The war of words between Chinese and U.S. negotiators at the Copenhagen climate change conference continues. From the Christian Science Monitor:
Perhaps the most visible disagreement so far is the one between the US, the world’s current economic superpower and China, its likely successor. The US has proposed cutting its emissions to around 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, with additional cuts to follow at regular intervals through 2050. China’s top negotiator, Su Wei, dismissed the offer, saying “the figures can not be regarded as remarkable or notable.”
In defending the Obama administration’s numbers on Wednesday, the president’s special envoy on climate, Todd Stern, acknowledged China’s strides toward greener economic development and accepted that the country is in a different stage of development then the US.
But Bejing’s offer to reduce its energy intensity by between 40 to 45 percent by 2020 doesn’t square with what’s needed, he explained.
“By 2020, [China’s] emissions will be 60 percent larger that the United States; by 2030 they’re going to be 80 percent larger than the United States,” he said. “Emissions are emissions. You’ve just got to do the math. This isn’t just a matter of politics, or morality, or anything else. It’s just math. You cannot get the kind of reductions that we need globally if China’s not a major player. That’s the reality.”
See also “U.S. Climate Negotiator ‘Lacks Common Sense,’ Chinese Diplomat Says” from the New York Times and “US rules out funds for China effort” from the Financial Times. Green Leap Forward is also continuing their daily updates.
For more general discussions of the issues being confronted at the conference, see: “U.N. Draft Emissions Proposal a Nonstarter for U.S. Climate Negotiators” from the New York Times and “Do Rich Nations Owe Poor Ones a Climate Debt?.”
