution to fight climate change.

Years of fraught U.N.-led climate talks have so far failed to win agreement from all big polluting nations on stronger emissions curbs, despite soaring greenhouse gas emissions and a string of weather disasters across the globe.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australian pig farmers can earn tradeable credits for capturing methane from manure, the government said on Thursday under the first rules to be approved for use in a national offset programme.

Nearly 700 piggeries could benefit from the rules that set out how farmers can capture, measure and destroy methane from pig waste. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is 21 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia is set to unlock more than A$13 billion in government funds for clean energy that could boost investments for large solar power stations, but wind farm developers are at risk if the money disrupts an existing green scheme.

The Senate on Tuesday passed laws supporting renewables and a national carbon price to accelerate investment in cleaner energy.

SINGAPORE/CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s Senate is set to pass laws on Tuesday putting a national price on carbon emissions, one of the country’s most sweeping and divisive economic reforms that have been a decade in the making.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott has run a two-year campaign to wreck the scheme, seizing on voter fears of higher costs and job losses and driving support for Prime Minister Julia Gillard to all-time lows. Upping the ante further, he made a “blood oath” last month to repeal the laws if he wins power in 2013.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A row between China and the United States over imports of cheaper solar products won’t be the sector’s death-knell but will ultimately speed innovation and cut costs, a top U.S. renewable energy official said.

Seven U.S. solar manufacturers last month asked the Obama administration to impose duties of more than 100 percent on China solar imports, which they said were unfairly undercutting U.S. prices and destroying American jobs.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia’s main opposition party vowed on Monday to repeal a carbon pricing scheme expected to become law next month as a key plank for polls due by 2013, threatening to prolong uncertainty in energy investments.

“We will absolutely deliver on our mandate. So the first thing we’ll do is we’ll seek a mandate for repeal,” Greg Hunt, opposition climate change minister, said in an interview.