COP-17: US and China tussle over climate change agreement
IT WAS surprising that China’s proposal to the Durban-hosted United Nations climate change talks that end on Friday was not being seen as a step forward, said World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International’s Samantha Smith today.
The US, the world’s largest economy and second-largest emitter of gases linked to climate change, has repeatedly said it will not sign up to any legally-binding treaty unless China and other major industrialising nations are willing to do so too.
Ms Smith said her understanding from WWF translators and Chinese members was that China had indicated willingness to take on legally-binding commitments if certain conditions, including money from the Green Climate Fund, were met. China is the world’s largest “greenhouse” gas emitter and its second-largest economy.
China’s delegation leader Xie Zhenhua said yesterday the Kyoto Protocol needed to continue beyond its first commitment period, and that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s commitments needed to continue.
China, as a developing country, is not legally bound to diminish greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 protocol. It has pledged, under the convention, to diminish emissions.
“We are looking at China and India, countries that still have millions living in poverty, to solve a climate problem created by the developed world,” said Ms Smith.
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