Environment | WPN World People News

Southern Resident orcas.

Negotiators from the European Parliament, the Lithuanian EU presidency and the European Commission agreed to further dilute the EU’s carbon emission standards for cars, after Germany managed to derail a previous compromise agreement struck in June, said Greenpeace.

An informal agreement on new rules to achieve the 2020 CO2 emission target of 95g/km for new cars was reached by EP and member state negotiators on Tuesday afternoon. The file had to be reopened after EU ministers failed to endorse a previous informal deal on it with Parliament.

The United Nations-led climate talks in Warsaw, Poland, concluded with an agreement that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called an important stepping stone towards a universal legal agreement in 2015.

The European Commission presented a draft reform of the information and promotion policy for European agricultural and food products. This new promotion policy, which benefits from a more substantial budget and will in the future be supported by a European executive agency, is intended to act as key for opening up new markets. With the slogan 'Enjoy, it´s from Europe', the policy aims to help the sector's professionals break into international markets and make consumers more aware of the efforts made by European farmers to provide quality products, based on a genuine strategy established at European level.

Two children walk past downed trees and other destruction caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban City.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses a ministerial-level meeting on the margins of the UN-led climate change talks in the Polish capital, Warsaw.

Boston-based Cabot Corporation, the second largest carbon black manufacturer in the United States, has agreed to pay a $975,000 civil penalty and spend an estimated $84 million on state of the art technology to control harmful air pollution, resolving alleged violations of the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at its three facilities in the towns of Franklin and Ville Platte, La. and Pampa, Texas, announced the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The World Bank has announced a new initiative to help cities in developing countries integrate energy efficiency into their strategic planning and operations, in order to improve public services, lessen pressure on municipal budgets, and reduce pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.