COPENHAGEN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China has great expectations for the Copenhagen climate change conference, which must be a success in order to launch measures to avoid calamitous global warming, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said on Sunday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei receives interview in Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, Dec. 13, 2009. He Yafei said on Sunday that China has great expectations for the Copenhagen climate change conference, which must be a success in order to launch measures to avoid calamitous global warming. (Xinhua/Shang Jun) Photo Gallery>>>
Government ministers were arriving in Copenhagen over the weekend to work for an agreement on two draft texts that emerged from a week of discussions at the UN climate talks amid expectations that negotiators from over 190 countries will seal a deal to fight climate change.
"Climate change is a challenge the whole global community faces, failure in Copenhagen climate conference is not an option," He told Xinhua in an interview.
The Chinese official promised that "as a big country, China will do its share, so we've taken a constructive and positive approach in the Copenhagen talks and elsewhere."
Last month, China announced that it would reduce the intensity of carbon emissions per unit of its GDP in 2020 by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels. Later this week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will join more than 100 heads of state and government in Copenhagen to attend a climate summit.
Premier Wen will expound China's policy, action plan and proposals on climate change, he said, adding that Wen's participation demonstrates the importance China attaches to the issue of global warming and the climate talks.
Progress has been made in the first week of talks, but negotiating groups are still wide apart on some key issues, such as emission cuts by developed nations and financial support for developing nations, he said.
At a UN panel of climate, scientists were proposing a 25-40 percent cut in carbon emissions by rich nations by 2020 in order to put global warming under control, but the commitments made so far by developed countries collectively amount to only a 16-18 percent cut, he said.
For funding, UN data put developing nations' needs at 100 billion U.S. dollars annually to cope with the impact of climate change, but rich nations were proposing only 10 billion dollars in the next three years and no mid-term and long-term targets were offered, he added.
"It's time for the developed nations to show their political will and turn their political will into substantial emission reduction targets," the Chinese official said.
He said China is doing no less than other countries, and even better, in combating climate change. He cited China's carbon intensity reduction target, saying China aims higher than developed countries.
Carbon emissions per unit of GDP in developed countries were reduced by 26 percent from 1990 to 2005 and will decrease by 30-40percent by 2020 under their current commitments, but China has pledged a 40-45 percent cut, he said.
"China's efforts are unconditional and not tied to emission cuts by other countries. China has made remarkable contributions to the global fight against climate change," he said.
"China will continue to work with other countries to push for a successful outcome of the Copenhagen conference," he added.
COPENHAGEN, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of climate activists from different countries rallied in central Copenhagen on Saturday to highlight the need for sealing a "real deal" in the UN-led climate change talks.
The rally came as ministers were arriving for the higher segment of the talks that are tasked with achieving goals to avoid irreversible change in climate that scientists warn could be disastrous to the Earth. Full story
BEIJING, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi exchanged views with his counterparts from a number of other countries on the ongoing U.N. Climate Change Conference and bilateral relations during telephone conversations this week.
The countries included Indonesia, Sudan, Australia, Russia, the United States, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. Full story
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday that the current Copenhagen Conference "is an important meeting on climate change," and "the Chinese government hopes to see positive results from the conference."
Liu Zhenmin, the Chinese deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told a group of UN-based Chinese and foreign reporters at the Chinese Mission that "the ongoing Copenhagen Conference is an important meeting on climate change. The international community is full of expectations." Full story
BEIJING, Dec. 10 -- The negotiation process in Copenhagen is very complicated as all parties are trying to coordinate different interests and bargain with each other, Su Wei, deputy head of the Chinese delegation, told the Global Times Thursday during an exclusive interview.
"It's hard to tell whether the negotiations have made any progress," Su said, as the climate summit is moving to the end of the first week of negotiations. Full story
BEIJING, Dec. 11 -- Accusations have become a stark feature at most global talks nowadays, and the ongoing UN climate change conference in Copenhagen does not look like being an exception.
But every participant must understand that there is no easy way out of the existing climate, which entails immediate and adequate global action. Unfortunately, such a shared knowledge of the urgency to act does not guarantee that the international community will be able to strike a meaningful climate deal in the Danish capital. Full story
BRUSSELS, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- European Union leaders on Friday pledged 2.4 billion euros (3.5 billion U.S. dollars) annually from2010 to 2012 to help developing countries tackle climate change.
The pledge was seen as a move to boost the ongoing U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen. Full story
BRUSSELS, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of European Union (EU) members reiterated their stance on climate change at a summit here on Thursday, but failed to put forward the exact amount of a "fast-starting" fund to help developing countries tackle climate change.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeld, whose country holds the current EU rotating presidency, told a press conference that the bloc was committed to showing leadership in fighting against climate change and had made conditional offer. Full story
