China, United States Can Cooperate to Reduce CO2 Emissions

12 June 2009

Documents & Texts from America.gov

By Bridget Hunter
Staff Writer

Related:
 • Remarks by Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change

Washington — Representatives of China and the United States have completed open and candid discussions in Beijing "about what needs to be done on both sides to advance toward a successful outcome" at the U.N. climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern told reporters in Washington June 12.

In this press conference and other interviews with U.S. and Chinese news outlets, Stern expressed confidence in the ability of both countries to work together to resolve the urgent problem of climate change. He said the United States understands that China must continue its economic development to lift many of its people out of poverty, but added the technology is now in place for China to be able to do so in a way that meets international goals for cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Also in the U.S. delegation were John Holdren, the president’s science adviser; Assistant Secretary of Energy David Sandalow; and representatives from the Treasury Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The meetings, which took place June 7–10, included discussions with Vice Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Liu Yandong, National Development and Reform Commission Vice Chairman Xie Zhenhua, Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, Director of the National Energy Administration Zhang Guobao, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs He Yafei, as well as other high-level representatives from the government, academic, and business communities, according to a June 10 statement from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES).

“These meetings were a step in the right direction on the road to Copenhagen and to charting a global path to a clean energy future,” OES said.

“We certainly did not agree with each other on everything,” Stern told reporters, “but I think that we each came away with a better and a clearer understanding of each other’s views and perspectives.”

The Copenhagen talks aim to draft an ambitious global climate agreement for 2012, when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires, and beyond. Officials from 192 countries, including the United States, will participate. (See “Climate Change ‘Clear and Present Danger,’ Secretary Clinton Says.”)

The Kyoto Protocol, an addition to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, in force from 2005 to 2012, established legally binding commitments for reducing CO2 and other greenhouse gases produced by industrialized nations and general commitments for all member countries. Several developed nations, including the United States, declined to ratify the agreement.

Describing China as a nation that is both developed and developing, Stern said the “stark reality” of climate change is that the world “cannot avoid dangerous levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere without very significant action by China.”

Stern clarified that the United States is not expecting China to make an absolute reduction of its current emissions; rather the U.S. hope is that China will be able, over a period of years, to reduce significantly emission levels from those currently projected if the nation continues “business-as-usual” operations. He cited a “general range” of emissions, with 445 to 460 parts of carbon dioxide per million parts of air as a desirable target.

“I am quite sympathetic to the challenge that the Chinese are facing,” Stern said. “When we were industrializing, nobody told us how many — how much we could put up into the air, because nobody understood it at that point. … They do have a different challenge, and not only them but other developing countries. And yet there’s no choice; it’s got to be done. So that’s what’s hard. That’s what makes this a really difficult but quite critical issue.”

Additional information about the challenges posed by climate change is available on America.gov’s Energy and Environment page.