UK economist hails China's efforts to reduce emission of green house gas

A United Kingdom (UK) climate change economist on Friday commended China's efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

"I think there is a recognition in China that it will play its part in tackling the problems of global warming through energy efficiency programs, through stopping deforestation and through the move to low-carbon technology," head of the UK Government Economic Service Nick Stern said in Beijing.

Stern's comments came after he held a working group with Chinese climate change and energy policymakers on Thursday.

Stern's two-day visit to China focused on discussing with Chinese couterparts the Stern Review, the most comprehensive review ever into how climate change will affect the global economy.

"On the emission of greenhouse gas, I don't think there is a sense of delay in China. There is a sense of urgency and there is a very practical concern with questions of finance and technology," Stern said.

"The policy challenge of avoiding global warming is an international one and there China does have a very big part to play," he said.

The review contends that unabated climate change will transform the planet and will pose dangers that could cost the equivalent to 20 percent of GDP or more.

In contrast, the cost of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change could be limited to about one percent of global GDP each year, the review says.

The review was commissioned by the UK government in 2005. Chinese economists contributed seven papers.

Source: Xinhua