Before the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, China broke off from its previous insistence on the principle of common but differential responsibility as enshrined by the Kyoto Protocol. Instead, China announced unilaterally and unconditionally that it is going to reduce carbon emission by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2020 based on the 2005 level.

Coming from the biggest developing country still struggling to improve the living standard of its 1.3 billion people, that is not easy. It is also an endeavor no other country ever has tried before, and a Herculean challenge. This tremendous act of moral courage and goodwill was not reciprocated by the advanced countries, leading to a near breakdown of negotiations in the conference.The Copenhagen Accord that emerged is a mild compromise that everybody agrees will not achieve the target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, and poor nations will not get enough funding from advanced economies to deal with the impact of climate change and to develop clean energy.

Nevertheless, any deal, no matter how small, is better than no deal at all. This view is echoed by China, the United States and the United Nations as well as the great majority of the 194 odd participating countries and regions. The agreement will pave the way for another year of negotiations to iron out myriad issues leading to the next major UN climate conference in Mexico City in 2010.

There are two major lessons we can draw from the Copenhagen Summit. Number one, a deal is always better than no deal, moving forward is better than standing still, and a compromise, even a last-minute one, will end the deadlock and save the day. We should apply what we learn from this example to the constitutional development debate that we are now confronting. There is always room to maneuer and to compromise within the framework laid down by the Basic Law and the decision of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

Another lesson is that Hong Kong as an advanced economy has previously piggy-backed on China's developing nation status with its emission target waived. Now that China has committed to a very high target of 40 percent to 45 percent reduction by 2020, Hong Kong cannot shy away from our national commitment. We will have to think seriously about how we can achieve this high target and take immediate steps to implement a coherent action plan.

The author is a member of the Commission for Strategic Development

(HK Edition 12/29/2009 page1)