Financial crisis imperils climate deal, say experts

Climate change experts and policy negotiators are concerned that the global financial crisis will dim prospects for a world trade agreement and a new climate change treaty. Elliot Diringer, a director at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Washington told the India Times that “The problem of climate change is going to stick with us. But the pace and the scale of ambition may be less in the near term.” US Senator Barack Obama said last week that the financial crisis may force a Democratic administration next year to slow down climate change investment. On Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier said that the a climate deal was more difficult in light of the financial crisis.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

UK government blames EU for late climate legislation that imperils aviations emissions planning

In England, the UK government is laying the blame on the EU for a failure to convert the EU directive on aviation emissions into national legislation. Absent the enabling legislation, airline operator...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: “We must not let the global economic crisis become an excuse for inaction on climate change.”

Confederation of British Industry Director-General Richard Lambert: "We must not let the global economic crisis become an excuse for inaction on climate change. Now more than ever, we need to secure a...

UN climate change conference opens in Poznan; questions about accuracy of UN measure of climate change velocity

In Poland, the UN annual meeting on Climate Change opened in Poznan, with an 82-page deck of proposals from the UN's climate change czar, and open worries that the economic crisis will delay progress ...

Palm oil prices expected to drop 20% in 2008, experts predict: US policy on subsidies a potential wild card

In India, experts say that palm oil prices will come down globally if the US discontinues subsidies for imported palm oil used in biodiesel production and blending. Experts hope that prices will come ...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: “I believe the impact of the food-fuel debate was bigger on our industry than the [financial] crisis.”

Great Plains CEO Sam Huttenbauer: "The Camelina Company has increased its contracted acreage by more than 200 percent versus 2008.  The expected yield from this acreage provides commercial scale for ...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: “Who cares about the environment? Am I going to have a house next week?”

Fred Weiss, a carbon offset seller based: "People still come to the site, but where you used to get people signing up [for offsets] every day, now you’d be lucky to get a few people a week: [people ...