UN chief says climate change biggest challenge. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that climate change is the greatest challenge facing a world beset by crises and called on governments to reach a deal on the environment at a meeting in Denmark later this year. [News Source]

Malcolm Turnbull climate plan ‘cheaper, greener, smarter’. The Federal Opposition launched the "greener, cheaper, smarter" plan today saying the alternative emissions trading scheme would prevent a Rudd power bill shock, save jobs and cost $40 billion less. [News Source]

Texans aren’t so different on climate, polls show. Two new polls suggest that Texans' opinions on various aspects of the climate issue are not very different from those of Americans in general, including support for stepped-up regulatory action. [News Source]

Greenhouse gas levels to explode by 2020. The Federal Government is putting more pressure on the Coalition to support its emissions trading legislation, estimating Australia's output of greenhouse gases would be 20 per cent above 2000 levels by 2020 if the scheme is rejected. [News Source]

Fossil fuel can’t power the new economy. Dinosaurs in politics and business must evolve and stop blocking efforts to tackle climate change, a coalition of environment, union and welfare groups warned yesterday. [News Source]

Duke Energy to sign deal in China. Duke Energy today was expected to sign an agreement in Beijing with China's largest power company which will begin a series of meetings to exchange information and explore long-term initiatives to reduce coal-plant emissions that contribute to climate change. [News Source]

New Zealand sets greenhouse gas emissions target. New Zealand announced on Monday that it will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, the country's climate change minister said. [News Source]

Australia faces more natural disasters. Australia faces more frequent and more catastrophic natural disasters as the climate changes, but government agencies are hard-pressed to respond, a new study warns. [News Source]

Pollution, low rainfall take toll on toad population. Toads in Gujarat are fast disappearing due to low rainfall and industrial pollution, zoologists have found in India's first research study on the impact of environmental pollution and climatic change on amphibians. [News Source]

Climate change ‘to hit security’. Climate change will pose profound strategic challenges to the US in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, according to military and intelligence analysts. [News Source]

Life’s a bleach for Barrier Reef as climate changes. The Great Barrier Reef's gilt-edged importance to the Australian economy has been highlighted by new research into the potential financial cost of climate change to the world heritage-listed wonder. [News Source]