China should provide details on how it will implement its greenhouse gas limits and offer further proposals commensurate with its status as the world’s largest emitter, European leaders said yesterday.
China promised on Thursday to nearly halve the ratio of pollution to GDP over the next decade — a major voluntary step that came a day after US President Barack Obama promised Washington would lay out plans at this month’s global warming conference in Copenhagen to substantially cut its own greenhouse gas emissions.
China’s plan does not commit it to an overall reduction in emissions, which will continue to increase, though at a slower rate.
Following a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said the Europeans wanted to analyze the figures and find out precisely what measures Beijing plans to put into place and “how it will differ from their business as usual pathway in regards to emissions.”
Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, credited China with pursuing renewable energy and nuclear power as a substitute for coal-burning plants that spew carbon.
However, China’s status as a major source of increase in global emissions means requires Beijing to do more, Reinfeldt said, citing a continuing rise in global temperatures.
Scientists believe a 2°C increase in global temperatures from pre-industrial levels would lead to destructively rising seas and climate shifts that would produce droughts, floods and other severe disruptions.
The announcements by Beijing and Washington add significant weight toward achieving a global agreement, though the Copenhagen conference from next Monday to Dec. 18 is unlikely to produce a binding deal as hoped.
Climate change was among the issues raised in sometimes contentious talks at Monday’s one-day summit between China and the EU, China’s largest trading partner.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
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