China proposes climate change partnership to the European Union
23 March 2010, Brussels, Belgium
On 22 March 2010, China's Chief Negotiator on Climate Change Su Wei met with EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard to offer a constructive partnership towards the UN Climate Change Negotiations in Mexico next December (COP 16). He urged Europe to maintain its leadership within the ongoing climate talks and to put pressure on other developed countries that have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol to make comparable emission cuts.
"The EU wants to maintain a leading role and it should maintain it," said Wei, "but it should do so under the Bali Roadmap". He stressed that countries should continue negotiations under the two-track approach whereby rich countries maintain their legally-binding emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and other countries make comparable efforts along the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) track. Furthermore, he underlined the need to implement the Copenhagen Accord with political consensus between all parties to sustain the political momentum on fighting climate change.
- The exterior solar wall of Diangu Jinjiang International Hotel, the landmark of Baoding’s “City of Solar Power” © City of Baoding
Mr. Wei expressed his hope that the EU would stick to its commitments of 20% emission reductions by 2020 and even raise its target to 30% in case the US states its target. He noted that unless the US comes up with a legally-binding emission reduction target, the outcome of the Cancún climate conference will be difficult to predict.
Furthermore, he said he was convinced that the EU would be able bridge the gap between developed and developing countries, which could result in trust and solidarity and eventually lead to a new global deal. "The EU, united with developing countries, should jointly prompt the US to come up with more vigorous efforts”.
In June 2009, the US House of Representatives narrowly passed a cap-and-trade bill that would require reductions in industrial greenhouse gas emissions and would allow pollution permits to be traded within an emissions trading scheme similar to the European one. But the global warming bill is stuck in the Senate, where some members have been trying to find a compromise.
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