UN climate chief Christiana Figueres yesterday warned that a string of weather calamities showed the deepening urgency to forge a breakthrough deal on global warming this year.

IN his recent comments on global energy, Energy Minister Eamon Ryan should have taken account of the fact that nuclear power is the only source of carbon–free electricity.

Governments from nearly 200 countries will launch discussions in Thailand tomorrow on forging a global warming agreement, a process that is expected to be fraught with disagreements over how much to reduce greenhouse gases and which nations should adhere to binding targets.

Time was running out today for agreement on a road map towards a new international deal on global warming, the UN’s top climate official warned.

The industrial world is hurling more carbon into the atmosphere than ever before and governments have just a few years to avert calamitous climate change, the UN climate secretariat said today.