China firmly rejects excessive emission reduction targets at the UN climate conference

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China firmly rejects excessive emission reduction targets at the UN climate conference. On the 12th, the highlight of this UN Climate Change Conference—the high-level meeting—began. 　　Xie Zhenhua, head of the Chinese delegation and deputy director of the **National Development and Reform Commission, delivered a speech at the meeting. After the meeting, he held a press conference for Chinese journalists, reiterating China’s position and sharing his views on the progress regarding technology transfer at this conference. 　　At the meeting, Xie Zhenhua emphasized that discussions on international cooperation to address climate change after 2012 should continue under the \"dual-track approach\". “We hope to establish a long-term dialogue mechanism to negotiate and determine the emission reduction targets for developed countries after 2012 by no later than 2009, ensuring that there is no gap between the first and second commitment periods. ”He said, “At the same time, we hope that by 2010 at the latest, a framework mechanism for the next phase of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be established, ensuring that developed countries that have not joined the protocol are also required to meet quantified emission reduction targets. We also hope that developing countries, with financial and technical support, will take proactive measures to address climate change.” ” 　　Regarding the repeated requests from some developed countries to include \"major developing countries\" in the absolutely quantified emission reduction targets, Xie Zhenhua rejected them outright. He said bluntly, \"When they talk about the main developing countries, what they actually mean are China, India, and Brazil – there’s no need to be shy about it.\" We must say that China’s goals set for now, such as reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20% by 2010 compared to the 2005 level, are very clear. The key now is for developed countries **to set goals and achieve them. ” 　　By the time the conference came to an end, all parties failed to reach an agreement on issues that are of utmost concern to developing countries, such as \"technology development and transfer\". This means that this issue can only be postponed until next year. In response, Xie Zhenhua said, “I hope that the mechanism for technology transfer can be established as soon as possible; this is an issue that all developing countries urgently need to address.” ” 　　If a product is manufactured in China by a foreign company and then exported around the world, then who is responsible for the carbon emissions generated in manufacturing that product? This issue came to the fore when China’s rapid growth in energy consumption and carbon emissions came under criticism. 　　At this United Nations Climate Change Conference, a research finding published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed that about one-quarter of China’s primary energy consumption and the greenhouse gases it generates are attributable to products exported to developed countries. This view was also endorsed by some of the participants. 　　Has become a major net exporter of embedded energy  “China has now become a major net exporter of embedded energy.” ”Recently, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released a research finding at a conference. 　　The so-called “embedded energy” refers to the total energy consumed throughout the entire process of a product’s upstream processing, manufacturing, and transportation. Due to China’s large trade surplus, it has a quite substantial net export value of \"embedded energy\". Researcher Pan Jiahua from the Center for Urban Development and Environment at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences explained that in 2006, China’s net export of \"embedded energy\" amounted to 630 million tons of standard coal, which is equivalent to 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. 　　Pan Jiahua pointed out that the energy-related issues associated with goods imported and exported in foreign trade are often overlooked. It is incorrect to discuss greenhouse gas emissions and reduction obligations based on product production; instead, such considerations should be based on product consumption. 　　Two months ago, a study conducted by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, funded by the UK, also reached similar conclusions to those of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The research findings show that in 2004, carbon dioxide emissions from China’s net exports amounted to approximately 1.1 billion tons. 　　Ou Daimeng, a supporter of the research conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the head representative of the World Wildlife Fund (China), said: “These data show that the developed countries that benefit from goods made in China are also largely responsible for China’s rapid growth in energy consumption and emissions; it is unfair to solely blame China for its emission problems.” ” 　　Developed countries show a trend toward \"outsourcing\" Pan Jiahua told reporters that developed countries are currently lean ing to \"outsource\" more of their manufacturing industries. 　　Some **transfer highly polluting industries to developing countries**, thereby reducing their own emissions. In this way, although individual **s met their emission targets, the total global carbon emissions increased. 　　Among the \"embedded energy\" in China’s net exports and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions, the United States is undoubtedly one of the biggest beneficiaries. A recent study by Carnegie Mellon University in the United States shows that in 2004, the carbon dioxide emissions associated with imported products in the U.S. amounted to 1.8 billion tons, equivalent to 30% of the country’s total carbon emissions for that year. Many of these products come from China. 　　In response, Pan Jiahua pointed out that although, in the short term, developing countries can adopt the professional technologies of developed countries to meet the needs of rapid industrialization, this will lead to problems such as energy supply security and environmental pollution in the long run. 　　To this end, China **has already begun to pay attention to the issue of \"embedded energy\" in exported trade products. Recently, our country has introduced foreign trade policies to restrict the export of high-energy-consuming products, demonstrating its determination to make appropriate sacrifices in terms of trade interests in order to achieve environmental benefits.