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By Jia Cheng Although there is still a noticeable lack of progress being made at the UN climate change conference in Cancun, China remains hopeful of reaching substantial achievements, according to Xie Zhenhua, the head of the Chinese delegation, who spoke to the Xinhua News Agency on Sunday. Newly arrived government ministers began talks Monday on specific actions to limit carbon emissions over the next decade, as the UN climate con-ference moves into its decisive final week. Xie, deputy director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said it is possible for the parties to reach a consensus on financial support, technology transfers, adaptation and forestry protection for developing countries, Xinhua reported. Speaking in regard to Japan's opposition to the continuation of the landmark Kyoto Protocol - the cornerstone UN pact on global warming that expires at the end of 2012 - Xie stressed the need to protect the fruits of 20 years of negotiations. "The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding treaty. We hope … the Japanese government continues to play a role in promoting the negotiations on the basis of its past contributions," he told Xinhua. China proposed that signatories of the Kyoto Protocol make their promises on the second commitment period, and that the US make comparable promises under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as developing countries make emission-reduction pledges on their own. "The suggestion has won a lot of support. We hope it can help us find a solution to the emission-reduction issue," Xie told Xinhua. "In the middle of the Cancun talks, an impasse has already arisen, as Japan has insisted it will not extend the Kyoto Protocol, bringing trouble to (the signing of) a new treaty," said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University. According to India's The Hindu newspaper, US Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman and top EU officials met in January to explore a strategy to counter the increasing influence wielded by a bloc of developing countries, which committed to act jointly at the Copenhagen climate summit a year ago. Froman urged the EU to work more closely with the US to counter the increasing influence of developing countries - mainly China and India - the report said. Agencies contributed to this story |
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