EU welcomes China's target on climate

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso on Thursday welcomed the recent climate bids by China and the US ahead of the U.N. conference in Copenhagen.

"We welcome the news - in just the last 24 hours - that the US and China have both indicated what they are prepared to do, in concrete numbers, on mitigation. The US and China are essential players in this negotiation. Copenhagen must not be allowed to fail," said a joint statement issued by the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso on www.se2009.eu.

"At the same time, we must remember our common target: to keep global warming under 2°C to avoid dangerous climate change. The world is now waiting expectantly for an ambitious and comprehensive agreement to emerge. All sides must do everything they can towards that objective," said the statement.

"We are analyzing carefully what the US and China are proposing to bring to the table, and remain in close touch with both delegations," said the statement.

"On the Chinese contribution, we recognize the steps China is taking to tackle climate change, but the proposed targets will be disappointing to some. It remains a positive sign that another major developing country following Brazil and Indonesia is ready to put concrete numbers on the table," said the statement.

"At the EU-China summit in Nanjing on Monday, we look forward to discussing this matter with Premier Wen Jiabao," the statement said.
"We will continue to urge the US, China and all our other partners in this negotiation to go to the outer limits of what is possible in order to find agreement in Copenhagen," the statement said.

"On the US contribution there are a number of positive elements. Although the emissions reduction target for 2020 will be disappointing to some, we note that their proposal entails strong reductions by 2025 and 2030. We recognize the major efforts made by the Obama Administration to transform the US position. We also need to continue to discuss with the US financial support to developing countries' efforts, notably fast start funding from early implementation." said the statement.

The statement finally said that "we hope that both the Chinese and US indications represent the first steps towards steeper reductions. It goes without saying that we also plan to discuss with both China and the US how to turn these indications into an international agreement".

Earlier on Thursday, the Swedish news agency TT and newspaper Svenska Dagbladet both reported the news that China is going to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared with the level of 2005.

By Xuefei Chen, People's Daily Online, Stockholm.