China keeps room to manoeuvre on climate change: observers

CLIMATE SCIENCE

India: Climate change gaps could widen
New Delhi (UPI) Sep 24 - Gaps between developed and developing nations could widen farther in the absence of a global agreement on equity and burden-sharing on carbon emissions, Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari warned. Without such an agreement, climate change negotiations would likely spill over to other multilateral, regional and bilateral negotiation platforms and would "further accentuate existing divisions," Ansari said, The Hindu reports. Ansari opened a two-day conference in New Delhi Thursday on sustainable development and climate change, just after world leaders gathered in New York this week for the United Nations summit on climate change. India now ranks fifth worldwide in the production of greenhouse gas emissions. In comparing India's emissions with other large polluters, Ansari stressed that developing nations such as India should not be held responsible for climate change.

Ansari said that India, with its rapidly growing economy and 17 percent of the world's population, accounts for just 4 percent of carbon emissions, compared to the United States and China, which account for more than 16 percent each. On a per-capita basis, India's annual greenhouse gas emissions of 1.1 tons is "minuscule" compared to the 20 tons emitted by the United States, Ansari said. The vice president pointed out that India's primary energy consumption growth rate is 3.7 percent a year despite a GDP growth rate of about 9 percent. "This contrasts with the pattern seen in developed countries and even a few major developing countries where higher GDP growth has followed the traditional pattern of increased use of energy," he said. During a roundtable session at the U.N. climate change talks Tuesday, India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said the outcome of climate change talks in Copenhagen in December must ensure that developing nations can pursue "accelerated development" and have the resources "to cope and adapt to climate change," the Press Trust of India reported.

India has "repeatedly reaffirmed that our per-capita emissions would never exceed the average per capita emissions of the developed countries, even as we pursue our development objectives," Krishna said. He noted that India is engaged in a number of domestic adaptation and mitigation actions on a voluntary basis, including solar energy, extensive deployment of renewable, use of clean coal technologies, boosting energy efficiency and promotion of green agriculture. India's domestic actions, Krishna said, should not be "crimped by an international review obligation". "The way forward must ensure that developing countries can pursue growth and poverty eradication," he said, while pledging that India would pursue unilateral voluntary measures for the year 2020 at national level.

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Sept 23, 2009
Chinese President Hu Jintao offered few details in his UN speech on climate change, but the lack of specifics could just mean he wants to keep some room for manoeuvre, observers said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Hu told the UN General Assembly in New York that China would curb the growth of its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a "notable margin" by 2020 from their 2005 level, but did not give a figure for the cuts.

Hu could have stepped up pressure on developed nations ahead of global talks in Copenhagen in December by offering specific numbers, but may have deliberately opted not to do so, experts said.

"If Hu had done that, it would be a big push to the US position as well as the international climate negotiations that are going very slowly at the moment," said Greenpeace China climate change campaign manager Yang Ailun, referring to US hopes for firm commitments on the issue.

"But the fact that Hu didn't announce the target might mean that China wants to leave a bit more space for negotiation later," she told AFP.

Hu's description of the curbs in terms of gross domestic product reflects Beijing's paramount concern about the need to maintain rapid economic growth.

China and other developing countries have long resisted mandatory emission curbs becoming part of the next treaty on fighting global warming, saying rich countries bear historical responsibility for cleaning up the environment.

Developed nations, while pledging to fight global warming, have insisted that emerging powers also commit to action under an accord to be hammered out in Copenhagen as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

IHS Global Insight analyst Ren Xianfang described Hu's speech as a "symbolic gesture" to show China was serious about reducing emissions.

But the statement also showed Beijing was not prepared to commit to a target before the Denmark talks, she added.

"They are obliged to say something. The world needs China's commitment to this," Ren said.

"There's still a lot of uncertainty ahead of the big meeting in Copenhagen. China may be waiting for others to move first."

China, which is level pegging with the United States as the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, has committed in its current five-year plan to cutting energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010.

The Asian giant, which relies on coal for 70 percent of its energy needs, also aims to get 10 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2010 and 15 percent by 2020.

Oxfam Hong Kong campaign coordinator Stanley So offered praise for Hu, saying he had shown "leadership to the developed countries" and "willingness" to take on responsibility for reducing emissions.

Greenpeace's Yang said Hu's speech was a positive sign that China was serious about tackling climate change.

"This was the first time that the Chinese government has publicly confirmed that China would have a carbon emissions reduction target. Before, it was just speculation," Yang said.

"So in this sense Hu's speech was still quite significant."

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CLIMATE SCIENCE

China pledges to curb emission growth by 'notable margin'
United Nations (AFP) Sept 22, 2009
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday pledged to curb the growth of China's carbon dioxide emissions by a "notable margin" by 2020 from their 2005 levels. But Hu also did not put a figure on the cuts, telling the UN General Assembly that the curbs would be measured by unit of Gross Domestic Product, in line with China's concerns about preserving its rapid economic growth. "We will ... read more

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