CHINA SIGNALS CLIMATE OFFER

Published on December 14, 2009 by brooks | This story has been viewed 52 times

China signalled yesterday that it had abandoned its demand for funding from the developed world to combat climate change, the first apparent concession by one of the major players at the Copenhagen climate talks.

However, in the same interview with the Financial Times, the most senior Chinese negotiator accused rich countries of preparing to blame a failure at Copenhagen on Beijing.

As the talks entered their critical final week, He Yafei, Chinese vice-foreign minister, said financing from rich countries should be directed to poorer countries.

“Financial resources for the efforts of developing countries [to combat climate change are] a legal obligation,” he said. “That does not mean China will take a share – probably not

“We do not expect money will flow from the US, UK [and others] to China.”

China has committed to cut its emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 per cent by 2020 but had hitherto demanded financing from the developed world to help it achieve this.

Rich countries, particularly the US, want China and other poor countries to agree to make their commitments on emissions binding internationally and “measurable, reportable and verifiable”, which would enable them to ensure that the necessary measures to cut emissions were taking place.

“We don’t need developing countries to guarantee the outcome of their measures [to cut emissions], but we need the measures to be [verifiable],” one developed country official said.

Mr He, in a sign of the tensions still surrounding the negotiations, insisted this could not be done.

“This is a matter of principle,” he said, and China would not bend them.

But he argued that if the talks foundered as a result, it would be because developed countries had failed to compromise on the issue.

“China will not be an obstacle [to a deal]. The obstacle now is from developed countries,” he said. “I know people will say if there is no deal that China is to blame. This is a trick played by the developed countries. They have to look at their own position and can’t use China as an excuse. That is not fair.”

He said China would stick by its promises. The fact that it would not be bound internationally would “not mean China will do less”, Mr He said.

More than 100 world leaders, including US president Barack Obama, are due to join the talks on Thursday in bid to resolve the outstanding differences.

Developed country governments are seeking a compromise, citing China’s adherence to international monitoring and reporting standards on other issues as the key to a possible arrangement by which China and other developing nations could be seen to stand by their commitments.

Mr He played down divisions that have emerged within the G77 group of developing countries, some of which have opposed China in asking for a deal that could lead to developing countries being legally bound. “You may hear different voices among developing countries,” he said. “That is natural. Countries have unique circumstances and we understand that.”

He added that it was “laughable” for developed countries to set a target for financial assistance to the developing world for the next three years but not beyond.

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