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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (3rd, R) poses for a group photo with President of the Maldvies Mohammed Nasheed (3rd, L), Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (2nd, L), Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (2nd, R), Grenadian Prime Minister Tillman Thomas (1st, R) and Sudanese Presidential Assistant Nafie Ali Nafie (1st, L) ahead of their meeting in Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, on Dec. 17, 2009.(Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)
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COPENHAGEN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday that China is not obliged to subject its voluntary climate action to international monitoring.
Wen made the remarks when meeting with some world leaders on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate change conference in the Danish capital, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei told reporters.
The Bali Action Plan has clear stipulations regarding whether a country's mitigation action should be subject to international scrutiny, He Yafei quoted Wen as saying.
"For developing countries, only those mitigation actions supported internationally will be subject to the MRV. The voluntary mitigation actions should not be subject to international MRV," Wen said, referring to the scheme requiring national mitigation action to be "measurable, reportable and verifiable."
Negotiators from more than 190 countries are running against time on Thursday to wrap up the 11-day talks, hoping to seal a deal to move forward the global fight against climate change before world leaders meet on Friday.
The Bali Action Plan, adopted by both developed and developing countries in 2007, lays down the basis for the current negotiations.
Disregarding what they have agreed, developed countries are trying to press China to accept international monitoring of its national mitigation action.
The United States said on Thursday it was prepared to join other rich countries in raising 100 billion U.S. dollars annually by 2020 to help developing countries combat climate change, but set a condition that emerging countries including China should accept international monitoring of its mitigation action.
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 17, 2009. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)
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Wen said China's refusal of international monitoring does not mean the country is afraid of supervision.
"It is a matter of principle, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities," Wen said.
As the climate change negotiations dragged on, Wen said the important thing is to take action.
"A dozen declarations are not worth one action, meaning action speaks louder than declaration," the premier said, calling for mutual trust.
"Mutual trust is extremely important. We should not go for suspicion. We should not go for confrontation. We should go for cooperation," he said.
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 17, 2009. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)
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Wen said China will take necessary domestic measures to ensure full transparency and implementation of its national mitigation action.
"As Premier Wen has decided, the mitigation action we have set for China will be fully guaranteed legally, domestically," He Yafei said. "There would be a monitoring and verification regime inside China, which is legally binding in China."
The Chinese government recently announced a plan to reduce the per unit of GDP energy consumption by 20 percent till 2010, and it is poised to put the target into its national social and economic development plan.
Wen said China would also consider dialogue and cooperation with other countries, warning there should be no infringement on China's sovereignty.
"We promise to make our action transparent. We promise the implementation of action," Wen said.
China could consider 2-degree-temperature-rise as long-term goal: premier
COPENHAGEN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- China could consider the two-degree-temperature-rise as a long-term goal to strive for in the international efforts to curb global warming, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here on Thursday during meetings with some world leaders in Copenhagen.
"We can consider having language such as the increase in average global temperature ought not to exceed 2 degree Celsius as a long term goal for us to achieve," the premier was quoted as saying by Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei at a press briefing. Full story
Chinese premier stresses need to stay on dual-track approach in climate talks
COPENHAGEN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday stressed the need to stay on the dual-track negotiation mechanism in UN climate talks when he met some world leaders attending the Copenhagen climate change conference, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said.
"The negotiation under the Bali Road Map has been going on for two years, (and) the two working groups have worked hard and made some progress and achieved some consensus," He quoted Wen as saying at a press briefing on the sidelines of the Copenhagen climate change conference. Full story
China says its mitigation commitments "nonnegotiable,unconditional"
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China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei addresses a press conference during the high-level segment of the United Nations Framework Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, Dec. 17, 2009. (Xinhua/Zeng Yi)
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COPENHAGEN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told some world leaders whom he met here on Thursday that the Chinese commitments on its mitigation actions are "nonnegotiable and unconditional," Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said.
Developed nations' attempt to link developing nations' mitigation targets with their own emissions reduction goals is "not the way to go forward," He quoted Wen as saying at a press briefing here as the Copenhagen climate talks moved into the final summit segment. Full story
Special report: Premier Wen Attends Copenhagen Climate Summit
