Dai speaks on climate change

L'AQUILA, Italy: The international community should strengthen its commitment and partnerships to respond to global climate change, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo said this month.

Dai spoke at the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on energy security and climate change on behalf of President Hu Jintao.

Hu cut short his stay in Italy and returned to Beijing due to the situation in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

In his speech, Dai said he hoped the world's countries would reach consensus on the need to respond to global climate change.

Dai said the international community should follow the "Bali Road Map" and promote the success of the upcoming Copenhagen conference in December on global climate change.

Climate change involves people's livelihoods and, ultimately, their survival, Dai said, adding that the issue transcends the current global financial downturn.

Dai offered a three-point blueprint for success: upholding shared principles, cooperation and also commitment to the "common, but differentiated responsibility" of countries outlined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Dai said industrialized countries should take the lead in carbon emissions reductions to honor their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

After the initial short-term response period ends 2012, industrialized countries should set a new medium-term deadline, Dai said.

Dai called for all countries to support a future of energy-saving cities and work to strengthen environmental protections.

The "Bali Road Map" he cited referred to a proposal by China and other countries at a meeting in Bali in 2007.

Participants called on industrialized countries to provide developing nations the necessary funds and technology to fight climate change.

Dai said that economic development is an important ingredient, since developing countries must build their economies to have enough resources to effectively address climate change.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change stipulates that economic and social development and the elimination of poverty are the primary tasks of developing countries, Dai said.

Therefore, he said, actions to address climate change should promote rather than hinder the economic development of developing countries.

China has always attached great importance to climate change and made measurable progress in energy-saving policies and emissions reduction initiatives, he said.

Dai said China was the first developing country to create a formal plan to address climate change.

China's plan calls for reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent from 2005 to 2010.

The plan calls for reducing emissions of main pollutants by 10 percent during those years.

The plan also calls for increasing the country's forest cover from 18 percent to 20 percent, and increasing the percentage of renewable energy from 7.5 percent to 10 percent of primary energy sources.

China's 4-trillion-yuan economic stimulus package announced last year includes 580 billion yuan for climate change initiatives, Dai said.

Dai said China already has made progress.

According to incomplete statistics, energy consumption per unit of the GDP decreased by 10.1 percent in the past three years, saving the equivalent of 300 million tons of coal and emitting 750 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide, he explained.

In 2007 alone, renewable energy sources reached the equivalent of 220 million tons of coal, resulting in a reduction of 500 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Leaders of the G8 industrialized countries and five leading emerging economies - India, China, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa - met on July 8 to discuss climate change, trade, economics and other issues.

Xinhua

(China Daily 07/20/2009 page3)