China tells rich nations to improve emission targets

Dan Martin Yahoo News 5 Oct 10;

TIANJIN, China (AFP) – China on Tuesday told the United States and other rich nations to "dramatically" improve their greenhouse gas emission targets, blaming the countries for gridlock at UN climate change talks.

Delegates from more than 170 countries are in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin this week in an effort to break the stalemate in long-running United Nations negotiations aimed at forging a deal on tackling global warming.

Chief Chinese negotiator Su Wei told reporters that the actions of rich nations should be in focus in Tianjin and the major UN summit on climate change in Cancun, Mexico, next month.

"Many of the developed countries, especially a handful of them, have been very laggard on climate change actions and this has led to failure of major breakthroughs or progress in the negotiations," Su said.

Europe has pledged to cut its emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming by 20 percent by 2020, based on 1990 levels.

The United States has pledged a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels.

But Su said these targets were not good enough.

"We believe it is a positive thing that they put forward these targets, but these targets are still far away from the expectations of developing countries and from what is demanded by science," Su said. "Therefore the emissions reduction goals of developed countries should be dramatically increased."

Su said China wanted the targets to be discussed as part of the negotiations for Cancun.

Rich industrialised countries and fast-growing developing nations have long tussled over who should carry the greatest burden for reducing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

The issue was one of the main reasons for the failure of world leaders to forge a comprehensive and binding deal on fighting climate change in Copenhagen last year.

At Copenhagen the world leaders agreed on a goal of limiting global temperature rises to two degrees Centigrade (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

However there was no agreement on how this would be done and by when.

Environmentalists warn countries have to act far more quickly to curb greenhouse gases and stop rising temperatures that could lead to catastrophic weather such as droughts and floods.

China overtook the United States in recent years as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, as its economy has roared ahead to become the world's second biggest.

But China has refused to commit to cutting emissions outright, stating this would unfairly hurt its economic development.

The United States and other developed countries have urged China to commit to emission cut targets as part of a planned post-2012 treaty on global warming to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Although China has refused, it pledged last year to slow the growth in those emissions by reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, essentially a vow of greater energy efficiency.

Su said that China would continue to pursue its own domestic efforts to reduce greenhouse gases independently of the United States.

"Of course the United States has not taken concrete actions but the rest of us cannot use that as an excuse to say 'America is not doing anything, then we will not do anything'," he said. "We can't wait for America."

China says climate talks must tackle rich CO2 cuts
* China says CO2 cuts pledged by rich nations aren't enough
* Senior official says issue must be tackled in Cancun
* Expert says China emissions could peak 2020-2030 (Adds comment from delegate and expert in pars 12-14 and 21-23)
Chris Buckley Reuters 5 Oct 10;

TIANJIN, China, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Greenhouse gas cuts vowed by rich nations remain far from enough to escape dangerous global warming, a top Chinese official said on Tuesday, urging talks over a new climate pact to confront the shortfall.

China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas polluter and its emissions are sure to keep growing. [ID:nLDE68L23Z]

But Su Wei, the head of the climate change office at China's National Development and Reform Commission, said wealthy countries with their much higher per-capita emissions should make space for emerging economies to grow.

"The emissions targets of developed countries should be dramatically raised," he told a news conference at U.N. climate talks in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.

Negotiators from 177 governments are meeting in Tianjin trying to coax agreement on what should follow the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol -- the key U.N. treaty on fighting global warming -- which expires in 2012.

Talks so far this year have focused on trust-building funding goals, with little talk about countries' targets to reduce greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and other sources blamed for heating up the atmosphere.

Officials in Tianjin are seeking consensus on climate funding for developing countries, policies and funds to protect carbon-absorbing forests, and transfers of green technology.

They hope that a higher level meeting in Cancun, Mexico, late this year can then settle the foundations of a binding pact that could be agreed in 2011.

Fraught negotiations last year failed to agree on a binding treaty and culminated in a bitter meeting in Copenhagen, which produced a non-binding accord that later recorded the emissions pledges of participant countries.

TOUGH GOAL

Su told reporters that the question of wealthy countries' emissions targets could not be avoided at Cancun, although it was good that rich nations had offered emissions cut goals as part of the Copenhagen Accord, he added.

"But these goals are certainly still far removed from the expectations of developing countries and from what is required according to science," he added.

A negotiator from another big developing country said prospects for Cancun were uncertain.

"I don't think it's going particularly fast or well so far," the delegate said of the Tianjin meeting. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the internal nature of the talks.

"It's hard to see how we can get a really substantive outcome from here into Mexico."

The United Nations says the current targets would not prevent a temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F), which the EU and some experts call the threshold of dangerous climate change, such as more extreme droughts, floods and rising sea levels. [ID:nSGE69003V]

Under the Copenhagen Accord, supported by more than 110 countries, parties agreed to limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels but didn't specify a date.

Su did not say what specific demands, if any, China could make over developed economies' emissions goals.

President Barack Obama wants to cut the United States' greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, or 4 percent from 1990 levels. But legislation to that end has failed to win the backing of the U.S. Senate.

The European Union has offered to cut emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, or 30 percent if others act.

Many Western governments want China to take on firmer international commitments eventually to cap emissions.

China's emissions could peak some time between 2020 and 2030, with the right mix of green policies, a Chinese government expert on energy policy, Jiang Kejun, told reporters in Tianjin.

Jiang, a researcher at the Energy Research Institute in Beijing, did not give a precise estimate of how high China's emissions could rise, but said the Copenhagen Accord yardstick for limiting global emissions would be difficult to achieve.

"The two-degrees scenario is very tough for China," he said. (Editing by David Fogarty)

Europe, Asia call for urgent 'binding' climate deal
Yahoo News 5 Oct 10;

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Two months before a key UN climate conference, European and Asian leaders pledged Tuesday to seek an urgent, legally-binding deal on global warming that would include deep cuts in emissions.

"They shared the goal of reaching urgently a fair, effective and comprehensive legally binding outcome," said a final statement approved at the 46-nation Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Brussels.

"Leaders agreed that deep cuts in global emissions are required, recognising the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below two degrees Celsius," the text said.

The pledge, however, lacks any deadline or timeline for achieving this goal.

The ASEM summit grouped the 27-nation European Union, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, New Zealand and Russia.

The ASEM statement came as delegates from more than 170 countries met in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin this week in an effort to break the stalemate ahead of the next United Nations conference.

The UN climate meeting will take place between November 29 and December 10 in Cancun, Mexico, one year after the much-criticised meeting in Copenhagen.

Major carbon emitters including the United States and China remain far apart on climate change.

Hopes are low that any binding deals on cutting greenhouse gas emissions can be reached at the talks in the Mexican resort amid lingering bitterness following Copenhagen.

The Copenhagen conference last December agreed on the goal of capping global temperature rises at 2.0 degree Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) and pledged 100 billion dollars a year to help poor countries cope with climate change.

But it failed to muster the requisite emissions-reduction commitments from carbon producers or specify who would provide the mitigation funds.

Major emerging nations such as China and India also have resisted legally binding requirements to cut emissions, saying rich countries are historically responsible for global warming and must take the lead.