The G8 nations have agreed to cut their emissions by 80% by 2050, but calls for a global reduction of 50% by that date have apparently fallen on deaf ears in the developing nations. At the same time, UN head Ban Ki-moon has criticised G8 leaders for not making deeper cuts sooner.

However Russia appears to have already bailed out of the G8’s climate change agreement, with a top presidential aide, Arkady Dvorkovich, saying a figure of 80% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050 was “unattainable” for them. He refused to say what targets Russia might agree to.

A massive tree-planting project is under way in Ghana, with the first million seedlings of a planned 24 million being planted in an area which has been heavily logged in recent years. Ghana has lost about 80% of its forests in the past 50 years. British firm ArborCarb heads the project, with plans to sell the resulting carbon credits.

Despite falling prices, global carbon trading increased by 124% in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier, to a total of 4.1 gigatonnes worth some $65 billion (22% higher by value).

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