China calls on rich countries to cut emissions

China calls on rich countries to cut emissions
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: May 21 2009 11:11 | Last updated: May 21 2009 11:11
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7a79142-45ee-11de-803f-00144feabdc0.html


China called on rich countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels and help pay for emission reduction schemes in poorer countries to fight climate change.

In a position paper released on Thursday in preparation for a climate change summit in Germany next month, the Chinese government reiterated its position that developing countries, including China, should participate in emission reduction schemes on a purely voluntary basis.

It said that while developed countries should have concrete emission reduction targets that are “measurable, reportable and verifiable”, developing countries should sign up to emission reductions schemes only if they “accord with their national situations and sustainable development strategies.”

By most measures, China has already overtaken the US as the world’s largest emitter of CO2 but Beijing argues its per capita emissions are far below developed country levels.

Although it only spells out China’s initial bargaining position, the ambitious position paper will not be welcomed in Washington and Brussels, where policymakers have recently made tackling climate change a central theme in their discussions with Beijing.

The statement makes no concessions from China’s previous position on the issue and provides no offers of compromise in exchange for the commitments it is demanding from richer countries.

The statement proposes that developed countries be legally bound to give at least 0.5-1.0 per cent of their annual economic worth to help poorer countries, including China, to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and cope with global warming.

By making a relatively uncontroversial issue a key focus of bilateral ties, the US and EU have been hoping to build trust and produce quick, tangible political results, while tackling global warming in the process.

“Stronger bilateral collaboration on energy and climate change has the real prospect of helping to build a new, more stable, and constructive foundation under Sino-American relations,” according to an influential “roadmap” for Sino-US collaboration published recently by the Asia Society and Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

But China’s unwillingness to offer any early concessions could signal a tough road ahead for policymakers who were hoping progress on this issue could lead to breakthroughs on other topics of contention.

A United Nations negotiating text released on Wednesday suggests a similar target to the one put forward by China for developed countries but also suggests developing countries commit to reduce their emissions by 25 per cent by 2050 from 2000 levels.

China’s statement rejects any fixed targets for developing countries and reiterates Beijing’s long-held position that developed and developing countries share “common but differentiated responsibilities”.

According to this argument, developed countries have been allowed to pollute the atmosphere with impunity for the last 150 years while developing countries have only started to industrialize in recent decades and should be allowed to get rich before sharing the burden of cleaning up the environment.

Beijing is also very resistant to the idea of differentiation between developing countries, despite the obvious incongruity of categorizing an industrial giant like China with countries like Angola when it comes to emissions.

“China’s pronouncements have been pretty strident but I wouldn’t read them as an attempt to torpedo the whole process,” said Leo Horn-Phathanothai, vice chairman of the China Carbon Forum. “There’s room for movement, negotiation and even big policy shifts but it depends on what the US and EU are able to offer.”

The Chinese government estimates it will need to spend Rmb1,000bn ($146bn) per year just to limit the country’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions to 50 per cent between 2010-50 instead of a much higher rate, according to state media reports.