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China puts economy before climate China unveils climate change plan
(about 2 hours later)
China says its first and overriding priority in tackling climate change is to maintain economic development. China has unveiled its first national plan for climate change, saying it is intent on tackling the problem but not at the expense of economic development.
The remarks come in China's first national plan on climate change. The 62-page report reiterated China's aim to reduce energy use by a fifth before 2010 and increase the amount of renewable energy it produces.
It says that China will cut greenhouse gas emissions by using more wind, nuclear and hydro power, and by making coal-fired plants more efficient. But it also repeated Beijing's view that responsibility for climate change rests with rich westernised countries.
The plan has been released as China's President Hu Jintao prepares to attend a G8 meeting in Germany, where climate change will be high on the agenda. The report comes ahead of a G8 meeting that will focus on global warming.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a new United Nations' protocol on climate change. Germany, which is hosting the meeting of industrialised nations, is calling for a new UN protocol on climate change to replace the Kyoto pact when it expires in 2012.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has told the BBC that rich countries must agree firm targets to reduce emissions. China's role in the debate is crucial, as it is expected to overtake the US this year as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
No firm targets 'Trailblazer'
"The first and overriding priorities of developing countries are sustainable development and poverty eradication," says the Chinese plan. China's new national plan on climate change offered few new targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but outlined how it intended to meet the goals it has already set, analysts say.
President Hu will attend the G8 summit this week This includes the use of more wind, nuclear and hydro power as well as making coal-fired plants more efficient, the document outlined.
"China will continue to actively tackle climate change issues in accordance with its national sustainable development strategy in the future."
It is estimated that some 200 million Chinese are either unemployed or under-employed.
In explaining the plan, the chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Ma Kai, said rich counties who have already industrialised would instead have to do more to tackle climate change.
Mr Ma said they were responsible for most of the greenhouse gases produced over the past century and had the money to tack the problem.
Mandatory emission caps "would hinder the development of developing countries and hamper their industrialisation", he added.
The BBC's Quentin Somerville in Beijing says China's environmental record is a poor one.
It is already the world's second largest emitter of carbon dioxide and is expected to overtake the US later this year.
Beijing has already said it wants to reduce energy use by a fifth by 2010, deal with heavily polluting factories, and increase the amount of renewable energy it produces.
They are a strong declaration of intentions, but so far China has missed almost every environmental target it has set itself, our correspondent says.
Summit
The Chinese plan is likely to come under discussion at the G8 summit, with Germany calling for tougher emissions levels, while the US has stressed technological innovation as a key to tackle global warming.
It will be tragic if we don't take any action UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonIt will be tragic if we don't take any action UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
US President George W Bush has proposed uniting a group of big emitters who would set non-binding targets by the end of next year. But it also stressed that the country's first priority remained "sustainable development and poverty eradication".
But some analysts say this has been interpreted as a way of undercutting other initiatives - for example by the G8 or United Nations. "China is a developing country. Although we do not have the obligation to cut emissions, it does not mean we do not want to shoulder our share of responsibilities," Ma Kai, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said.
Meanwhile Australia - the only other major economic power apart from US not to have signed up to the Kyoto Protocol - has promised to set up a carbon trading scheme to cut pollution. "We must reconcile the need for development with the need for environmental protection," he said, adding that China wanted to "blaze a new path to industrialisation".
Prime Minister John Howard said he would set a target next year for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and also pledged to put in place a carbon trading scheme by 2012. He said rich countries were responsible for most of the greenhouse gases produced over the past century, and had an "unshirkable responsibility" to do more to tackle the problem.
He promised that Australia's carbon trading scheme would be better than those in place in Europe. "The international community should respect the developing countries' right to develop," he added.
'Tragic' The plan is a strong declaration of intentions, but so far China has missed almost every environmental target it has set itself, the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Shanghai says.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the leaders of the world's richest countries to agree firm targets in cutting polluting emissions. Political debate
In a BBC interview, Mr Ban said it was now up to the richest countries to show leadership when they meet in Germany. Climate change is expected to be fiercely debated when China's President Hu Jintao and other industrialised leaders meet in Germany for the G8 on Wednesday.
"It will be tragic if we don't take any action," he said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged them to agree firm targets for cutting polluting emissions.
"My main message is that to galvanise this political will at the leaders level so that we can take necessary action." President Hu will attend the G8 summit this week
The UN secretary-general has made tackling climate change one of his top priorities and called for a meeting of world leaders on the subject in September. In a BBC interview, he said it was now up to the richest countries to show leadership on the issue.
"It will be tragic if we don't take any action," he said. "My main message is that to galvanise this political will at the leaders level so that we can take necessary action."
The UN secretary-general has made tackling climate change one of his top priorities, and called for a meeting of world leaders on the subject in September.
He wants the UN to be in the lead when it comes to agreeing what should replace the Kyoto Protocol, the current agreement curbing greenhouse gases, when it expires in 2012.He wants the UN to be in the lead when it comes to agreeing what should replace the Kyoto Protocol, the current agreement curbing greenhouse gases, when it expires in 2012.
US President George W Bush - whose country is the only industrialised nation apart from Australia not to ratify the protocol - has proposed uniting a group of big emitters who would set non-binding targets by the end of next year.
But some analysts say this has been interpreted as a way of undercutting other initiatives - for example by the G8 or United Nations.