China rejects mandatory cuts on greenhouse gases

By The Associated Press

BALI, Indonesia: China insisted Friday that it would not consider mandatory cuts on greenhouse gases, saying the United States and other industrialized countries should take the lead in fighting climate change by being less extravagant. China, which some believe has surpassed the United States as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, also questioned the fairness of binding cuts when its per-capita emissions are about one-sixth those of the United States.

It said, too, that it had only been pumping pollutants into the atmosphere for a few decades, whereas the West has done so for hundreds of years. "China is in the process of industrialization, and there is a need for economic growth to meet the basic needs of the people and fight against poverty," said Su Wei, a top climate expert for the government and member of its delegation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali. "I just wonder whether it's fair to ask developing countries like China to take on binding targets," Su said. "I think there is much room for the United States to think whether it's possible to change its lifestyle and consumption patterns in order to contribute to the protection of the global climate." Delegates from nearly 190 nations are attending the gathering, which runs from Dec. 3 through Dec. 14 and is charged with initiating negotiations that will lead to an international accord to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Kyoto, which has not been ratified by the United States, commits three dozen industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gases an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels between next year and 2012, when it expires. After years of dodging the issue and appearing defensive on global warming, diplomats and activists say, China is playing a constructive and positive role at the Bali conference.

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(Jakarta, Kamis 21 February 2008, 07.39 pagi)

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