China and India formally agreed on Tuesday to join the international climate change agreement reached in December in Copenhagen, the last two major economies to sign up.
The two countries, among the largest and fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, submitted letters to the UN agreeing to be included on a list of countries covered by the Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding statement reached at the end of the contentious and chaotic 10-day conference.
China and India join nearly 200 countries that have signed up under the accord, which calls for limiting the rise in global temperatures to no more than 2ºC beyond pre-industrial levels.
PHOTO: AFP
The agreement also calls for spending as much as US$100 billion a year to help emerging countries adapt to climate change and develop low-carbon energy systems, to bring energy technology more quickly to the developing world and to take steps to protect tropical forests from destruction.
The 192 countries gathered at the Copenhagen climate meeting did not formally adopt the accord, but merely voted to “take note” of it. The inclusion of China and India has only a minor practical effect but will provide a boost for the agreement’s credibility.
“After careful consideration, India has agreed to such a listing,” Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told parliament in New Dehli on Tuesday. “We believe that our decision to be listed reflects the role India played in giving shape to the Copenhagen Accord. This will strengthen our negotiating position on climate change.”
Ramesh confirmed India’s action in an e-mail message.
China also sent a letter on Monday to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the body responsible for international climate negotiations, stating its intent to join the Copenhagen Accord.
China’s chief climate change negotiator, Su Wei (蘇偉), submitted a single-sentence letter saying that the UN “can proceed to include China in the list of parties” signed up under the accord.
Todd Stern, who leads the US climate change negotiating team, said he was pleased to see China and India sign on.
“The accord is a significant step forward, including important provisions on mitigation, funding, transparency, technology, forests and adaptation,” Stern said by e-mail.
Analysts who have studied the pledges find that they fall short of the overall goal of the agreement, but would make a substantial dent in the greenhouse gas emissions.
China has said it will try to voluntarily reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide per unit of economic growth — a measure known as “carbon intensity” — by between 40 percent and 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels. India set a domestic emissions intensity reduction target of between 20 percent and 25 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels, excluding its agricultural sector.
The US pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 17 percent by 2020 compared with 2005, contingent on US Congress enacting climate change and energy legislation.
Meanwhile, a senior Chinese official told the US yesterday to make stronger commitments on climate change and provide environmental expertise and financing to developing nations.
Xie Zhenhua (謝振華), who was China’s top negotiator at the Copenhagen talks, acknowledged the current US administration’s greater stress on greenhouse gas reductions, but said its pledges thus far fall short of expectations.
“So we hope the United States will do more ... we hope the United States will not shift the responsibility for taking more active action to other countries,” Xie told a news conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress.
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