African countries adopted Wednesday a united front on climate change, as efforts get underway to negotiate a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, an Algerian official said.

Poland has rejected an EU proposal for its coal-fired power stations to be temporarily exempted from buying all their greenhouse gas permits, a move aimed at averting a Polish veto of the bloc`s climate package, a senior Polish official said Wednesday.

Macedonians took a day off work on Wednesday to plant six million trees in an action launched back in March to revive forests after fires ravaged an estimated 35,000 hectares of greenery.

`The main goal of the `Day of The Tree -- Plant your future` initiative is to protect the environment and increase ecological awareness among citizens,` the government said in a statement.

The Comoros could tame the feared Karthala, one of the world`s largest active volcanoes, and use its geothermal and tourism potential to boost the archipelago`s economy, experts said Wednesday.

Speaking at the opening of a three-day conference on the slopes of the Karthala, officials and experts argued that the volcano could be a goldmine for the Indian Ocean nation.

African nations met in Algiers Wednesday to agree a common position on climate change ahead of the next major international conference on the subject set to take place in December 2009.

Environment ministers from some 40 countries participated in the `African Conference on Climate after 2012,` when the Kyoto environment treaty expires.

Poland`s coal-fired power stations would be temporarily exempted from buying all their greenhouse gas permits under a deal aimed to stop Warsaw vetoing the EU`s environmental plans, a source said Wednesday.

RIYADH, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, announced Saturday a multi-million-dollar fund to tackle global warming that is set to focus on finding technological solutions to the climate change problem.

Making the announcement at the opening of the third OPEC summit in Riyadh, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz said the kingdom will invest 300 million dollars (200 million euros) to develop technology to tackle climate change.

SINGAPORE, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Asian leaders from 16 countries will pledge to increase the region's forest cover by 2020 and promote the use of nuclear energy during their annual summit here next week.

A draft statement obtained by AFP on Saturday said the leaders will also throw their support behind a UN plan as the 'core mechanism' for tackling global warming.

KUALA CENAKU, Indonesia, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Head man Mursyid Ali stands amid blackened stumps, the remains of much of the rainforest belonging to this village on Indonesia's Sumatra stripped and drained in spite of local protests.

It's a scene repeated across much of Indonesia, where poverty and voracious demand for commodities -- coupled with corruption and poor law enforcement -- drive the destruction of forests.

SINGAPORE, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Asian leaders from 16 countries will pledge to increase the region's forest cover by 2020 and promote the use of nuclear energy during their annual summit here next week.

A draft statement obtained by AFP on Saturday said the leaders due to meet on Wednesday will also throw their support behind a UN plan as the 'core mechanism' to tackle global warming.