What do you think about China's latest comments on climate change?

Question

China will seek to increase cooperation with Asian nations on climate change and will try to freeze its key pollution emissions at 2005 levels, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said Wednesday.

Wen said he would propose an international climate change forum in China next year to improve the region's ability to address global warming.

"China in the next five years will be determined to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent (per unit of GDP) to reduce carbon emissions and will strive to keep carbon emissions at 2005 levels," Wen told journalists.

"China is earnestly addressing climate change because this is an issue facing mankind," the premier said on the sidelines of a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its six dialogue partners.

http://green.yahoo.com/news/afp/20071121/sc_afp/aseansummiteasiachinaenvironmentclimate.html

Answer 1

Very commendable I must say.
When Bush is indecisive he likes other nations to take the lead, in fact China had taken steps to curb pollution 15 years ago by buying up all the coal fuel manufacturers because all the households use coal as fuel for cooking, warming etc. I learnt of this from a manager of one of the main producers who wanted to invest in some italian machinery of which I represented at the time. With all the China bashing going on at the moment, I think we should at least praise them for the effort of curbing climate warming. If Mr. Wen was running for President of the USA, he would give all the others a run for their money.

Answer 2

China talks a big talk, but it's going to be very hard for them to meet those goals. Right now they have a rapidly expanding middle class, which means those people are going to be using more and more things that require electricity/energy. This will lead to more and more demand for energy, and the easiest and cheapest way for them to get that is through coal fired power plants. Around 50 or so coal plants are planned to be build next year alone.

On top of all that, a lot of their industry is not nearly as efficient and clean as ours: "The country's steelmaking, though, is some twenty years behind western standards. Chinese smelters still belch toxic clouds into the sky from their hyperbolic cooling towers, whereas in the UK, Germany and the US--those old industrial dynamos that have learned a thing or two from a hundred years of pollution--steel manufacturers generate electricity from their own exhaust in a process called co-generation."

It would be nice to see China slow it's emissions, but I'm more than a little skeptical that they can. If they can't keep the economy growing at a 10%+ rate, then they may have a revolution on their hands, and the communist government in charge there would rather destroy the earth than lose power.

Answer 3

I hope Bush and/or the next president learn from their example.
BTW, Americans have a large amount of conflicting ideas. I think the Nazi's were pretty limited to opposing anything Hitler thought or said. And New Zealand is spelled Z-E-A-L-A-N-D. If that's what you were getting at. The shows I've seen about them (on the Travel ch) and the movies they've been involved in (that I'm aware of-Babe &
Lord oif the Rings) all swear to their beauty and claim that it's b/c of the care given to the environment-you'd think Bush and the like would get a clue. At least China's getting attention.

Answer 4

It's occurred to China that their coast will also be affected and badly by a rise in sea level. Millions of people will be displaced and China doesn't have any place to put them. It's in their best interest to reduce carbon.

Answer 5

I think that they've got some serious economic problems ahead of them, if their government is to get involved so heavily.

(willoyaboy: There is absolutely NO comparison between the United States and Nazi Germany. The Nazi's, if you didn't know, murdered thousands of innocent people, simply because of their race. When alarmists compare "non-believers" to Nazi's, it's simply a way to say "If you don't believe what I say, and do what I say, you're as bad as a murderer." It's a logical fallacy, thus not a valid argument, it's a lie, it's extremely offending, and it's completely unacceptable.)

Answer 6

china and new ZEEEland will lead the world in climate and global warming fight. USA is the nazi nation of green heaven on earth. If USA keep's it's present policy and doesn't follow china's lead you and I will be endangered in a decade, along with the whole human race. New ZEEEland can amplify the little nice thing's human's can do to make ecology a beautifuyl and wonderful project to keep our blue planet a good place to live, thank you china and new ZEEland.

Answer 7

China is realizing that bankrupting their customers with global warming is not good business. And that conserving energy is just a good idea, period.

But you can expect them to negotiate hard, trying to achieve a competitive edge. It's an opening, not a breakthrough. They're reasonable guys, but not angels.

Answer 8

Talk is cheap. I will wait and see. Up to now, they have done nothing and have said to hell with the rest of the world.

Answer 9

I wish Bush was as far sighted!