Download china`s position

CHINA’S POSITION
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China has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the U.N.-backed treaty that spells out
countries' duties in fighting climate change. As a developing country, China is not
required by the Protocol to set binding targets to control greenhouse gas
emissions. But the United States and other countries have said China should set
more specific goals in the successor to Kyoto from 2013.
China has not set specific domestic targets for controlling greenhouse gas
emissions. But it has set energy efficiency goals that officials say show the
government's commitment to tackling CO2 emissions (a 2006-10 plan aims to
reduce energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent).
China has said many times global warming has been caused by the greenhouse
gas emissions of wealthy economies, and they should take the lead in cutting
emissions, giving developing countries room to develop and expand emissions in
coming decades.
China says industrialized nations should transfer much more green technology to
poorer nations as part of a new climate change pact, and has urged rich nations to
commit one percent of their economic worth to help poor nations fight global
warming.
Beijing also wants rich countries to commit between 0.5 and 1.0 percent of their
GDP to help developing countries address climate change.
The United States, with 5 percent of the world's population, is responsible for
about 30 percent of the world's cumulative carbon dioxide emissions. China, with
one-fifth of the world's population, accounts for about 8 percent of the emissions
already in the atmosphere.
The average American accounts for 20 metric tons of carbon emissions per year,
compared to 10 for the average European and around 5 for the average Chinese.
UNITED STATES’ POSITION
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The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation that would cut U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2010 and 83 percent by
2050.
o It is unclear whether the U.S. Senate will pass similar legislation before
countries meet in Copenhagen in December to try to strike a new global
climate treaty.
A bilateral agreement and then clearer emissions undertakings from China would
help overcome any opposition in Congress to the United States joining a
successor to Kyoto.
o "Chinese leaders have to understand that they effect President Obama's
ability to get climate change legislation completed," he said.
The Chinese government continues to subsidize the cost of key sources of energy,
thereby perverting economic decisions
And Subsidies should be provided for industries and consumers (an effort that
also distorts economic decisions and incentives)
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China relies on coal, the most carbon-intensive energy source for over two-thirds
of its energy needs, including about 80 percent of its electricity generation.
POINTS OF CONTENTION
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Who is going to shoulder the cost of research and development
But Beijing has refused to consider caps on its greenhouse gas output, noting that
the nation's average per-capita emissions are much lower than the West's.
China has raised concern about a House provision creating a "border adjustment"
program beginning in 2010 that would set additional tariffs to protect certain
energy-intensive U.S. industries such as steel, cement, paper and glass.
China is resisting pressure from the United States and other developed countries
to agree to a specific cap on its emissions at the December forum in Copenhagen.
China argues it has been industrializing only for a few dozen years, compared to
much longer in the West (nearly 200 million Chinese have moved from rural
areas to cities since 1992 and that rapid migration is expected to continue for at
least another 15 to 20 years).
Industries including cement, steel, petrochemical, power and aluminum needed to
build new urban infrastructure are the biggest source of China's greenhouse gas
emissions.
China has been unenthusiastic about an U.S. and European Union proposal in
world trade talks to eliminate tariffs on solar, wind, water and other clean energy
products that could help reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The House legislation falls short of Beijing's demand developed countries cut
greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.
The Bush administration cited China's refusal to accept emissions caps as one
reason for its refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, whose current phase expires at
the end of 2012.
POINTS OF AGREEMENT
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CO2 emissions can be reduced through energy efficiency standards.
Both China and the United States want to protect their energy-intensive industries.
If China consumed the same total amount of energy as it does today but used the
same energy mix as the United States, its carbon emissions would be 20 percent
lower.
GENERAL FACTS
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China is the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main
greenhouse gas from human activity, outstripping the United States. The U.S. Oak
Ridge National Laboratory has estimated China emitted 1.8 billion tonnes of
carbon from burning fossil fuels in 2007, compared to the United States' 1.6
billion tonnes. But China's per-capita and historically accumulated emissions
remain much lower than those of developed economies.
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China's rapid growth has pushed it into first place as the world's leading source of
carbon dioxide emissions. But the United States, the number two emitter, still has
spewed the most heat-trapping gases into the air over time.
From 1998 to 2006, China's annual carbon dioxide emissions doubled to more
than 6 billion metric tons, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. Over the same period, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions grew much
less rapidly, from 5.6 billion metric tons to 5.9 billion.
The United States and China's greenhouse gas emissions are driven by their huge
appetite for fossil fuels. The United States consumes more oil and natural gas than
any other country and is second only to China in coal consumption. The United
States and China are number one and two, respectively, in electricity generation.
The United States has the world's largest coal reserves and uses coal for 22
percent of its energy needs and 49 percent of electricity generation.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has forecast global average
temperatures could rise 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius (2.0 to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit)
by 2099.