China said yesterday it was committed to fighting climate change but insisted its economic development must come first and that rich nations should shoulder the main burden.
Unveiling its first national strategy report for tackling global warming, China said it would not commit to any caps on greenhouse gas emissions as this would curb the nation's economic boom.
"The consequences of restricting the development of developing nations will be much more serious than the consequences of global warming," Ma Kai (
The report emphasized that China only had a "limited capacity to tackle climate change" because of its huge population, its status as a developing nation and the high percentage of coal in the nation's energy mix.
Nevertheless, Ma said China was genuinely commited to combating global warming and green groups cautiously welcomed the new plan, even though it was mainly a compilation of previously announced policies.
Ma said China's top priorities were to make its economy more energy efficient and to place a greater focus on its environment.
"This process itself will be part of China's contribution to the world's sustainable development and to global efforts to address climate changes," he said.
Chief among the important planks of the strategy, China will boost its energy efficiency -- measured in the amount of energy used per unit of GDP -- by 20 percent by 2010.
The percentage of renewables in China's energy mix will also rise from about 7 percent to 10 percent in 2010.
China will further endeavor to increase its forest cover so that trees soak up more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Environmental groups Greenpeace and WWF agreed that China's action plan was an important step forward because for the first time it set out a comprehensive global warming strategy for the world's most populous nation.
"The Chinese government has set a responsible and positive example for other countries ... to increase energy consumption efficiency and explore a low-carbon development path," WWF International director general James Leape said.
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