Carbon dioxide levels reached a record high at a key monitoring station in Hawaii (pictured) at the end of last week.

The daily mean concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since measurements began in 1958, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The NOAA said this marks an “important milestone” because Mauna Loa, which is the oldest continuous carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement station in the world, is the main benchmark site for monitoring the rise of the heat-trapping gas.

Pieter Tans, senior scientist at the Global Monitoring Division of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado said: “That increase is not a surprise to scientists. The evidence is conclusive that the strong growth of global CO2 emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas is driving the acceleration.”

Before the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the global average for CO2 was about 280 ppm. During the last 800,000 years, CO2 fluctuated between about 180 ppm during ice ages and 280 ppm during interglacial warm periods. Today’s rate of increase is more than 100 times faster than the increase that occurred when the last ice age ended, said the NOAA.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and Governments must decide on a plan to reform the EU carbon market, a joint statement from nine energy and environment ministers said.

Ministers from EU countries, including the UK, France and Germany, today set out action they want to see this year for the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to ensure it remains at the forefront of EU policies to combat climate change and drive low carbon investments.

The joint statement called for national governments in the Council and MEPs to come to a resolution to back-loading proposals by July this year at the latest and for the EU Commission to produce a legislative proposal for “proper structural reform” by the end of this year.

The statement said: “We remain deeply concerned that the ETS as currently designed cannot provide the price signals needed to stimulate the low carbon investment needed now because the supply of allowances substantially outstrips demand, leading to a very low carbon price. This also threatens the credibility of carbon markets as the most flexible, cost-effective way to achieve emissions reductions.

“We note the European Parliament’s vote on 16th April on the ‘back-loading’ proposal and are disappointed by the result. Back-loading is one way to provide a short term fix pending structural reform of the EU ETS. Back-loaded allowances will be taken from Member State auctioning pots and will thus not affect measures to prevent carbon leakage. The main driver behind energy costs remains global fossil fuel prices and action to reduce emissions will reduce exposure to fossil fuel price volatility.”

Last month the European Parliament rejected the backloading proposal in an initial vote, which followed lobbying by the energy intensive industry whereas at member state level, coal-rich Poland opposed the plan.

Twenty two out of 29 states in India failed to meet their renewable energy targets last year, a new report claims.

That led to the loss of more than 25% of electricity expected to be generated from renewable sources in 2012, Greenpeace India revealed in its new report.

The Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) targets – part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change – aimed for 5% green energy in 2009, 7% in 2012 and 15% by 2020. The states, however, set their own targets which totalled 5.44%.

The environmental group claims that due to the inconsistency, the country registered a deficit of 14,268 million units of electricity.

Abhishek Pratap, Senior Energy Campaigner Greenpeace India said: “This report is an indictment of the whole policy framework around renewables and the dismissive attitude of the government towards it. RPO mechanism could have been a tool to bridge the demand-supply gap in the energy sector across the country. But the toothless mechanism combined with unambitious targets has failed to give any impetus to renewables in India.”

Meghalaya, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the southern coastal states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka outperformed their targets. Delhi (pictured), however, stood out as the worst state as it has no renewable energy in its supply chain. Other states that were at the bottom of the list include Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier this month Greenpeace India staged a protest outside the Legislative Assembly in Delhi, urging the Government to move from coal-based power to renewable energy sources.

Instead of shrinking the UK’s carbon footprint has actually grown, the government’s climate change advisors claimed today.

In its latest report the Committee on Climate Change found emissions reductions of around 20% over the last two decades has limited growth in the UK’s carbon footprint.

However despite this the report also estimates the carbon footprint has increased by 10% or more.

The report states: “As a result, the UK is now one of the world’s largest net importers of emissions, with a carbon footprint that is around 80% larger than its production emissions, reflecting the relatively small share of manufacturing in UK GDP.”

It pins the blame on imports as wealthier Brits buy more goods from abroad and the fact manufacturing in other countries has sprung up.

The Committee said this shows the need to slash global emissions. David Kennedy, Chief Executive of the CCC said: “Clearly we also need to reduce imported emissions. This highlights the fundamental need to reduce global emissions in order to achieve climate objectives and to do this through a new global deal.”

However the report does not suggest the nation’s emissions reductions were down to firms ‘offshoring’ or moving operations abroad because of low-carbon policies like the CRC. Instead, it says, “production emissions fell due to reductions in emissions from power generation and non-CO2 gases (e.g. methane from waste).”

Business groups were quickly on the defensive, advising the Government to remember energy intensive users are at the mercy of climate policy changes.

Rhian Kelly, Director for Business Environment policy at business trade group CBI said: “The Government has the building blocks in place but they must now follow through on their commitments to shield energy-intensive industries from new energy costs beyond this spending period and by providing exemptions from the Electricity Market Reforms.”

Angela Knight, Chief Executive of Energy UK added: “Government policies already account for 9% of a typical household energy bill. As any additional costs are considered, affordability for households and competitiveness for industry must be a priority.”

Environmental group WWF conceded that the impact of policies on energy intensive users “must be taken seriously”, they must be proportionate and “taken on the basis of transparent criteria to avoid the risk of over-compensation seen in countries like Germany.”

Three quarters of young children in Britain are “deeply concerned” about the impact of climate change, a new survey reveals.

It found children aged between 11-16 are worried about how climate change will affect their lives and said they would like the Government to do more to combat it.

Two thirds of those surveyed were also worried about how it would affect other children and families in developing countries.

Climate change awareness among young people was high, with 88% claiming to know at least a little about it and only 1% saying they knew nothing about it. Parents and grandparents showed less concern about climate change compared to young people but more than half agreed the effects would mean their children will not grow up in the same natural environment as they did.

David Bull, Executive Director of UNICEF UK, which commissioned the poll said: “This survey shows that there is a desire amongst Britons, young and old, for our Government to show strong leadership and take decisive action on climate change. By committing its fair share of new money to the Green Climate Fund to help children adapt to the effects of climate change, the UK Government can make sure children everywhere have enough nutritious food to eat, grow up to fulfil their potential and do not pay for our past mistakes with their futures. Our leaders must be told that they need to act now.”

Last week ELN reported the International Energy Agency’s warning that the world’s energy is as dirty as 20 years ago and has made no progress in cutting carbon.

The world has made almost no progress towards cutting carbon from its energy supplies in the last 20 years and the development of clean energy is progressing too slowly to tackle climate change.

That’s the warning from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which today suggested that despite investing trillions of dollars in renewable projects, the world’s energy is “as dirty as 20 years ago”.

Its new report ‘Tracking Clean Energy Progress’ showed the Energy Sector Carbon Intensity Index (ESCII) – which shows how much carbon dioxide is emitted on average to provide a given unit of energy – stood at 2.39 tonnes of carbon per tonne of oil equivalent (tCO2/toe) in 1990 and had barely moved by 2010, at 2.37 tCO2/toe. The findings show the urgent need for governments to cut emissions and limit global temperature to 2°C.

Maria van der Hoeven, IEA’s Executive Director said: “The drive to clean up the world’s energy system has stalled… As world temperatures creep higher due to ever-increasing emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide – two thirds of which come from the energy sector – the overall lack of progress should serve as a wake-up call.

“We cannot afford another 20 years of listlessness. We need a rapid expansion in low-carbon energy technologies if we are to avoid a potentially catastrophic warming of the planet but we must also accelerate the shift away from dirtier fossil fuels.”

The IEA suggested $5 trillion of investment would be needed worldwide by 2020 to switch to a clean energy system and government policies need to be strengthened for more energy efficiency and clean technology uptake.

There was better news on the energy sources themselves, as the report showed positive developments in solar and wind technologies, which grew by 42% and 19% last year compared to 2011.

Everyone knows the Brits love drinking. Having lived in the country for a decade now, I can vouch for that. It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is – people in Britain are always up for a beer or two.

Another defining British characteristic is a good moan. No offence but the Brits love to moan about anything and everything.

If it rains – people moan about it; if the sun is out – people moan about the weather being too hot. Britain had the honour of hosting the Olympics last year and all I could hear was people complaining about London being swamped by the visitors and how heavy the traffic would be.

I’m sure you get the point but what has this got to do with energy?

Well, we haven’t stopped moaning about everything that has gone wrong in the industry either. We’re always blaming the Government, the suppliers and the policy makers – If energy bills go up, we complain but even though the Government comes up with new programmes, including subsidies for energy efficient schemes, some still complain about it not being enough – and haven’t really given them credit for when they’ve got it right. Are we that pessimistic?

What have we done to play our part? Let’s take, for example, the climate change debate.

We always see people targeting those in authority about not doing enough to tackle it – and somewhere in the midst of it all, we seem to have just followed them blindly. Shouldn’t we, as individuals, be playing our part too? Surely, it can’t just be the Government and policy makers who can “change” the world, right?

Well, maybe you could play your part as early as next week. 22nd April is marked as Earth Day and is considered “the birth of modern environmental movement”. Started in 1970, it is an international initiative to protect the planet and secure a sustainable future.

Events will be held across the world to raise awareness of the need to protect the environment. Stories of the effect of degradation in environment on people and how individuals and communities across the world are taking steps to reduce the effect will be shared.

So why not grasp the opportunity to lead and inspire others to fight against climate change? We could start by being energy savvy and not just leave it to the schools to teach our next generation to be energy efficient. If we are to reduce the effect, all of us must actively play our part. While it may seem insignificant at an individual level, the cumulative effect it has makes a huge difference.

So why not stop the “moan” for a day and take action for a change? As I was once told that when you blame, you give away your power to change.

The UK Government has joined a public-private initiative to tackle deforestation and help address climate change and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker (pictured) pledged support to the Tropical Forests Alliance 2020, which provides a forum to share best practice with major private companies that have adopted sustainable supply chains and encourage other Governments and firms to take similar steps.

Mr Barker made the announcement during a meeting with Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington yesterday.

He said: “The urgency of tackling climate change is clear and limiting global warming to 2°C limit will be extremely challenging – if not impossible – without a significant reduction in deforestation before 2020. With up to 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions coming from deforestation, tackling this issue is a central part of how to address climate change, support greener growth and sustainable development.”

The Alliance, established last year, is a partnership set up by the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) – which is an industry network representing more than 400 retailers and manufacturers – and the US Government. Norway and the Netherlands have also been invited to join the group.

A total of 32 international companies and consumer brands, including L’Oreal, Nestle (pictured), Nike and eBay joined forces yesterday urging the US policy makers to take action on climate change.

The firms signed a “climate declaration” in support of climate change policy, suggesting a response to the climate challenge is “one of the greatest American economic opportunities” of the 21st century.

A project of Ceres, an advocate for sustainability leadership, the Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP) is a coalition of businesses committed to working with policy markers for energy and climate legislation towards a rapid low carbon transition. They are calling on the US Government to address climate change by promoting clean energy, boosting efficiency and limiting carbon emissions – strategies the businesses claim are already employed within their own operations.

Anne Kelly, Director of BICEP said: “The signers of the Climate Declaration have a clear message for Washington: Act on climate change. We are and it’s good for our businesses. The cost of inaction is too high. Policymakers should see climate change policy for what it is: an economic opportunity.”

BICEP claims recent polls suggested that a majority of Americans believe climate change is happening and that businesses and Government officials should be doing more to address the issue.

The UK Government’s chief scientist has warned time delays in the climate system means that greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere now will determine the weather the world experiences for the next 25 years.

Sir John Beddington (pictured) said climate change is one of the things he has been trying to bring to the Government’s attention but believes it is not talked about enough. He also noted the climate and weather we’re experiencing now comes from greenhouse gases that were in the atmosphere 25 years ago.

He said the international community’s failure to agree binding targets for cutting carbon emissions meant problems were being stored up for the future. He told BBC Radio 4: “They may reach agreement and they may start to reduce greenhouse gases in the next five years, or it may be a little longer. But they are still climbing and when that increase is reversed, we will be left with the weather and the climate for the next 25 years from whenever that happens.”

Sir Beddington added: “You can think about mechanisms… carbon dioxide, carbon capture and storage, those things are very withdoing. But I kind of emphasise more on the time delays. I think the key here is this is sort of a simplistic way of thinking about it, that’s a nice indicator. But there are other things going on. For example, one of the results of the climate analyses is saying we do except more variability and we are seeing more variability… The Arctic is likely to be warming more than other parts of the planet. So I think that the issue in a sense needs to be taken out of a very simple, simplistic thing.”

He said the world faces huge problems of food, water and energy security as global population increases, which will be inevitable in the near future.

The head of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), however, said he is sceptical about anyone being able predict what the climate would be like in the future.

Director Benny Peiser said: “No one knows whether next winter will be warm or cold or average, no one knows whether next summer will be hot or wet or dry. It’s very, very difficult to make long-term predictions and therefore, I remain rather sceptical about the reliability and accuracy of these kind of speculation. They are pure speculation, they are not based on any hard facts, it’s an assumption.”

Mr Peiser added setting an international target would be the only way to limit emissions. However, he said that would not happen as it would mean countries like China and India would have to stop exploiting fossil fuels.

“It would mean to stop their economic growth and development. They can’t afford that. The negotiations have been going on for 20 years and they have been against it. So just because John Beddington says Government should take action doesn’t mean anything for them. It’s business as usual… They are using cheap energy because it’s the only way to develop”, he said.

He suggested Governments need to spend more money on preparing for extreme weather conditions and be more resilient.

“The only realistic and pragmatic approach to the issue of climate change and extreme weather events like droughts or flooding is to make countries throughout the world more resilient so that they can cope better. If you can heat your home in the cold winter, then that’s not a big problem. If you can cool your home in a hot summer, then that’s not a problem. If you have houses that can withstand storms, then we don’t have a problem.

“We need Governments to spend more money on real solutions and not foolish policies like wind farms that have no effect on the climate whatsoever. They are a waste of money and are not helping anyone other than the landowners making millions out of the subsidies. The real policy that has an effect and that will help people is to realise that whoever is right on CO2, there will always be flooding, there will always be drought and we need to prepare for these events and make our societies more resilient.”