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China Wants Climate Agreement by Next Year, Economic Times Says
2010-09-24 14:00:56.915 GMT
By Bloomberg News
Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- China wants a binding global
climate-change agreement by late 2011, the China Economic Times
reported today, citing Li Gao, a Chinese negotiator.
China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, hopes
definite measures for the next decade will be implemented after
the United Nations conference in South Africa scheduled for the
end of next year, Li told the newspaper. The biggest obstacle to
reaching an accord is the U.S., he said.
Without domestic legislation, the U.S. can't participate in
forming a legally binding international agreement, he said, as
cited by the Economic Times.
UN and national envoys have said chances concluding a
treaty to reduce global warming gas emissions are slim after the
Copenhagen summit in 2009 produced only a non-binding accord. UN
talks failed because developing nations called for richer
countries to adopt tighter targets on the gases blamed for
global warming.
China and India say developed nations must cut emissions by
40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, and poorer countries need
room to raise their greenhouse gases to allow them to grow.
China has pledged to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide it
emits for each unit of economic output by 40 percent to 45
percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
Li, head of international negotiations at the National
Development and Reform Commission, which represents China in the
talks along with the Foreign Ministry, said participants have
"pragmatic" expectations of this year's summit in Cancun,
Mexico. He added that this does not mean the Cancun meeting
can't make any progress.
Developing countries should continue to put pressure on
developed countries to reduce emissions, he said.
If negotiations don't reach a conclusion, the world should
focus on agreeing on areas such as technology transfer,
adaptation, planting of forests and reducing emissions from
burning forests, he said.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: TOP ENV <GO>
News stories about climate change: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Locations of global energy facilities: BMAP <GO>
--Editor: Josh Fellman
To contact the reporter on this story:
Henry Sanderson in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7548 or
hsanderson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Panckhurst at +86-10-6649-7574 or
ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net
