US again presses China on emissions
- Source: The Global Times
- [07:29 June 09 2009]
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By Zuo Xuan and Sun Wei
The US and China are warily circling each other in hopes of breaking a long impasse on emissions reduction during meetings in Beijing this week, with an agreement hard to achieve due to their differing positions on how to tackle climate change.
The chief US climate-change negotiator Todd Stern, White House science advisor John Holdren and Assistant Energy Secretary David Sandalow form the second US delegation to visit China since last month following the one led by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Last week Stern said he did not expect a written agreement from the trip, but he wanted the visit to help set the tone with the developing world.
The increased bilateral contacts reflect the urgency of cooperation between the two countries that jointly emit about half of the world’s greenhouse gases and the difficulty of bridging differences.
China says the US should reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
Yet the bill now before the US Congress calls for less than a 4 percent reduction over that period.
China, though having agreed on a “common but differentiated responsibility,” has declined to put a ceiling on its emissions to avoid harming its economy.
Li Gao, chief negotiator of the Department of Climate Change at the National Development and Reform Commission, told the Global Times, “The US media is widely covering the visits, expecting to put pressure on Chinese policymakers. It is just as unfair as promoting the concept of G2.”
Beijing insists it will not sacrifice China’s economy to meet the demands of outsiders, particularly those in the developed world that are responsible for the vast majority of human-caused carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.
Li said, “Developed countries started the process of industrialization about 200 years ago compared with the 30-year history in China. Those countries, when they were at the same level of development as we are, were faring much worse than us in environmental protection.”
“Moreover, most developed countries are consuming heavily the products made in China. How fair it is for them to blame us for polluting the water and air when they are using our products?” Li asked.
The United States has yet to pin itself down to precise targets on greenhouse-gas emissions despite optimism from the White House and Congress.
The energy bill now before Congress proposes emissions targets far short of what China and other nations say they expect of the United States.
Pang Jun, an environment expert at Renmin University, told the Global Times, “The US enjoys a much lower fuel efficiency than EU countries and Japan due to its luxurious style of life.”
“If the US is leading other countries with all mouth but no trousers, no one will listen to it any more,” Pang added.
An Baijie contributed to this story