Climate Change: Unconditional Action

A report by China National Radio (CNR) on an international conference on climate change held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday, hosted by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, highlights speeches by the “climate ambassadors” from India, Brazil, Algeria and other developing countries, and focuses on two – those of Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment Juan Elvira Quesada, and Denmark’s Permanent Under-Secretary of State Bo Lidegaard. The report gives an account of the predictable stances – Quesada stating a goal of carbon dioxide by 30 per cent, and the need for technical and economic support from developed countries, Lidegaard emphasizing the need for the developed countries to get past the negative effects of the international financial crises, and China’s UN Under-Secretary for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang (沙祖康) making a harmonious synthesis of their positions:

“As for Mexico and several other countries, they have expressed that we want to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 per cent, provided that there is technical and economic support. As for the developed countries, they are also facing difficulties. As this friend from Denmark has stated very clearly, the financial crisis isn’t completely over yet. Letting developed countries help financially also has its problems, in terms of technology transfer, some intellectual-property matters still need to be solved.”

China National Radio quotes foreign delegates as unanimously saying that China made unremitting efforts to respond to climate change, and the National Development and Reform Commission’s deputy chairman Xie Zhenhua (解振华) as saying that China took action without making conditions, and their contribution to protecting the global climate was also the development of a green economy, therefore meeting the innate demand of sustainable development. Great pressures and difficulties notwithstanding, China would do its utmost to meet the proposed goals.

While CNR’s (domestic) report is focusing on how China will save the world, Xinhua tells the rest of the world which contributions the developed countries must make to help China save the world.

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Related
Koenigswinter Meeting “helpful”, Associated Press, May 4, 2010
Xinhua Correspondents learn from Mark Lynas, Dec 25, 2009
World Media Summit: Be more Xinhua, Oct 10, 2009

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