Warming Diplomacy

A consensus that the world should pursue vastly bigger cuts in fossil-fuel emissions is likely to emerge from a flurry of global-warming diplomacy in coming weeks. Negotiators touted that view at a climate conference last week in Austria, and they are likely to echo it at other gatherings this autumn. But that merely tees up the real debate: Who will pay for the cuts? After 18 months of wrangling, state-controlled utility Gaz de France SA and domestic rival Suez SA agreed to a merger yesterday, but the deal they sealed sets up a potentially bigger fight between the European Union and national governments over who drives energy policy.The government of Kazakhstan expects compensation for what it sees as “tens of billions of dollars” of economic harm due to massive cost overruns and delays at the Kashagan oil project, led by Italy’s Eni SpA, a government official said.Retail gasoline prices, on average, are slightly below year-ago levels for the first time since 2001, an unusual situation for the time around a major holiday weekend.