
-
Brazil binman finds newborn baby on garbage route
-
US senator smashes record with marathon anti-Trump speech
-
Trump advisor Waltz faces new pressure over Gmail usage
-
Niger junta frees ministers of overthrown government
-
Trump set to unleash 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
Boeing chief to acknowledge 'serious missteps' at US Senate hearing
-
Real Madrid hold Real Sociedad in eight-goal thriller to reach Copa del Rey final
-
Nuno salutes 'special' Elanga after stunning strike fires Forest
-
PSG survive scare against Dunkerque to reach French Cup final
-
Sundowns edge Esperance as crowd violence mars quarter-final
-
Nottingham Forest beat Man Utd, Saka scores on Arsenal return
-
Elanga wonder-goal sinks Man Utd as Forest eye Champions League berth
-
Stock markets mostly advance ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
US movie theaters urge 45-day 'baseline' before films hit streaming
-
Saka scores on return as Arsenal beat Fulham
-
Third-division Bielefeld shock holders Leverkusen in German Cup
-
Ball-blasting 'Torpedo bats' making waves across MLB opening weekend
-
Newsmax shares surge more than 2,000% in days after IPO
-
Thousands of Hungarians protest against Pride ban law
-
GM leads first quarter US auto sales as tariffs loom
-
Tesla sales tumble in Europe in the first quarter
-
No 'eye for an eye' approach to US tariffs: Mexico
-
NFL club owners back dynamic kickoffs, delay tush push vote
-
Trump 'perfecting' new tariffs as nervous world braces
-
Trump nominee says to press UK on Israel arms
-
French court says Le Pen appeal ruling could come before presidential vote
-
The battle to control assets behind Bosnia crisis
-
Prabhsimran powers Punjab to IPL win over Lucknow
-
Mass layoffs targeting 10,000 jobs hit US health agencies
-
Tiger's April Foolishness: plan to play Masters just a joke
-
Myanmar quake toll passes 2,700, nation halts to honour victims
-
Turkish fans, artists urge Muse to cancel Istanbul gig
-
US seeks death penalty for accused killer of insurance CEO
-
UK govt moves to block sentencing guidelines for minority defendants
-
Trump puts world on edge as 'Liberation Day' tariffs loom
-
Swedish journalist jailed in Turkey kept 'isolated': employer
-
Stock markets advance ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
Gulf between Everton and Liverpool has never been bigger, says Moyes
-
Finland to withdraw from anti-personnel mine ban treaty
-
UK vows £20 million to boost drone and 'flying taxi' services
-
Ford's US auto sales dip in first quarter as tariffs loom
-
Digging for box office gold, 'A Minecraft Movie' hits cinemas
-
Southampton boss Juric desperate to avoid Premier League 'worst team' tag
-
Thailand rescue dogs double as emotional support
-
Five takeaways from Marine Le Pen verdict
-
Stock markets split ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
Turkish fans, artists urge Muse to cancel Istanbul gig over protest dispute
-
Former captain Edwards named new England women's cricket coach
-
Haaland ruled out for up to seven weeks: Man City boss Guardiola
-
UK Supreme Court opens car loans hearing as banks risk huge bill

EU ministers mull climate policy, carbon border tax
European Union environment ministers gathered in France Thursday to mull climate policy and the merits of a carbon border tax, while airing differences on whether nuclear energy can be classified as "green".
The two-day informal talks in Amiens, hosted by France as it takes the rotating reins of the EU presidency, will look for a unified path toward achieving the 27-nation bloc's ambitious target of slashing carbon emissions 55 percent from 1990 levels.
Discussion on overhauling the EU's electricity market and carbon-trading system, already fraught, unfolds against a backdrop of sharp increases in energy prices, especially natural gas.
EU energy ministers will join the fray on Friday, and then continue on with separate talks.
Since last year, French President Emmanuel Macron has led the charge for the rapid implementation of a "carbon border adjustment mechanism", essentially a tax on imported products made in countries with less stringent rules on reducing carbon pollution.
The objective is to avoid shifting Europe's carbon emissions overseas as they are reduced at home -- known as "carbon leakage".
The sectors affected include steel, alumium, cement, fertiliser and electricity.
China and the United States are both opposed to such a tax, with Beijing saying last year when the plan was unveiled that it would "violate World Trade Organization (WTO) principles."
- Is nuclear 'green'? -
Even within Europe, Germany insists the mechanism can only be implemented gradually, and several countries are outright opposed, mainly because the tax would replace the allocation of free emissions permits.
"Spain, Portugal, Poland and Austria want to maintain free quotas," a European diplomat said.
Such a carbon tax "raises complicated questions," he added. "Who collects the money? Where does it go?"
But France's ecological transition minister Barbara Pompili said that there is already an "agreement in principle", and talks have shifted to questions of timing.
After EU ministers hammer out a consensus on "CBAM", as it is known, they will undertake negotiations with the EU Parliament to finalise an agreement.
Another divisive issue that has pitted Paris against Berlin is whether nuclear power's virtue as a source of carbon-free energy outweighs safety issues and the as-yet unsolved problem of nuclear waste.
A greater share of electricity in France -- about 70 percent -- is generated by nuclear power than any other country in the world.
The question on the table is whether nuclear power and natural gas should be officially classified in the "EU taxonomy" as environmentally sustainable, an important signal to companies, investors and policymakers.
Nuclear power is neither "sustainable" nor "economic", Germany environment minister Stefan Tidow said in Amiens. "It is not a green energy."
Pompili did not disagree, acknowledging that storage of spent nuclear fuel remains a major problem.
- 'Imported deforestation' -
But "nuclear is a decarbonised energy," she said. "We cannot deprive ourselves of it at the same time that we need to very rapidly reduce our carbon emissions."
A third initiative favoured by France is developing tools to fight so-called "imported deforestation," stemming from products indirectly responsible for the destruction of tropical forests.
Palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia and Africa, and commercial soy production in South America -- mostly to feed cattle -- are major drivers of deforestation.
A draft law submitted by the European Commission in November is currently under discussion in the bloc's Parliament.
Environmental NGOs said the text has too many loopholes, excluding commodities such as corn and rubber.
Yet another initiative running into stiff headwinds is a measure to expand the cap-and-trade system of carbon pollution quotas -- which currently covers heavy industry and the electricity sector -- to transport fuel for trucks and domestic heating fuel.
The controversial proposal, championed by the European Commission, has found scant support among ministers, concerned the measure would result in unpopular price hikes for consumers.
France has expressed "strong reservations," according to a French official.
"We saw the rise of the 'yellow vests'," he said, referring to popular protests in 2018 sparked by a modest increase in petrol prices.
Ch.Havering--AMWN