Japan, China differ on how to treat Copenhagen pact in future talks

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TOKYO, April 12 Kyodo -
Japan and China remained apart Monday on how to treat a major climate accord
brokered by global leaders during the last U.N. climate conference in December,
especially over whether the accord should serve as a basis for a new global
framework to combat climate change beyond 2012, a Japanese official said.
Despite the difference in their views, Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa and
Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform
Commission, agreed that Tokyo and Beijing should deepen partnership among
policymakers and working-level officials to jointly curb greenhouse gas
emissions through such means as technology transfer.
The two met at the Environment Ministry.
The last U.N. conference in the Danish capital failed to adopt the Copenhagen
Accord and merely ''took note of'' the nonbinding political agreement, due to
opposition from some countries that had complained about the closed-door
drafting process.
The key accord calls on developed countries to set respective greenhouse gas
emissions cut targets for 2020 and for developing countries to take action to
mitigate climate change.
Ozawa and Xie both expressed their support for the pact, which has been
endorsed by more than 110 countries that are responsible for more than 80
percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, the official said.
While Ozawa said the future U.N. negotiations should be based on the Copenhagen
Accord and that participants should discuss what is missing in the pact, Xie
said China puts emphasis on existing texts that have been worked out by two
U.N. working groups and that elements of the Copenhagen Accord should be
incorporated into those documents, he said.
Since the current commitment period for developed countries to slash greenhouse
gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol will expire in 2012, the U.N.
conference aims to adopt a new legally binding document to tackle climate
change beyond 2012.
Ozawa expressed anticipation that China, the world's biggest carbon dioxide
emitter, will indicate when the country's fast-rising CO2 emissions will likely
peak out. Xie said Beijing needs Japan's technical support in its effort to
have its emissions peak out soon, according to the Japanese official.
China has set a goal of trimming its CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic
product by 40 to 45 percent in 2020 from 2005. Japan has pledged to cut its
greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels.
The next round of U.N. climate talks involving more than 190 countries is
scheduled to be held in Cancun, Mexico, between late November and early
December.
Xie also said the Mexico talks should ensure the openness and transparency of
negotiations to gain participating countries' support, the official said.
==Kyodo
2010-04-12 22:18:52