CHINA IS SHOULDERING ITS CLIMATE CHANGE BURDEN

Climate change is, first and foremost, an environmental issue, with an impact on the entire global community. But it is also a development issue. Climate change was caused by human development and must be resolved by development.

China has worked hard to adjust its economic structure to improve energy saving and cut emissions. From 1991 to 2005, with national energy consumption rising each year by 5.6 per cent, China sustained an annual economic growth rate of 10 per cent and lowered its energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 47 per cent, saving 800m tons of coal and cutting 1.8bn tonnes of CO2 emissions.

China remains committed to further improvements in both the way it uses existing energy sources and also the development of cleaner energy. By April 2007, the central government had approved 383 projects in wind, hydro and biofuel power generation, and the use of methane gas from coal beds. In total, they will cut emissions by 1bn tonnes. From 1980 to 2005, another 5.1bn tonnes was absorbed through extensive reforestation and better forest management.

Without China's strict family planning policies, the country's population would have increased by 138m people since 1979, resulting in an extra 330m tonnes in emissions. The policy has contributed significantly to easing the world's population expansion and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. In line with various United Nations frameworks and the Kyoto protocol, China has formulated an "action plan" for addressing the issue. The first of its kind for a developing country, the plan will be put into action this year. China has a comprehensive set of policies to take further action, which can be summed up in three steps: lower emissions, more absorption and more recycling.

Per-capita GDP energy intensity will fall by 20 per cent between 2005 and 2010, with CO2 emissions reduced accordingly. We will also act vigorously in developing cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar power, geothermal, tidal, biomass and other renewable technologies, and promote nuclear power with a view to increasing the ratio of renewable energy in the supply of primary energy to 10 per cent by 2010.

China will also address its water problems in light of global warming. The government will properly develop water resources and improve their distribution, including irrigation and conservation, and strengthen the capacity of the water system to resist climate change. China will continue to carry out its family planning policy to control population growth. We will also implement key projects in forestation, including returning farmland to forests and grasslands, and preserving natural forests, with the aim of increasing forestry coverage to 20 per cent of the country by 2010.

On other fronts, China will encourage and support scientific and technological innovation in curbing and adapting to climate change and do more in researching and developing key technologies.

Economic policy will also play a role. China is committed to improving its policies in industry, taxation, credit and investment and to using pricing to make the most of environmentally friendly policies. Such measures will also be backed by a solid legal foundation, with the adoption of the energy conservation law and the law on renewable energy as soon as possible.

The cumulative and per-capita emissions of developing countries so far have been modest compared with those of developed nations. With that in mind, any debate must take into full consideration the right of developing countries to develop and provide space for them to do so.

Take China as an example. From 1950 to 2002, China's CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels accounted for only 9.33 per cent of the global total in the same period. In 2004, its per-capita emission of CO2 caused by the burning of fossil fuel was 3.65 tonnes – 87 per cent of the world average and 33 per cent of that of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

China is committed to addressing climate change in the context of sustainable development, but it should be on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

China stands for active participation in international forums and multilateral co-operation. We have shouldered our obligation and responsibilities in the past, pushed forward the "post-Kyoto protocol" negotiations, and made strenuous efforts in all negotiations. China has also created an environment that has facilitated the progress of many projects under the clean development mechanism.

China also hopes that the developed countries can take the lead in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and provide financial and technological support to developing countries to better meet their needs for technology transfer and co-operation, particularly in climate change observation and monitoring, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change.

We believe that as long as different countries can co-operate with each other on the issue of climate change, their collective efforts can make a greater contribution to the sustainable development of the global economy and humankind.

The writer is the minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's chief economic policymaking and planning agency