China urges consensus on new climate change pact

BEIJING - China hopes the Lima Climate Change Conference can reach consensus on key elements of a new deal on carbon emissions, said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman here on Monday.

The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in the Peruvian capital Lima from Dec. 1 to 12.

The meeting is intended to pave the way for a new agreement addressing climate change, planned to be passed at the end of 2015 in Paris and come into force in 2020.

The spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the Lima conference is an important step for the 2015 COP in Paris to reach the new agreement.

China will work with all parties to push for positive outcomes out of the Lima meeting in accordance with the equality principle, common but differentiated responsibilities and the respective capabilities principles, she said at a routine press briefing.

China hopes the conference can achieve the desired results in line with the principles of openness, transparency, extensive participation and consensus through consultation, she added.

Xie Zhenhua, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), together with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, headed the Chinese delegation to Lima.

China will hold a series of side events at the Lima conference to introduce China's policies, actions and achievements in tackling climate change, said Hua.

According to previous decisions, a draft text of the 2015 agreement should be sketched by May 2015, but there are still big divergences on the information to be included.

While developed countries said mitigation, or emission reduction, should be focused on contributions, developing countries insist that adaptation, finance, technology and capacity building support from developed countries should also be included.

Hua urged the Lima meeting to specify what should be included in "intended nationally determined contributions."

She said developed countries should continue to take the lead in cutting emissions by large margins before 2020 while offering finance, technology and capacity building support to developing countries to help them adapt to and address climate change.

"These supports should also be included in the post-2020 contributions of developed countries," said Su Wei, director of the department of climate change with the NDRC.