DEFENDING THE GlOBAL ENVIRONMENT

By+Deng+Yaqing

lima， capital and the largest city of Peru， has welcomed government leaders， scholars as well as representatives of the business and NGO circles from more than 200 countries and regions this December. They will stay in the South American city for a battle of words at the United Nations Lima Climate Conference held from December 1 to 12， paving the way for the 2015 conference in Paris to reach an international community agreement and strengthen efforts in curbing climate change after 2020.

“Humans clearly influence the climate system， and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history，” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change （IPCC） said in an assessment report released on November 2. “Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at Earths surface than any preceding decade since 1850. The period from 1983 to 2012 was likely the warmest 30-year period of the last 1，400 years in the Northern Hemisphere，” said the IPCC.

When meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in February， Chinese President Xi Jinping once again stressed that China has attached great importance to tackling domestic climate change and facilitating emission reduction.

“In this regard， its not that anyone asks us to do it， but we ourselves take the initiative to do it，” said Xi.

“China has been playing an active role in solving problems arising from climate change. It has intensified efforts by setting goals， taking actions and improving efficiency，” said Xie Zhenhua， vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC）.

According to statistics from Chinas Policies and Actions on Climate Change（2014） released on November 25， as of 2013， Chinas carbon dioxide emissions per unit of per-capita GDP had been reduced by 28.56 percent from 2005； and in the first three quarters this year， Chinas energy consumption intensity and carbon intensity further dropped by 4.6 percent and 5 percent year on year， respectively. In 2013， a total of 6.1 million hectares of forest and 2.52 billion trees were planted， surpassing the target for the year.

To achieve the goal of reducing 40 to 45 percent of carbon intensity by 2020， even measures like power rationing were taken in some areas of China in 2009 and 2010， said Xie， who also heads the Chinese delegation at the Lima conference.

Moving forward

According to calculations by the World Bank， from 1990 to 2010， Chinas energy-saving efforts accounted for 58 percent of the worlds total energy efficiency. Moreover， the countrys installed capacity of renewable energy accounted for 24 percent of the worlds total， and its newly installed renewable energy capacity made up 37 percent of the worlds total in 2013， according to the NDRC.endprint

“Though Chinas achievements in energy conservation and emission reduction are here for all to see， its per-capita carbon emission is 40 percent more than the world average，” said Xie， noting that China is still a developing country with an extensive mode of development and imbalanced economic structure， where 200 million people live below the poverty line of $1.5 per day.

Therefore， the negotiations carried out at the Lima conference as well as the agreement to be reached at the 2015 conference in Paris should be based on the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change （UNFCCC）， especially the equality principle， common but differentiated responsibilities and the respective capabilities principles， said Xie.

However， since China has become the biggest carbon emitter and the second largest economy in the world， some foreign experts and media tend to categorize the nation as a developed country and pressure it to shoulder as much responsibility as the developed world in coping with climate change.

“Its an indisputable fact that China is a developing country， which can be easily proved by every aspect of Chinese peoples life. For example， the per-capita meat consumption in Chinas urban area is roughly 60 kg annually， far less than the 120 kg in developed countries， which mirrors its weak agricultural industry and low production efficiency，” said Gao Feng， Special Representative for Climate Change Negotiations， stating his opinion that developed countries always feature strong agriculture.

“Now， the gap between developed countries and developing countries is still very big， and economic growth， social development and poverty elimination are still the main tasks of the developing countries. After 2020， the developing countries will still lag far behind the developed countries in terms of national conditions， development stages and actual ability，” said Su Wei， head of the Climate Change Department of the NDRC， explaining why the common but differentiated responsibilities principle is necessary.

As a matter of fact， when many developed countries reached their carbon dioxide emission peaks， China was far from the biggest emitter， said Gao， indicating that the current problems concerning climate change are mainly a result of the unrestrained emissions of developed countries in the past.

According to the UNFCCC， developed countries should fulfill the obligations of providing sufficient funds for developing countries to cope with climate change. However， the funding negotiations， including those for technology transfer， have made little progress over the past two decades.endprint

At the 2009 Copenhagen conference， developed countries promised to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to the developing world. By now， the Green Climate Fund under the UNFCCC has only raised a little more $9 billion.

Substantial contributions

Following the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Beijing in November， China and the United States issued a joint statement on climate change to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the statement， the United States has set a target of reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 percent below its 2005 level in 2025， while China has pledged to achieve the peaking of carbon dioxide emissions around 2030 and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20 percent by 2030.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon commended the statement， calling it “an important contribution” to a possible agreement at a UN climate conference in Paris in 2015.

According to the agreement reached at the Warsaw climate conference in November 2013， all countries should release their targets in the first quarter of 2015. “China and the United States， the two major greenhouse gas emitting countries， have already released their targets ahead of the schedule， which clearly illustrates Chinas attitude toward promoting a multilateral process，” said Xie.

Since the two countries are at different development stages， their goals are differentiated—Chinas goal is about relative emission reduction， while the United States has to cut its absolute volume. Xie suggested that China should be likely to maintain the level for years after reaching its carbon dioxide emission peak， following the experience of many developed countries.

At the UN Climate Summit held in September， vice Premier Zhang Gaoli， special envoy of President Xi Jinping， proposed Chinas post-2020 action goal to deal with climate change—reducing carbon intensity， increas- ing the share of non-fossil fuels， raising the forest stock， and reaching the peak of its total carbon dioxide emission as early as possible. Beyond that， Zhang announced that China would double its investment in the South-South Cooperation Fund.

Since 2011， China has invested a total of 270 million yuan （$43.99 million） to help developing countries enhance their capacity to address climate change and trained nearly 2，000 climate change officials and professionals from developing countries， according to statistics from the NDRC.endprint

Apart from emission reduction， the development of green energy is also highly significant. By the end of 2013， non-fossil energy generation capacity had accounted for 30.9 percent of the total electricity generation capacity， 4 percent higher than the previous year.

At the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in November 2013， the decisive role of the market was stressed in allocating resourc- es， and a trading system for carbon emissions was put on the agenda. Now， seven provinces and cities are carrying out carbon trading pilot programs， and a total of 13.75 million tons of carbon dioxide worth more than 500 million yuan （$81.47 million） have been traded by the end of October， 2014.

Gao yun， deputy head of the Department of Science & Technology and Climate Change， China Meteorological Administration， said that China is committed to the sustainable development， and other countries should also show their sincerity.

“Developed countries should do what the Bali Roadmap requires and take real actions to cope with climate change，” said Gao.endprint