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Clegg's Rio+20 water pledge

The government says households struggling to pay their water bills will get help through new 'social tariffs'. The announcement will be made by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the Rio+20 Conference in Brazil today.

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Widespread disappointment at 'weak' Rio+20 text

The text of the agreement that is likely to define the Rio+20 summit has been described as "weak" by many of those in attendance. The EU's climate change chief Connie Hedegaard tweeted that "nobody ... was happy" about the text:

The charity Oxfam likened the outcomes of the summit to "re-arranging the deck chairs" while the Titanic sinks, echoing the verdict of many NGOs.

The head of the UNFCCC - the UN convention that was agreed at the last Earth Summit in Rio 20 years ago - was disappointed that the text did not mention ending subsidies on fossil fuels.

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