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Updated 02:20 (MSK)

BRUSSELS, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union is expected to announce its new sanctions against Russia on Monday, a number of European politicians said late Friday.

Our intention is that the formal adoption of this package [of restrictive measures against Russia] will be done through written procedure on Monday, a joint letter by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso says.

An EU diplomat told journalists on Friday that the official approval of the sanctions will start Monday morning. Once the decision is formally approved, it will be published in an official magazine most likely on Tuesday.

Another source close to the EU leadership, told RIA Novosti of Friday that there was an agreement on a package of sanctions against Moscow and the final decision is due Monday.

This new package of restrictive measures has now been agreed at the level of COREPER. It will give the European Union an effective tool, which should allow us to provide a response within a short time span. It will increase the effectiveness of the measures already in place. It will also reinforce the principle that EU sanctions are directed at promoting a change of course in Russia's actions in Ukraine, a joint letter by Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso says.

On Friday, US President Barack Obama told reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Wales that sanctions against Russia may be lifted if a long-term sustainable ceasefire is reached in Ukraine.

Similar statements were made by UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande.

Earlier that day, members of the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation had a meeting in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, during which they agreed on a ceasefire, exchange of prisoners and humanitarian aid. The ceasefire agreement came into force at 6 p.m. local time (15:00 GMT).

Poroshenko said that the ceasefire deal was based on his peace plan.

Excerpt from:
EU New Sanctions Against Russia to Be Announced Monday: Officials

Updated 02:15 (MSK)

MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union will add Russian decision-makers, oligarchs, leadership of Donbas and the Crimea in the sanctions list, a joint letter by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on restrictive measures against Russia said.

As requested by the European Council, the Commission and the EEAS presented to COREPER on 3rd September a set of enhanced measures, related to access to capital markets, defense, dual use goods, and sensitive technologies, the letter reads. Additionally, a new list of individuals, including the new leadership in Donbass, the government of Crimea as well as Russian decision-makers and oligarchs was presented.

The new list of sanctions against Moscow is expected to be formally adopted on Monday, and will be published Tuesday, according to high-ranking EU officials.

Back in March, in response to Crimeas reunification with Russia the United States and the European Union introduced the first package of targeted sanctions against a number of Russian high-ranking officials. As the Ukrainian crisis escalated, the United States pressed for its Western allies to follow its lead. Norway, Canada, Australia and Japan also caved in to the US sanctions push and drew up their own blacklists.

In July, the West moved from targeting individuals to hitting entire sectors on Russian economy, including defense, energy and banking. The latest round of sanctions, imposed by the United States and EU member-states was largely economic and has significantly complicated access to European capital markets for a number of Russian banks.

In August, Moscow was forced to introduce protective measures banning for a year the import of agricultural and food products from countries that had imposed sanctions on Russia.

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EU Sanctions Against Russia to Target Decision-Makers, Oligarchs, Heads of Donbas, Crimea

China surpassed the European Union in pollution levels per capita for the first time last year, propelling the greenhouse gases that cause global warming to a record.

Each person in China produced 7.2 tons of carbon dioxide on average compared with 6.8 tons in Europe and 1.9 tons in India in 2013, according a study by the Global Carbon Project. Those countries along with the U.S. accounted for almost two-thirds of emissions and 80 percent of the growth in pollution.

The findings show the scale of the challenge of reining in the emissions damaging Earth. The scientists estimate that humans already have spewed into the atmosphere two-thirds of the carbon allowable under scenarios that avoid irreversible changes to the planet. If pollution continues at the current rate, the limit for carbon will be reached in 30 years.

We are nowhere near the commitments needed to stay below 2 degrees Celsius of climate change, a level that will be hard to reach for any country, including rich nations, said Corinne Le Quere, co-author of the report and a director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, England. CO2 growth now is much faster than it was in the 1990s, and were not delivering the improvements in carbon intensity we anticipated 10 years ago.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 23 is gathering world leaders, business executives and environmentalists to discuss ways to combat global warming at a summit in New York. While U.S. President Barack Obama will attend the two-day meeting, the top leaders of China, India and Germany wont be there.

Bans meeting is intended to inject fresh momentum into UN-mandated negotiations aimed at producing a global climate-protection treaty at a conference in Paris in December 2015. Negotiators from 190 nations seek to gather emissions reduction pledges from rich and poor nations by next August. The deal would take effect from 2020.

Emissions grew 4.2 percent in China, 2.9 percent in the U.S. and 5.1 percent in India last year. The EUs pollution level declined 1.8 percent because of weaker economic growth. Worldwide, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are projected to rise 2.5 percent this year to more than 40 billion tons.

Emissions must fall by 5 percent or more a year for several decades to keep the world from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius, of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Global Carbon Budget report released by the scientists today. Thats the level scientists identify as the limit before dangerous changes to the climate kicks in.

Temperatures have already increased by 0.85 of a degree since 1880, and the current trajectory puts humanity on course for a warming of at least 3.7 degrees Celsius, the UN has estimated. Thats quicker than the shift in the climate came when the last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago.

Those risks include greater temperature swings, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, more pervasive heatwaves and increased water shortages in areas stressed by drought, industry demands and rising populations.

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China Beats U.S. in Per-Capita Pollution for First Time

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