With the Copenhagen climate change conference now underway, CNN looks at European calls for China and the U.S. to deliver in terms of carbon emissions reductions:
Final negotiations at the conference “will be mostly about what will be delivered from the United States and from China,” said Andreas Carlgren, the environment minister of Sweden, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
The two countries “together cover half of the world’s emissions,” Carlgren said. “It will be absolutely decisive what they can deliver.”
[…] China announced last month that Premier Wen Jiabao would attend to “fully demonstrate the great importance the Chinese government attaches to this issue, as well as the political will of the Chinese government to cooperate with the international community,” spokesman Qin Gang said in November.
China’s State Council has announced plans “to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit” of gross domestic product in 2020 by 40 percent to 45 percent, compared with its 2005 level, state-run media reported last month.
See also a Reuters factbox: “China’s climate stance at Copenhagen“; a round-up of China-related news from Copenhagen from the Green Leap Forward blog; graphics illustrating carbon emissions by various countries from the New York Times blog; and more news on the Copenhagen climate change conference from CDT.
Update: More from Green Leap Forward: A team of Yale students are attending the conference, where they plan to, “shadow China’s negotiating team, speak with key experts, and report back to GLF on a daily basis.” Their first report is here.
