Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Artur Runge-Metzger, director for climate strategy and negotiations at the European Commission, has warned that the chance of reaching a legally-binding agreement at the 2011 climate summit in Durban, South Africa, is slim. "I think the politics this year are probably even more daunting than last year," he said, citing the situation in the United States. "Everybody knows... that the Republicans undermine every attempt of the Obama administration to put money on to climate, whether it is domestically or outside," he explained.

Lack of progress in the United States is also affecting moves towards a global emissions trading system. "The development of an OECD-wide global carbon market has stalled due the failure of climate legislation in the United States," according to Jos Delbeke, head of the Climate Action division of the European Commission. Nevertheless, there are positive signs elsewhere in the world. "Korea is planning to develop a cap-and-trade system over the next few years, India is set to go live with its energy efficiency trading system in a month and Australia is also determined to introduce a carbon price," said Damien Meadows, also from the Climate Action division.

Scotland is to introduce a new recycling scheme based on carbon impact. From 2013, councils and households will prioritize recycling waste on the basis of carbon emissions rather than simply using weight as a measure. Materials such as plastics, textiles and food waste would be targeted.

"This is where Scotland is going to lead," said Iain Gulland of government programme Zero Waste Scotland. "It's all about climate change. It's not just tonnes and the cost of travel from A to B, it's the environmental impact." There will be an emphasis on "closed loop" recycling, where waste can be reused or recycled into the same material. Waste glass, for example, would be recycled into glass rather than being used as aggregate in building or insulation applications. The Scottish government is committed to achieving 75 per cent recycling of waste by 2025, with "zero waste" the ultimate goal.

As the Fukushima nuclear crisis develops, European Union climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said that Europe will remain committed to nuclear power as part of its carbon control strategy. "Most of the member states at this stage have said they will carry on with their plans as they were," she reported. "We should just take care not to let panic spread."

Werner Faymann, Austrian chancellor, disagreed, saying that the European Union needed an "exit strategy" from nuclear power. "After Japan one thing is clear, the nuclear lobby lied to us," he said. "I know the Austrian position has more support among the European people than among the European heads of state," he continued. Italy has announced a one-year moratorium on site selection and the construction of nuclear power plants. German chancellor Angela Merkel is now talking of a nuclear phase-out.