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Developing countries pursue green economy in face of double whammy

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-24 16:11

Financial and technological support needed

Although green economy is widely believed to be able to foster sustained growth, it still faces various difficulties in promotion and development in an unbalanced world.

The promotion of green economy and the use of clean energy in developing countries entails sufficient funding, capacity-building support and the application of clean-energy technologies, most of which are held by developed countries.

According to a recent UN report, since 1950, the industrialized countries had contributed as much as three-quarters of the increase in global emissions, despite accounting for less than 15 percent of the world's population.

But it is in developing countries that the impacts of climate change are most keenly felt and where the greatest impacts are forecast.

Therefore, developing countries have called on rich countries to take the lead in cutting gas emissions and fulfill their obligations on technology transfers and financial support that they committed to under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

However, during the UN climate change talks held in Bangkok from Sept 28 to Oct 9, some developed countries "neither offered satisfactory plans on their own emissions cut, capital and technological transfer to developing countries, nor responded positively to developing nations' suggestions on these aspects," said Su Wei, head of China's delegation to the negotiations.

Climate financing has proved to be a stumbling block in the current international negotiations ahead of the Copenhagen conference in December when world governments are expected to reach a new deal on greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol after it expires in 2012.

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In early September, the European Commission proposed that the EU as a whole contribute some 2 to 15 billion euros ($2.9 to 22 billion) a year by 2020, a sum criticized by developing countries as not being enough.

So far, the US has not given any figure of its contribution.

"An essential part of a comprehensive deal at Copenhagen is identifying how to generate new, additional and predictable financial resources and technology," said the secretariat for the UNFCCC.

Resources needed for both adaptation and mitigation have been estimated to total up to $250 billion per year in 2020, the secretariat said, adding that adaptation costs are currently primarily borne by the affected countries, including poor vulnerable communities which have no responsibility for emissions.

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