Climate Change Crunch Time

From November 28 to December 9, the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change takes place in Durban, South Africa. Discussions will center on what the international community can do to cope with the increasingly serious climate change. In an article for China Today, Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission, explained China's efforts in carbon emission reduction and its stance at the upcoming conference. His edited views follow:

Climate change is a severe challenge facing humanity in the 21st century and thus the Chinese Government always attaches great importance to the problem. Actively dealing with climate change is China's important strategic policy in its social and economic development. China will make a positive contribution to the world in this regard.

China is a country vulnerable to climate change, deficient in resources and fragile to eco-environment changes. It is a developing country still in the process of industrialization and urbanization. In 2010, its per-capita GDP was $4,700. According to the UN standard, China still has several hundred millions of impoverished citizens. With imbalanced development among different regions and between urban and rural areas, the country is facing multifaceted challenges in developing its economy, while improving people's livelihood and coping with climate change.

Despite these, China has adopted a series of policies and activities to transform its economic development pattern and promote green and low-carbon development, making prominent achievements.

Thanks to the efforts jointly made by the government and people from all walks of life, China reached its energy-saving goals set in its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10). In 2010, China achieved a 19.1 percent decrease in energy consumption per unit of GDP, equivalent to a reduction of 1.46 billion tons of carbon dioxide emission. During this period, China's energy consumption grew at an annual rate of 6.6 percent, while its annual GDP growth hit 11.2 percent. Meanwhile, forest coverage increased from 18.2 percent in 2005 to 20.36 percent in 2010. As a responsible developing country, China has made positive contribution to the global efforts in coping with climate change.

In its current 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) , China sets new goals - compared with 2010, cutting its energy consumption per unit GDP by 16 percent and reducing carbon dioxide emissions per unit GDP by 17 percent by 2015. China has also lowered its annual economic growth expectation to 7 percent in this five-year period. All these efforts fully indicate China's determination in actively dealing with climate change and promoting green and low-carbon development.

An important event in dealing with climate change worldwide, the approaching COP17 in Durban is increasingly attracting the world's attention. The conference should continue the dual-track negotiation mechanism of the Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol and follow the principle of "common but differentiate responsibilities."

Based on the authorization of the Bali Roadmap, we should, on the one hand, implement the consensus reached at the Cancun conference last year and determine the arrangements of related mechanisms; on the other hand, we should continue to negotiate on the issues that were not solved at the Cancun conference so as to achieve further positive results.

China calls for achievements to be made at the Durban conference in the following three aspects:

First, developed countries' targets for absolute quantified emission reduction in the second commitment phase of the Kyoto Protocol should be clearly defined. This protocol is one part of the dual-track negotiation mechanism of the Bali Roadmap, and its first commitment phase will conclude at the end of 2012. This is the most urgent task for the Durban Conference, which has a direct bearing on the success or failure of the conference.

Second, agreement should be reached on the comparable emission reduction commitments under the Framework Convention of the developed countries that haven't ratified the Kyoto Protocol in comparison with those of the other developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol.

According to the Bali Roadmap, the developed countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol should have emission cut indicators under the Protocol, while the developed countries that haven't ratified the Protocol should also make comparable efforts in emission reduction under the Framework Convention. The comparability includes the quality of emission reduction, its coverage and related mechanisms.

In this context, developing countries should also make active efforts in emission reduction and mitigation with the help of financial support and technological transfer from developed countries under the framework of sustainable development. Many developing countries have put forward their emission reduction targets for 2020. The emission reduction and mitigation efforts of developing countries should be recognized under the principle of "common but differentiate responsibilities."

Third, mechanism arrangements in aspects of adaptation, funding, technology transfer and capacity building should be specified and implemented, and the detailed "MRV" (measurable, reportable and verifiable) and "transparency" arrangements that can reflect the differences between developed countries and developing ones should be defined.

Currently, most developing countries have adopted affordable measures to actively cope with climate change, making important contributions to the world environment. However, the international community still does not offer effective support to developing countries in terms of funds and technology transfer.

Only by establishing effective mechanisms and providing new, extra and sufficient support in funding and technology transfer for developing countries can they effectively launch emission reduction and mitigation, and adaptation activities.