Obama in Copenhagen: bring hope for new climate deal?

The White House has announced that US President Barack Obama will attend the forthcoming UN climate change conference in Copenhagen to work with the international community for a "comprehensive and operational" Copenhagen accord.

In the context of an overall deal in Copenhagen that includes robust mitigation contributions from China and the other emerging economies, the President, said the White House is prepared to put on the table a US emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels in 2020 and ultimately in line with final US energy and climate legislation.

In light of Obama’s goal to reduce emissions 83% by 2050, the expected pathway set forth in this pending legislation would entail a 30% reduction below 2005 levels in 2025 and a 42% reduction below 2005 in 2030, said the White House, adding that Obama is working closely with Congress to pass energy and climate legislation as soon as possible..

The countries of the world, led by the major economies, have been urged by the White House to “do what it takes to produce a strong, operational agreement that will both launch us on a concerted effort to combat climate change and serve as a stepping stone to a legally binding treaty”.

However, it poses the question as to whether Obama’s presence and US climate targets will bring some hope to the Copenhagen conference, which reportedly will see the end of the Kyoto protocol, the only existing globally agreed climate treaty.

Bilateral and multilateral climate agreements, rather than a post-Kyoto deal have been reported to be highly possible as an outcome of the Copenhagen conference. This projection came as leading emitters, especially China and US, reject any commitment to capping emissions, regarded as the critical factor in discouraging and impeding the process for a new global climate agreement.

The two countries have been strongly urged to make legally binding targets instead of taking advantage of each other’s inaction, to take the lead in making concerted efforts to fight the climate crisis.

China to embrace low-carbon city strategy

China's speedy urbanization has urged the government to take on a low-carbon approach, to kick off the green transformation of its urban development as part of the country's 12th five-year planning from 2011 to 2015.

It is forecast that up to 75 percent of the population in China will live in cities by 2050, a significant rise from the 44.9 percent in 2007. This will further the tension between the demand and supply of resources, and overstretch the accommodating capacity of the environment, says a recent report on China's low-carbon and eco-city development strategies.

Embracing low-carbon city model, which will lead to energy, industrial and lifestyle revolution, is the only way for Chinese cities to achieve sustainable growth, the report which was issued by the Chinese Society for Urban Studies points out.

China's aggregated CO2 emissions will keep growing until 2040, if China doesn't implement energy-saving and emissions-cutting measures, or only acts less vigorously, or only works for restructuring industrial setup to reduce the share of heavy industrials of the whole economy, says the report.

"Only adopting a low-carbon path, China is able to check the growth of its emissions 10 years ahead, namely by 2035," the report says.

Beijing has been called on to demonstrate low-carbon city development as a city suitable for living, to address the challenges it faces in population, transport, energy and the environment.

On the other hand, Beijing International Institute for Urban Development says that groups of cities will boom as urban agglomeration during the coming few years, to further the advancement of regional economic growth.

There is no doubt about the contribution of cities to China's development. China's top ten big cities in total are home to over 1/3 of the country's population, cover 11 percent of the country's areas and contribute to 2/3 of the country's GDP.

Bangkok climate change talks make no real progress

The UN climate change negotiations that end today in Bangkok have largely failed to deliver any substantive progress on targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or the transfer of technology and finance from rich to poorer nations for adaptation and mitigation, leading to serious questions about the political commitment of the industrialised nations.

"Last month, President Obama, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other leaders of industrialised nations all lined up to say how committed they were to tackling climate change and reaching an effective agreement on how to do this when UN negotiations end in Copenhagen in December," says Saleemul Huq, senior fellow in the climate change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development and a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"This gave the world high expectations for the international negotiation session that has run for the past two weeks in Bangkok," says Huq. "But it seems like the negotiators from industrialised nations either didn't follow their leaders' speeches or haven't been received any new instructions because in virtually every aspect of the talks there has been minimal progress of any substance."

The G77/China group of 132 developing nations says that the EU is trying to "divide and conquer" the developing nations and detract attention from their own broken promises.

There was virtually no progress on new targets for developed nations that are party to the Kyoto Protocol to cut their emissions, despite them being legally bound to agree new targets.

The G77/China accuse the United States and European Union stand accused of trying to kill of the Kyoto Protocol, the only legal agreement that commits any nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. The EU as a party to the protocol is legally bound to agree new targets for a post-2012 period.

In the negotiations focusing on ways to tackle climate change by reducing deforestation , the European Union has removed a provision that would protect against the conversion of natural forests to plantations, threatening impact for biodiversity and forest-dependent people.

Only Norway, by announcing that it would increase its pledge to cut emissions by 40% of their 1990 level by the year 2020. This is an increase from their earlier pledge of a 30% cut.

"One area of hope is that countries are now reaching agreement that adaptation is essential to protect people and economies in the developing nations," says Huq. "Negotiators made some good progress on adaptation to climate change, assuming that money will be available to do it. But the big questions still to be answered are: how much money will developed nations provide and how will it be chanelled to make adaptation a reality."

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change binds rich countries such as the United States and European Union member states to provide funding to developing nations to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

Climate adaptation will triple estimated costs, says study

Scientists led by a former co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that the UN negotiations aimed at tackling climate change are based on substantial underestimates of what it will cost to adapt to its impacts.

The real costs of adaptation are likely to be 2-3 times greater than estimates made by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), say Professor Martin Parry and colleagues in a new report，published by the International Institute for Environment and Development and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London.

The UNFCCC has estimated annual global costs of adapting to climate change to be US$40-170 billion, or the cost of about three Olympic Games per year.

But the report’s authors warn that these estimates were produced too quickly and did not include key sectors such as energy, manufacturing, retailing, mining, tourism and ecosystems. Other sectors that the UNFCCC did include were only partially covered.

Costs will be even more when the full range of climate impacts on human activities is considered, according to the report, launched on 27 August at a London press conference.

Parry and colleagues warn that this underestimate of the cost of adaptation threatens to weaken the outcome of UNFCCC negotiations, which are due to culminate in Copenhagen in December with a global deal aimed at tackling climate change.

“Finance is the key that will unlock the negotiations in Copenhagen but if governments are working with the wrong numbers, we could end up with a false deal that fails to cover the costs of adaptation to climate change,“ says Camilla Toulmin, director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, which co-published the report.

Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, which co-published the report, says: "The costs of adapting to live with a changing climate are very uncertain. However, this new report suggests that previous attempts to figure out the costs have drastically under-estimated how expensive this could be. With such large sums potentially involved, the pressure to act now to reduce the extent of climate change is greater than ever.”

The new report calls for detailed case studies of what adaptation costs will be, and points out that the few that already exist suggest that costs will be considerable.

The report was reviewed by seven of the world’s foremost adaptation scientists, including the lead authors of the original UNFCCC study. Following this, close to 100 adaptation policy and research experts were invited to comment on the pre-publication draft.

Its key findings include:

Water: The UNFCCC estimate of US$11 billion excluded costs of adapting to floods and assumes no costs for transferring water within nations from areas of surplus to areas of deficit. The underestimate could be substantial, according to the new report.

Health: The UNFCCC estimate of US$5 billion excluded developed nations, and assessed only malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition. This could cover only 30-50% of the global total disease burden, according to the new report.

Infrastructure: The UNFCCC estimate of US$8-130 billion assumed that low levels of investment in infrastructure will continue to characterise development in Africa and other relatively poor parts of the world. But the new report points out that such investment must increase in order to reduce poverty and thus avoid continuing high levels of vulnerability to climate change. It says the costs of adapting this upgraded infrastructure to climate change could be eight times more costly than the higher estimates predicted by the UNFCCC.

Coastal zones: The UNFCCC estimate of US$11 billion excluded increased storm intensity and used low IPCC predictions of sea level rise. Considering research on sea level rise published since the 2007 IPCC report, and including storms, the new report suggests costs could be about three times greater than predicted.

Ecosystems: The UNFCCC excluded from its estimates the costs of protecting ecosystems and the services they can provide for human society. The new report concludes that that this is an important source of under-estimation, which could cost over US$350 billion, including both protected and non-protected areas.

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China electricity giants urged to cut emissions

Greenpeace has urged China’s top power companies to play a role in cutting emissions and easing the country’s reliance upon coal, by dramatically increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewables.

China’s top ten power companies and their heavy dependence on coal are hindering the country’s efforts to tackle climate change, a new Greenpeace report released on Tuesday said.

The top ten power companies provide almost 60% of China’s total electricity, says the report, entitled “Polluting Power: Ranking China’s Biggest Power Companies.”

By burning 20% of China’s coal in 2008, the companies emitted an equivalent of 1.44 billion tonnes of CO2. And emissions by the largest three, namely Huaneng, Datang and Guodian, surpassed Britain’s total emissions in the same year, according to the report.

"Climate change is humankind’s most urgent environmental problem. China’s power companies are not only the key coal consumer but also the major CO2 emitter. All parts of Chinese society must play a role in moving China away from intensive coal dependence and these major polluters must not be exempt from this responsibility,” said Greenpeace Climate Campaign Manager Yang Ailun,

During the past three and a half years, China has closed down the least efficient coal-fired plants with installed capacity totalling 54.07 gig watts, which is higher than the total capacity of Australia.

Greenpeace urges the Chinese power companies to phase out all inefficient coal-fired plants under 100 megawatt by 2012, saying that by doing so, China could reduce coal consumption by 90 million tonnes and avoid 220 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

According to China’s renewable energy mid-and-long term development plan, by 2010, large power companies, including the top ten listed in this report, are obliged to have at least 3% of their installed capacity from non-hydro renewable sources.

But by the end of 2008, eight out of the ten were not even half way to
meeting this modest target, the report points out. “Yet, China has a huge potential to become the world leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies,” Yang said.

Greenpeace also calls on the Chinese government to introduce a price signal for coal that not only effectively drives power companies to rapidly move to renewable energy, but also ensures that, during the transition, coal is used as efficiently as possible.

However, electricity price in China is regulated and fails to reflect the higher market price of coal. Power companies have expected a small rise of coal price to make a profit.

China must also double its national renewable energy target to 30% by 2020.

“In order to achieve these targets, the electricity sector, especially the large power companies, must play their crucial role. The challenges China is facing in the lead up to the UN Climate Meeting in Copenhagen this December will be even larger without serious actions to cut emissions by these companies,” Yang concluded.

UK doctors warned of increasing pressure as A/H1N1 claims first victim

British authorities have insisted that the risk to public health from the A/H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as Swine Flu, remains low despite the first death being reported last Sunday.

But there are mounting fears in some medical circles that a rise in cases may create problems for doctors and the national health system.

In the UK, 1,320 people have so far been identified as having contracted the virus including 59 cases confirmed on Monday.

While there is an obvious concern from the risks of A/H1N1, so far the virus has not shown itself to be as deadly a threat as some have feared.

An estimated 12,000 people, mainly in the older age group, die every year from seasonal flu in the UK, according to the British Medical Association. In the U.S. tens of thousands die annually from seasonal flu.

But so far the entire global death rate from A/H1N1 remains well below 1,000, with the WHO confirming only 146 deaths.

Many of those affected by A/H1N1 are in a much younger age group, and some are otherwise healthy individuals.

The greatest fear amongst medical experts is the virus could mutate and become ever more deadly.

In the past, pandemics have killed more than a million around the world. Between 1918 and 1919, the so-called Spanish Flu was responsible for an estimated 20 to 40 million deaths.

And in more recent history the Asian Flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu of 1968 killed up to 4 million between them.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in June 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Low fare boosts Ryanair as Europe's biggest airline

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fare airline, has reaped a net profit of over 100 million euros over the last year when most competitors announced significant losses.

Compared to the 2007/2008 figure, Ryanair’s net profit plunged 78 percent in the financial year ending on March 2009.

But it has been hailed as “a robust performance” during a year when record high oil prices and the downturn had taken its toll on many airways.

Ryanair's lowest fare services, which have delivered traffic growth and profitability, enabled the airline to soar through the recession and to become Europe's biggest airline in terms of passenger numbers and market capitalisation.


For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in June 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Eating seasonably promoted for sake of environment

Britain has enhanced its campaigns to increase people’s awareness of the environment impacts of their diet, as part of its overall efforts to build a greener society with ambitious emissions-cutting targets.

The latest movement is to encourage the consumption of seasonal produce, which is publicised as not only having good value and taste, but also causing much less pollution.

The campaign has won support from the government, business, NGOs, research groups and culinary circles.

However, more efforts have been urged to help consumers better understand the benefits of similar ethical dietary choices to stimulate them to adopt greener lifestyles.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in June 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Number of British millionaires sinks during recession

The downturn has forced thousands of wealthy Britons out of the club of millionaires, and the trend is only likely to turn around in two years, a British independent research group says.

The number of millionaires has been halved in the past two years to just below 250,000, according to the latest estimates of the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

The 2009 list of Britain's richest 2000 published in the Sunday Times also shows that the number of British billionaires has fallen to 43 from 75 in 2008 and both the leading two billionaires this year reported their assets have plummeted by more than 60 percent.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

UK into action to pursue clean coal power generation

Britain has started to test carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at a working coal-burning power plant in Scotland. This has been hailed as a milestone” in the country’s green energy revolution.

With a potential in removing around 90 percent of the CO2 emitted by burning fossil fuels, the CCS is expected to help ensure energy supply in an environmental-friendly way.

Britain has also joined hands with Norway to tap the potential of the North Sea to store CO2, as part of its efforts to accelerate the commercial application of the green tech at an earlier date.

Britain has set off on a journey to fulfil its ambition to lead the world's low-carbon transformation.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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Virgin Atlantic flying high despite recession

The top two airlines in Britain have reported conflicting business results in the downturn. Leading operator British Airways has sustained record losses over the past year. In contrast, Virgin Atlantic saw its profits double in 2008.

The number of premium travellers has been cited as a key factor in Virgin Atlantic’s success. And how management reacted to the volatile oil prices proved to be crucial to the companies’ performance.

Animosity between the two airlines has been long running, and their market competition has increased further in the downturn.

While celebrating its success, Virgin Atlantic is still concerned about tactics employed by British Airways, especially its attempt to merge with American Airlines.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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Tight credit turns more Britons into loan shark victims

An independent think tank has sent a warning that more Britons will fall victim to loan sharks, as the recession continues to bite and sub-prime lending is shrinking.

Mortgage lending alone has contracted by 60 percent compared to a year ago. And there is no clear sign of recovery in months to come.

Local authorities are urged to protect those financially vulnerable from using predatory lenders, by taking measures such as mapping unlicensed lending, increasing public awarness, and enchancing enforcement against illegal lending.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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Recession incurs record losses for British Airways

British Airways (BA) has announced record losses during the past one year, the most significant failure experienced by the company in its 85 year history.

Formed in 1924 as Imperial Airways Ltd., the business has transformed considerably over the years.

It was nationalised in 1974 by the then Labour government and became known as British Airways, combining both BEA (British European Airways) and BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation).

In 1987, the airline was privatised in an attempt to turn the company around after continued losses. Despite a certain amount of controversy surrounding the floating of British Airways on the London Stock Exchange, the privatisation was seen as a success with massive profits recorded by the early 1990s.

But within ten years of privatisation, the airline began to struggle as competition from other airlines increased, coupled with high oil prices. Although BA managed to turn its financial position around by the millennium, the recession has brought back all the old problems.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Scrappage scheme launched to save British car industry

Following the steps of other EU nations, Britain finally implemented on May 18 a car scrappage scheme, to encourage people to dump their old bangers for discounted new models.

Britain hopes this incentive will save its battered motor industry by boosting sales. Nearly 40 car makers have signed up to the scheme, and some with earlier trials have reported positive market feedback.

However, it still begs the question as to how effective the scheme will be in reactivating the vehicle market, as it will only run 10 months or until government funding runs dry.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Camping sought as cheaper holiday in recession

Many Britons are opting to camp at home instead of holidaying abroad in hotels as recession continues biting and the pound remains weak.

This has resulted in rising bookings at campsites and increased sales of camping equipment.

More importantly, going camping fills many with nostalgia for their happy childhood, though it brings not only joy but also drawbacks, which both were vividly shown in the British comedy Carry on Camping, released 40 years ago.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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British communications giants in limbo

BT Tower in Central London

Massive pensions deficits are reasons behind an uncertain future facing both Royal Mail and BT, two of Britain’s communications giants.

BT has reported huge losses. And despite large profits made by the Royal Mail last year, few believe it will be enough to turn the company around.

Royal Mail is on the way to become partially privatized, a plan which many fear will result in further job losses, and bring an end to a piece of Britain’s heritage.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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Britain urged to strengthen global financial ties

UK-based financial services elites have proposed a framework to the British government to develop its policy to keep UK financial services competitive over the coming 10 to 15 years.

The country is advised to better integrate the global financial services industry into its own domestic economy, and develop a strategic partnership with other financial centres in the world.

Britain is warned against taking for granted all of its qualities and advantages in financial services, and meanwhile is expected to take a lead in formulating international regulations.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Tougher speed enforcement invites criticism

The increased speed enhancement on Britain’s roads has turned the country into Europe’s capital of speed cameras.

For speeding motorists, there will be soon less possibility to escape tickets and penalties, something which the public would support.

However, the effectiveness in reducing road accidents by fixing more speed cameras has been questioned. Its increased use has even been interpreted by many as a quick way to increase revenue rather than a good solution to road safety.


For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here . Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Consumer education boosted to fight online fraud

New research, undertaken to investigate Britons’ awareness of consumer rights, has raised concerns, as more than half of the surveyed are less confident to complain when things go wrong because they lack enough knowledge of consumer rights.

In Britain, where online shopping gets more popular, one quarter of online shoppers fail to check whether a website is safe and secure before inputting their bank details.

As such, the government is seeking effective measures to help the public better understand consumer rights and prevent them from shopping scams, especially those dealt with by online transactions.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in May 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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Swine flu precautions strengthened in Britain

“Catch it, Bin it, Kill it”, this is the catch line of the British government’s public health campaign which was launched after Britain confirmed five swine flu cases by Wednesday.

Individuals have been advised to wash hands regularly, use tissues when coughing and sneezing, and dispose of them properly to prevent the spread of the virus, which is believed to have killed nearly 180 people.

The positive test of a girl in Britain has caused serious worries amongst the British public over the threat of the disease. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has raised the alert level to Phase 5, warning that a pandemic is likely to happen soon.

With a huge stockpile of anti-virals, Britain is confident to combat the spread of swine flu, saying that it has been well prepared for a flu pandemic for five years, and is ordering more Tamiflu, Relenza and facemasks.

Three new cases were reported on Thursday in Britain. On the same day, the first two people testing positive in the country were released from hospital in Scotland.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here . Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.


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Market responses vary over swine flu scare

The spread of swine flu has taken its toll on human health and economic performance, adding to the complexity of the global economic downturn.

The first death outside Mexico has been confirmed in the U.S., signalling that other affected countries might soon see deaths caused by the virus.

The WHO has raised the alert level to phase four, indicating that the virus is transmitted from human to human, and community-level outbreaks are possible.

Except in Mexico, panic among the public is not yet seen. But it has shaken the global stock market, which has responded the quickest on the fear of potential pandemic of the virus as warned by the WHO.

However, swine flu has incurred not only bad news for travel and tourism sectors, it also brings business for pharmaceuticals, especially those producing antiviral medicine.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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Health chief: Britain well prepared for flu pandemic

Britain became the second European country hit by swine flu after two cases were confirmed late Monday in Scotland. It followed an earlier announcement that the virus had already been identified in Spain. By Tuesday evening, eight countries had confirmed the arrival of the virus.

There are about 40 people still under observation in the UK, and the government said it was well prepared after planning for such a pandemic for several years.

Five years' preparation

Addressing the House of Commons early Monday, the British Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, said that “the UK has been preparing for a flu pandemic for five years.”

“The World Health Organisation has recognised that the UK and France are the two best prepared countries in the world,” he said.

Britain has a stockpile of enough anti-virals to treat more than 33 million people, half the population of the country, said Johnson.

“All National Health Service (NHS) organisations have pandemic flu plans in place and the Department of Health is now working closely with the NHS to ensure that these plans can be put into action ,so that anti-virals can be made available to the public very rapidly should we reach that stage,” he said.

Over the weekend, the Government has been putting in place precautionary measures to implement the plans we have been developing in the case of more widespread infections in the UK, added Johnson.

The health chief said he would be convening a meeting of the Civil Contingencies Committee immediately following the statement.

Britain has enhanced its port health checks so that passengers arriving in the UK with symptoms of illness are identified and assessed, he said.

Information was also being made available to passengers arriving at ports and urgent advice has been offered to doctors, the health secretary said.

“Although we are aware that facemasks are being given out to the public in Mexico, the available scientific evidence does not support the general wearing of facemasks by those who are not ill whilst going about their normal activities,” he said.

“We are, however, urgently looking into how we can increase our stockpiles of facemasks for healthcare workers who are treating sick patients. We have also established infection control guidance to support staff when treating or caring for people who have symptoms,” he added.

“Should the virus start spreading widely in the UK, we propose to use our antiviral stockpile for treatment of symptomatic patients, ” he said.

He said that experts were currently examining whether vaccination with the regular, seasonal flu vaccine could in any way boost immunity to the H1N1 strain, and said Britain was considering how best to use the limited stocks that are currently available within the country.

While the development of a vaccine can only start once the new virus has been identified, the UK has agreements with manufacturers to be able to get a vaccine when it becomes available, according to the National Health Service (NHS).

The NHS explains why vaccination cannot prevent the start of a pandemic. “The government is unable to vaccinate the population against the spread of pandemic flu because a vaccine cannot be made in advance of the virus being identified,” it says.

“As the virus will be a new strain, a vaccine must be developed specifically to match this,” it adds, “It is unlikely to be available during the early stages of the pandemic and will take months to produce, and considerably longer to produce in sufficient quantities to treat the entire population.”

To combat pandemic flu, the NHS has advised people to wash their hands regularly with soap and water, always carry tissues, use tissues to cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and dispose of them properly. This suggestion was briefly promoted as “catch it, bin it and kill it.”

Flu scare hits markets

In line with advice from the WHO, there are currently no travel restrictions in Britain on those who are planning to visit affected areas. However, EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou suggested people avoid travelling to Mexico and the U.S.

Fears that the virus scare will hit the global economy, especially the travel and leisure sectors, has already sent global stock markets down.

On Monday, the travel sector was particularly hard hit. British Airways saw its stocks fall by some 7.75 percent while British travel agent Thomas Cook sank 4.4 percent.

Meanwhile, there was some good news on the markets with pharmaceutical giants Roche, Glaxosmithkline and AstraZenica all climbing significantly.

In particular, the British company Glaxosmithkline soared over 6 percent on Monday. Both Roche and Glaxosmithkline produce anti-virals which are considered to be effective in fighting the H1N1 virus.

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Britain warned of deeper economic plunge

The British GDP dropped during the first quarter of this year, by 1.9 percent, deeper than previously thought. This has prompted call for more powerful governmental measures to boost existing efforts to rescue the falling economy.

The gloomy figure also makes some analysts believe their prediction that Britain will see a 4.5 percent of GDP decline this year, much less optimistic than the 2009 budget forecast, may reflect the real situation in the UK more accurately.

The borrowing announced in the budget is also said to be less than the actual figure. Chancellor Alistair Darling’s borrowing forecast is based on his “over optimistic” prediction that Britain will only see a 3.5 percent fall in GDP this year.

However, the time ahead this year is not all doom and gloom in Britain. The Confederation of British Industry has said the general business sentiment is falling less sharply and the economic decline will moderate in the months to come.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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Britain steps up investment in low-carbon transition

Wind farm in Cornwall in SW England

Britain has charted its green development plans, with priority given to clean coal technology CCS, marine renewables, nuclear energy, and green vehicles.

Extra green spending has been pledged in the 2009 budget, bringing in a total of additional 15 billion dollars in low-carbon and energy investment over the coming few years in the country.

Carbon capture and storage technology was given a big push to go ahead and four demonstration projects will be delivered. The decarbonising technology is expected to be applied commercially in a few years, to make the burning of fossil fuels much less polluting.

Britain’s green spending scheme came as the country faces an exacting and pressing task to ensure its energy security and at the same time meet its climate change goals.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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UK car scrappage scheme receives lukewarm reception

To save its battered car industry, Britain has decided to introduce a car scrappage scheme in May for 10 months, a plan has won favour with motoring organizations.

The effect of the incentive in increasing car sales has been manifested by similar success stories in other European countries.

However, motorists and even car makers in Britain are less confident in the economic benefit the scheme may bring.

Promoted as a green stimulus, the plan was also questioned by both green campaign groups and politicians for its potential to cut emissions.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

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UK Budget under fire for massive debt

A colossal amount of borrowing and unrealistic GDP growth prediction have put the 2009 Budget under fire, from opposition parties, business groups as well as the public.

Chancellor Alistair Darling announced the “the toughest” budget in parliament Wednesday, to steer the course of British recovery from recession.

Instead of gaining a strong support, the budget has drawn strong criticism, from borrowing to taxation, and from car scrappage incentive to emissions-cutting targets. Some even called it as merely “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic”.

Labour has thus been seen as “out of ideas and running out of steam” to pull Britain out of the economic crisis, and an earlier election was also called for. Some commentator said it is a political budget rather than an economic one.

For the full story by Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.


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Britain expected to see fragile recovery by spring of 2010

Just two days ahead of Wednesday’s announcement of the 2009 budget, Britain’s largest business organization CBI has revealed its latest economic forecast, saying the country will only see a “slow and weak” GDP rise by Spring 2010.

The Confederation of British Industry also sent a message that the worst of the recession may be over, as the first three months of this year has seen the country plunge much deeper in the recession than expected.

Following the worst of the quarterly falls in GDP this year, the recession in Britain is predicted to moderate in the second half of 2009.

However, the country is seeing the falls in both the CPI and RPI inflationary levels, with the latter even falling into negative territory, the first deflation in 50 years. The falling indices are believed to be detrimental to the country’s economic rescue endeavours.

So now it is time to see what are the details in Chancellor Alistair Darling’s budget, which will chart Britain’s recovery course, and even decide on the fate of the country’s economy.

For the full story by Dongying Wang, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Photo by Sylvain Bourdos