President Hu of China threw his country's weight behind the campaign to fight climate change today when he promised to reduce the carbon intensity of his country's economic growth.
Mr Hu, addressing a UN summit shortly after an appearance by President Obama, said that China would reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced for each dollar of national economic output by a “notable margin” by 2020 from 2005 levels. He gave no specific "carbon intensity" targets.
About 100 world leaders joined the summit – the highest-level conference on climate change ever held – to hear a call from Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, for the pace of negotiations to be stepped up before the Copenhagen summit in December.
“Failure to reach broad agreement in Copenhagen would be morally inexcusable, economically short-sighted and politically unwise,” Mr Ban said. “We cannot go down this road. If we have learnt anything from the crises of the past year, it is that our fates are intertwined."
Mr Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, broke with the international consensus and dismissed the Kyoto treaty, which the United States signed but never ratified.
Since he came into office in January Mr Obama has sharply shifted course and declared climate change to be a priority. In today's speech, his first address from a UN platform, he echoed Mr Ban's warning on the need for urgency.
“Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it – boldly, swiftly, and together – we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe," he said.
Source:The times
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