Hopes are fading that climate talks in Qatar late this year will make even modest progress towards getting a new globally binding climate deal signed by 2015, as preliminary negotiations in Germany this week have left much work to be done.

The fear is that if work plans and agendas are not set by the end of this year at the latest it could have a knock-on effect, holding up the entire effort to avert potentially devastating global warming.

Europe yesterday warned at climate talks in Bonn that efforts to forge a new global pact to avert environmental disaster were in danger of floundering, and some pointed fingers at China.

Nine days into talks meant to set the stage for a United Nations gathering in Qatar in December, where countries must adopt an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, negotiators complained that procedural bickering was quashing progress hopes.

India has offered Qatar stake in some of the major petro projects, including the petrochemicals complex at Dahej in Gujarat, Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC's) LNG project in Ennore, Tamil Nadu, BPCL's petrochemical project in Kochi, petrochemical project in Mangalore and investment opportunity in the Paradip refinery and petrochemical project to further enhance its strategic partnership and ties.

India and Qatar have signed an initial pact for co-operation in the energy sector.

The objective of the memorandum of understanding is to establish a framework to facilitate and enhance bilateral co-operation in the sector, a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry here on Monday said.

It envisages co-operation in the areas of upstream (exploration) and downstream (refining) oil and gas activities.

Global planemaker Airbus joined a chorus of concern that a European scheme to charge airlines for carbon emissions risks triggering a full-blown trade war, with implications for plane deals and even Europe's crippling sovereign debt crisis.

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), introduced on January 1, has drawn howls of protest from airlines around the world, with China banning its carriers from taking part.

Pakistan and Qatar are likely to sign two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) according to which the two countries will jointly explore development of hydropower, identification of sources of financing, exploration of investment opportunities in energy sector, rehabilitation of existing hydropower plants and construction of National Highway and Motorway infrastructure, official sources told Business Recorder.

These MoUs, sources said, will be inked during the visit of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, scheduled for February 6-8.

Qatar, the world’s biggest per capita emitter of carbon dioxide, will host the 2012 round of UN talks tasked with beating back the mounting threat of global warming, the UN’s top climate official said Tuesday.

‘The COP18 will be hosted next year in Qatar,’ Christina Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in Durban, South Africa, where this year’s meeting is unfolding.

Twenty-six nations are expected to lodge a formal protest on Wednesday against a European Union law to make airlines pay for carbon emissions -- adding to transatlantic tension on an issue that has triggered a tit-for-tat bill in the Congress.

Under EU legislation, from January 1 all flights to or from Europe will have to buy carbon permits to help offset their emissions under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) -- the 27 member bloc's prime tool for trying to curb the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

The ambitious $10-billion project to connect Gulf nations through a modern rail network, stretching over 2,000 km, is expected to become operational by 2018, with authorities working to ensure that construction starts on it by 2014.

Authorities across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) want the project to provide cost-effective means to transport goods and services in the region and plans are also afoot to ultimately link the railway network to Yemen via Muscat.

Iran has suspended a $16 billion gas field contract with China in the Gulf to push it to meet its obligations in another nearby field that is already being tapped by Qatar, the Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.

It quoted the managing director of the Pars Oil and Gas Co, Moussa Souri, as saying “the development contract for North Pars (field) with the Chinese is temporarily suspended.” Souri explained: “Right now, the priority is developing the shared oil and gas fields, especially South Pars.”