[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
China makes landmark pledge to curb CO2 emissions
Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:55am EDT
By Paul Eckert and Claudia Parsons
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday promised to put a "notable" brake on the country's rapidly rising carbon emissions, but dashed hopes he would unveil a hard target to kickstart stalled climate talks.
The leader of the world's biggest emitter told a U.N. summit that China would pledge to cut "carbon intensity," or the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each dollar of economic output, over the decade to 2020.
His promise is a landmark because China had previously rejected rich nations' demands for measurable curbs on its emissions, arguing that economic development must come first while millions of its citizens still live in poverty.
"It's still a very significant step -- a Chinese leader standing on that platform and saying China will make a mid-term carbon intensity target," said Yang Ailun of Greenpeace China.
"We should think of this as a clear signal that China wants to de-couple carbon emissions from economic growth," she said.
But without a firm figure attached, the offer to reduce emissions intensity may not be enough to rekindle faltering talks on a new global deal to tackle climate change.
Hu said only that carbon intensity would come down "by a notable margin by 2020 from the 2005 levels," which still leaves Beijing and other major powers plenty of room for maneuver before final negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
"I didn't hear new initiatives so much," said Todd Stern, special envoy on climate change in the United States, one of the most vocal critics of China's emissions policy.
"It depends on what the number is and he didn't indicate the extent to which those reductions would be made."
URGENCY IN BEIJING
Hu's choice of a global stage to answer rich nation demands that China take stronger, verifiable steps to control carbon dioxide output is a sign of how rapidly climate change has risen up the agenda in Beijing.
China's geography has made it particularly vulnerable to the effects of a warming world, from droughts to flooding and rising sea levels. Beijing also worries about energy security and severe pollution from burning fossil fuels.
But Xie Zhenhua, China's top environment official, added to the sense that Beijing might weigh other nations' commitments before deciding how strong a target to take on.
"After further study and discussion, we should be able to announce a target soon," he said in New York.
He said the target would be based in part on a long-standing promise, repeated by Hu in his speech, to get 15 percent of China's energy from renewable sources by 2020 and an existing commitment to significantly cut energy use per dollar of GDP.
The government currently aims to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by about 20 percent by 2010 compared to 2005 levels, a step it says will save more than 1.5 billion metric tons of CO2 from being emitted.
But China's emissions are still expected to keep growing.
Last month, Germany's IWR Institute said China's CO2 emissions in 2008 were the world's highest at 6.8 billion metric tons, about a fifth of all of mankind's emissions.
A Chinese think-tank said this month that even if China adopted aggressive steps to promote carbon-capture and storage, renewable and nuclear energy, CO2 emissions would still reach 8.8 billion metric tons by 2035.
Under current trends, annual emissions could reach 12.1 billion metric tons by 2050, the think-tank's study said.
"IMPRESSIVE LEADERSHIP"
Nobel laureate Al Gore praised China for "impressive leadership" and said Hu's goals pointed to more action.
"They are very important and we've had ... indications that in the event there is dramatic progress in this negotiation, that China will be prepared to do even more," he said.
Hu also made clear, however, that China had high expectations from the rest of the world, repeating a long-standing request for more support in moving away from dirty growth.
Backed by India and other developing nations, China argues that rich nations emit more per person and enjoyed an emissions-intensive industrialization, so they have no right to demand others do differently -- unless they will pay for it.
"Developed countries should take up their responsibility and provide new, additional, adequate and predictable financial support to developing countries," Hu said.
A carbon target should speed up a planned boost in renewables like wind and hydropower, already financed in part by foreign funds channeled through current schemes to tackle warming.
It will also appeal to those in the financial industry who hope to see China set up a carbon trading scheme, because Beijing will be forced to step up its ability to measure output of the gases, which is key to any market in credits to emit.
But while carbon intensity is a financially viable way to contain emissions growth, if economies expand too fast, even massive improvements in efficiency might not be enough to contain dangerously high output of greenhouse gasses.
(Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner and Emma Graham-Harrison in BEIJING; Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Paul Eckert; Editing by David Fogarty)
[Green Business]
Estonia, Poland win challenge over EU carbon quotas
Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:35am EDT
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Estonia and Poland won their challenges at the European Union's Court of First Instance on Wednesday against their national quotas of EU carbon emission permits for 2008-2012.
"The Court of First Instance annuls the (European) Commission decisions concerning the National Allocation Plans (NAPs) of Poland and Estonia for greenhouse gas emissions allowances," the court said in a statement.
A spokeswoman said the Commission would not comment until it had fully studied the judgment.
Poland had proposed the European Commission granted it permits for 284.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year but received 208.5 million, a 27 percent cut.
Estonia had proposed it receive permits for 24.4 million tonnes a year but received 12.7 million, a 48 percent cut.
"By imposing, in its review of NAPs, a ceiling on emission allowances to be allocated, the Commission exceeded its powers," the court said in a statement.
EU member states alone have the power to take final decisions fixing the quota, which is then distributed among national industries, it reasoned.
The Commission only has restricted powers to review the quotas and it was wrong to dismiss the proposals by Estonia and Poland solely on the grounds that it doubted the reliability of their data.
It also exceeded its powers by replacing the data with its own, the court added.
The European Commission now has two months to appeal at the European Court of Justice.
(Reporting by Michele Sinner and Michael Szabo, writing by Pete Harrison; editing by James Jukwey)
[Green Business]
China makes landmark pledge to curb CO2 emissions
Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:55am EDT
By Paul Eckert and Claudia Parsons
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday promised to put a "notable" brake on the country's rapidly rising carbon emissions, but dashed hopes he would unveil a hard target to kickstart stalled climate talks.
The leader of the world's biggest emitter told a U.N. summit that China would pledge to cut "carbon intensity," or the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each dollar of economic output, over the decade to 2020.
His promise is a landmark because China had previously rejected rich nations' demands for measurable curbs on its emissions, arguing that economic development must come first while millions of its citizens still live in poverty.
"It's still a very significant step -- a Chinese leader standing on that platform and saying China will make a mid-term carbon intensity target," said Yang Ailun of Greenpeace China.
"We should think of this as a clear signal that China wants to de-couple carbon emissions from economic growth," she said.
But without a firm figure attached, the offer to reduce emissions intensity may not be enough to rekindle faltering talks on a new global deal to tackle climate change.
Hu said only that carbon intensity would come down "by a notable margin by 2020 from the 2005 levels," which still leaves Beijing and other major powers plenty of room for maneuver before final negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
"I didn't hear new initiatives so much," said Todd Stern, special envoy on climate change in the United States, one of the most vocal critics of China's emissions policy.
"It depends on what the number is and he didn't indicate the extent to which those reductions would be made."
URGENCY IN BEIJING
Hu's choice of a global stage to answer rich nation demands that China take stronger, verifiable steps to control carbon dioxide output is a sign of how rapidly climate change has risen up the agenda in Beijing.
China's geography has made it particularly vulnerable to the effects of a warming world, from droughts to flooding and rising sea levels. Beijing also worries about energy security and severe pollution from burning fossil fuels.
But Xie Zhenhua, China's top environment official, added to the sense that Beijing might weigh other nations' commitments before deciding how strong a target to take on.
"After further study and discussion, we should be able to announce a target soon," he said in New York.
He said the target would be based in part on a long-standing promise, repeated by Hu in his speech, to get 15 percent of China's energy from renewable sources by 2020 and an existing commitment to significantly cut energy use per dollar of GDP.
The government currently aims to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by about 20 percent by 2010 compared to 2005 levels, a step it says will save more than 1.5 billion metric tons of CO2 from being emitted.
But China's emissions are still expected to keep growing.
Last month, Germany's IWR Institute said China's CO2 emissions in 2008 were the world's highest at 6.8 billion metric tons, about a fifth of all of mankind's emissions.
A Chinese think-tank said this month that even if China adopted aggressive steps to promote carbon-capture and storage, renewable and nuclear energy, CO2 emissions would still reach 8.8 billion metric tons by 2035.
Under current trends, annual emissions could reach 12.1 billion metric tons by 2050, the think-tank's study said.
"IMPRESSIVE LEADERSHIP"
Nobel laureate Al Gore praised China for "impressive leadership" and said Hu's goals pointed to more action.
"They are very important and we've had ... indications that in the event there is dramatic progress in this negotiation, that China will be prepared to do even more," he said.
Hu also made clear, however, that China had high expectations from the rest of the world, repeating a long-standing request for more support in moving away from dirty growth.
Backed by India and other developing nations, China argues that rich nations emit more per person and enjoyed an emissions-intensive industrialization, so they have no right to demand others do differently -- unless they will pay for it.
"Developed countries should take up their responsibility and provide new, additional, adequate and predictable financial support to developing countries," Hu said.
A carbon target should speed up a planned boost in renewables like wind and hydropower, already financed in part by foreign funds channeled through current schemes to tackle warming.
It will also appeal to those in the financial industry who hope to see China set up a carbon trading scheme, because Beijing will be forced to step up its ability to measure output of the gases, which is key to any market in credits to emit.
But while carbon intensity is a financially viable way to contain emissions growth, if economies expand too fast, even massive improvements in efficiency might not be enough to contain dangerously high output of greenhouse gasses.
(Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner and Emma Graham-Harrison in BEIJING; Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Paul Eckert; Editing by David Fogarty)
[Green Business]
Estonia, Poland win challenge over EU carbon quotas
Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:35am EDT
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Estonia and Poland won their challenges at the European Union's Court of First Instance on Wednesday against their national quotas of EU carbon emission permits for 2008-2012.
"The Court of First Instance annuls the (European) Commission decisions concerning the National Allocation Plans (NAPs) of Poland and Estonia for greenhouse gas emissions allowances," the court said in a statement.
A spokeswoman said the Commission would not comment until it had fully studied the judgment.
Poland had proposed the European Commission granted it permits for 284.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year but received 208.5 million, a 27 percent cut.
Estonia had proposed it receive permits for 24.4 million tonnes a year but received 12.7 million, a 48 percent cut.
"By imposing, in its review of NAPs, a ceiling on emission allowances to be allocated, the Commission exceeded its powers," the court said in a statement.
EU member states alone have the power to take final decisions fixing the quota, which is then distributed among national industries, it reasoned.
The Commission only has restricted powers to review the quotas and it was wrong to dismiss the proposals by Estonia and Poland solely on the grounds that it doubted the reliability of their data.
It also exceeded its powers by replacing the data with its own, the court added.
The European Commission now has two months to appeal at the European Court of Justice.
(Reporting by Michele Sinner and Michael Szabo, writing by Pete Harrison; editing by James Jukwey)
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