CORDIS Express: Historic week in the fight against climate change The past week was a busy one for environmental policy. In a matter of days, the world celebrated the "Environment Day", the G7 backed a 2015 climate deal, the European Commission hosted the new edition of the Green Week and Barack Obama announced an historic governmental plan ... The past week was a busy one for environmental policy. In a matter of days, the world celebrated the "Environment Day", the G7 backed a 2015 climate deal, the European Commission hosted the new edition of the Green Week and Barack Obama announced an historic governmental plan for cutting CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030. The latter is probably the biggest step forward in the fight against climate change since the signing of the Kyoto protocol in 1999. The US, which had so far been reluctant to binding commitments, now wants to gain a leadership role on climate change - following in the footsteps of Europe's Climate and energy policy framework for 2030. Climate change's expected impact on health was presented as a major incentive for US citizens. The Obama administration notably underlined how cuts to carbon pollution would reduce asthma attacks by 100,000 and heart attacks by 2,100 in one year only. In a meeting this week in Brussels the G7 applauded the initiative and announced its determination to adopt a new global deal in 2015. While these are positive signs, building momentum for similar initiatives in developing economies, the world will need the science to meet these targets. And some of the latest advances in research might play a key role in this regard. - An environmental standards information portal for Europe - Torrefaction: the bioenergy newcomer - Climate change, meet cyborg plants - Europe and South Korea's nanotechnology boost to the hydrogen economy - Trending science: More CO2 also means less nutritious food - Greener furnaces for energy-intensive industries
