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China Will Support CO2 Measurements in Climate Talks (Update1)
2010-11-19 16:15:12.334 GMT
(Adds comment from Huang starting in third paragraph.)
By Bloomberg News
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- China will help spur an agreement at
climate-change meetings this month in Mexico on the "nature"
of measuring, reporting and verifying greenhouse-gas reductions,
a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said.
The world's biggest power consumer seeks progress at the
talks to resolve a dispute between developed and developing
nations on how to share data about climate measures, Huang
Huikang, the ministry's special representative for climate
change negotiations, said today at a briefing in Beijing.
After talks in Copenhagen last year failed to produce a
draft treaty, delegates from about 190 nations will meet in
Mexico to discuss ways to cut emissions from burning coal, oil
and gas that scientists blame for warming the atmosphere. One of
the sticking points for the negotiations, which resume Nov. 29
in Cancun, Mexico, has been how much data nations are willing to
share and subject to international checks.
"Both developed and developing nations should raise
transparency of policies that will combat global warming,"
Huang said. "International consultation and analysis"
shouldn't target only a particular country and should be
extensive and universally applicable, he said.
Countries in Denmark negotiated a non-binding deal called
the Copenhagen Accord that would gauge emissions reduction by
industrialized nations to international standards on
measurement, reporting and verification -- MRV in UN jargon.
Disputes
The U.S. pushed for MRV to be applied to developing nations
including China, and a compromise text was agreed in Copenhagen.
Actions by developing countries that receive aid will have to
undergo MRV, while unsupported steps will be measured
domestically and submitted to "international consultations and
analysis under clearly defined guidelines," the accord said.
Those guidelines haven't yet been defined.
Huang's comments set out China's expectations for the
Cancun meeting. The existing treaty, the Kyoto protocol, must be
kept, and a second commitment period for emissions reductions
must be agreed to, Huang said. The current deal sets targets for
all developed nations bar the U.S. which expire in 2012.
Disputes between the U.S. and China, the two biggest
emitters of carbon dioxide, during three rounds of technical
discussions this year have reduced expectations for what the
meeting in Cancun will accomplish.
A new legally binding agreement won't be reached
immediately and international climate negotiations will be a
long process, with China setting "gradual" targets, Huang
said. China expects the coming negotiations to lead to decisions
on easier issues such as technology and financial resources,
with more difficult issues subject to further discussions next
year in South Africa.
Technology innovation and transfer are critical to address
climate change, Huang said, noting that it should be
"compulsory" for developed countries to transfer their
environment-friendly technologies to developing countries.
For Related News and Information:
Most-read alternative energy stories: MNI ALTNRG <GO>
For top news on renewable energy TOP ENV <GO>
Renewable energy, environment page: GREEN <GO>
--Feifei Shen. With assistance from Alex Morales in London.
Editors: Todd White, Alex Devine
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Feifei Shen in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7527 or
Fshen11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net.
