Greenhouse-Gas Pledges by China, US May Drive UN Climate Deal
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Pledges by China and the U.S. to setnumerical targets for their greenhouse-gas emissions through2020 may improve chances for a global climate agreement atnegotiations next month in Copenhagen.
China’s cabinet yesterday said it will cut output of carbondioxide per unit of gross domestic product by 40 percent to 45percent from 2005. A day earlier, the U.S. said it will proposea direct CO2 reduction in the same period of about 17 percent,provided the cut lines up with a new domestic climate law.
“The skies are clearing now,” Anders Turesson, Sweden’schief climate negotiator, speaking on behalf of the 27-nationEuropean Union, said in an interview. “We see more clearly nowwhat the negotiations in Copenhagen are going to be about.”
The announcements mean the two biggest emitters ofindustrial pollutants blamed for climate change have spelled outtheir intentions to lower discharges, driving forward the UnitedNations-led negotiations in the Danish capital starting Dec. 7.
The moves “can unlock two of the last doors to acomprehensive agreement” to curb global-warming gases, Yvo deBoer, the top United Nations climate official, said in astatement. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm,welcomed the goals while urging both nations to go further.
Neither proposal is as strong as the EU plan to cutemissions by 20 percent from 1990 through 2020.
The U.S. move depends on Congress passing climate-protection legislation.
China’s targets don’t mean emissions will fall, only thattheir growth should slow. The nation’s economy has more thanquadrupled since 2000 to $4.3 trillion, and if that pacecontinues the country’s carbon pollution will also increase.
Mirrored in Treaty
The pledge is voluntary; China has balked in climatenegotiations at taking on legally binding commitments. Turessonsaid China’s vow should “be quite firmly mirrored in atreaty.”
Premier Wen Jiabao and U.S. President Barack Obama areamong at least 66 leaders who will seek agreement on a frameworkfor an accord to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expiresin 2012. China’s target gives the world’s fastest-growing majoreconomy new negotiating points heading into the talks.
“They’ve done a lot, they deflected a lot of pressure awayfrom themselves and put it back on to the developed world interms of targets,” Trevor Sikorski, a London-based analyst atBarclays Capital. “It’s a pretty smart thing to do and it looksfairly ambitious.”
De Boer has called on all developed countries to commit tolegally binding emissions reductions as part of a new deal tofight climate change. Developing countries must also say whatactions they’re taking, without defining absolute reductiontargets, according to the UN official.
Talks Stymied
Negotiations leading up to the summit have been stymied asricher nations and developing countries disagreed on issues suchas emissions-reduction targets and how much financial helpindustrialized nations should provide to poorer ones.
“Developed countries should take the lead in cuttingemissions significantly,” Xie Zhenhua, China’s top climatenegotiator, said yesterday at a news conference in Beijing.
China and India have said industrialized countries must bewilling to cut their carbon output 40 percent from 1990 levelsby 2020 if they expect poorer nations to agree to long-termreduction goals.
The U.S. pledge is contingent on a deal in Copenhagenincluding “robust mitigation contributions from China and theother emerging economies,” the White House said in a statement.
That pledge amounts to a reduction of about 5 percent from1990 levels. The EU has said it’ll cut emissions by 20 percentover three decades and that it’ll ramp that up to a 30 percentreduction if an ambitious global deal is reached.
Stalled in Senate
“On the U.S., we note that of course the figure for 2020is insufficient,” Sweden’s Turesson said. “We hope that theinsufficient numbers for 2020 could be complemented by otheraction such as measures in forestry.”
The White House said the U.S. intends to reduce emissionsby 30 percent from 2005 levels in 2025 and a 42 percent cut by2030. Legislation backed by Obama to cut greenhouse gases andestablish a market for the trading of pollution allowancespassed the House in June, then stalled in the Senate.
At the last round of UN talks in Barcelona this month, theUN’s de Boer said a legally binding deal won’t be possible inCopenhagen, and a political agreement must be reached that overthe following year can be translated into a treaty.
Aside from the U.S. and China, other countries to comeforward with greenhouse-gas reduction offers this month includeSouth Korea, Brazil and Russia.
“It is clear to the world: the Copenhagen deadlineworks,” said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister who willchair the talks. “All across the globe, things are moving.”
To contact the reporter on this story:Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 26, 2009 18:00 ESTSource: Bloomberg
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