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China has set an annual growth target of 7% to ensure sustainable development during its new five-year plan

A power plant in Pinghu. To fuel the growth in GDP, China’s energy demand has surged by 220%. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

28 February 2011 - China will try to slow GDP growth to ease pressure on the environment following a series of unusually stark warnings from senior ministers about the country's current mode of development.

The announcement that economic growth targets will be lowered from 8% to 7% over the next five years may mark the end of China's peak growth years as environmental constraints drive up the expense of resources and pollution control.

"In China's thousands of years of civilisation, the conflict between humanity and nature has never been as serious as it is today," the environment minister Zhou Shengxian wrote on his ministry's website.

"The depletion, deterioration and exhaustion of resources and the deterioration of the environment have become serious bottlenecks constraining economic and social development." {continued}

Barack Obama may be forced to delay US climate action

Funding gap could force president to order a two-year delay in Environmental Protection Agency action, conference hears

US tailpipe emissions from cars in Los Angeles. Obama may be forced to sacrifice the EPA’s efforts to regulate emissions if he can continue funding the federal government for the next seven months. Photograph: David Mcnew/Getty Images

28 February 2011 - Barack Obama may be forced to order a two-year delay in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) action on climate change to try to avoid a complete government shutdown, an environmental conference has been warned.

President Obama faces the prospect of a government shutdown by 4 March, with a funding gap leading to federal employees being sent home and government services temporarily closing down, unless he can reach a deal with Congress Republicans who are demanding a crippling $61bn (£38bn) in budget cuts. The house will begin debate on the spending bill on Tuesday following efforts at the weekend to avoid a government shutdown, with news reports suggesting Republicans might compromise on some of the cuts.

The Republican plan would destroy Obama's capacity to pursue his green agenda, cutting the budget of the EPA by 30%, and stripping funds for projects he has championed such as clean energy research and high-speed rail. {continued}