China Wednesday urged developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions substantially and help developing countries to tackle climate change to ensure a successful outcome for the United Nations meeting on climate change in Copenhagen at the end of this year.
Yu Qingtai, China's top envoy on climate change, Wesdnesday called on developed countries to meet targets on substantive emissions cuts, which call for at least 40 percent cuts below 1990 levels by 2020.
"This target is fair and reasonable." Developed countries were expected to take actions to shoulder their due responsibilities, Yu said.
Technology transfer, provision of funds and support of capacity building by developed countries for developing ones are the former's obligations required by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yu said. "Effective institutional arrangements should be made to ensure developed countries fulfill their commitment."
Developing countries, with financial and capacity-building support from developed countries, could take appropriate measures to adapt to and alleviate the effects of climate change according to their own national conditions, he said.
Yu said only slow progress had been made in international climate change talks since the drawing up of the Bali Roadmap.
The 2007 Roadmap set a two-year deadline for a global agreement on climate change and pledged to complete a new UN treaty at a Copenhagen meeting in December to continue after the Kyoto Protocol's expiry in 2012.
Yu said all members of the international community should honor their commitment.
China would continue to work with other countries and play a constructive role in contributing to the Copenhagen meeting's success, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2009)
