Climate change conference: Here is China’s stand

THE UN CLIMATE CHANGE conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 7-19. During the last two days, 119 heads of state or government attended.

Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of China attended the conference on behalf of the Chinese Government.

The press has made all kinds of comments on the outcome of the conference. We believe it is fair to say that thanks to the efforts of all parties, the conference produced important outcomes.

Firstly, it firmly upheld the framework and the host of principles established by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, particularly the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”.

Secondly, it was because of this conference that both developed and developing countries set out some targets and took new actions to address climate change.

Developed countries set out mandatory emission reduction targets as required by the Kyoto Protocol. Developing countries put forward voluntary mitigation actions. These commitments are part of the Copenhagen Accord.

THIRDLY, THERE ARE MAJOR ISSUES in climate change negotiations, including global long-term targets, financing, technology transfer and transparency. It is fair to say that parties are deeply divided on these issues.

After negotiations before the conference and with leaders’ meetings and good offices during the conference, an initial consensus was reached on these issues. This is a very important outcome.

Take global long-term targets, for example. It was agreed that global temperature should not rise by more than 2°C by 2050. In terms of financing, the Accord provides for the establishment of a mechanism in which developed countries should provide funding to developing countries.

Developed countries have already committed to a target, namely, providing $10 billion a year up to 2012, which will total $30 billion. They have also pledged to mobilise $100 billion a year by 2020.

Though the numbers are not significant, and in China’s view are not enough, they do mark a step forward. It was also agreed that a mechanism should be set up for technology transfer.

As for transparency, the emission reduction targets set by developed countries are mandatory and should be “measurable, reportable and verifiable” (MRV). Financial and technological support should also be subject to “MRV”.

For developing countries, their mitigation actions can be divided into two categories. International “MRV” is only required for actions launched with international financial and technical support, not for the voluntary actions taken by developing countries with their own resources.

However, to increase openness, the issue of greater transparency was also discussed, this time for the mitigation actions taken by developing countries without international support.

A fairly good proposal was put forward: Countries will report their respective actions and then there will be a process of international consultations and analysis.