Copenhagan Climate Conference

From the Associated Press

China: Climate talks yielded "positive" results
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (left on picture, with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao) praises the outcome of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen for upholding the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" recognized by the Kyoto Protocol.
Associated Press
20/12/2009 10:45
China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, lauded Sunday the outcome of a historic UN climate conference that ended with a nonbinding agreement that urges major polluters to make deeper emissions cuts — but does not require it.

The international climate talks that brought more than 110 leaders together in Copenhagen produced "significant and positive" results, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.

Disputes between rich and poor countries and between the world's biggest carbon polluters — China and the United States — dominated the two-week conference. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand action to cool an overheating planet.

The meeting ended Saturday after a 31-hour negotiating marathon, with delegates accepting a US-brokered compromise. The so-called Copenhagen Accord gives billions of dollars in climate aid to poor nations but does not require the world's major polluters to make deeper cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions.

Yang said the positive outcomes of the conference were that it upheld the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" recognized by the Kyoto Protocol, and made a step forward in promoting binding emissions cuts for developed countries and voluntary mitigating actions by developing countries.

"Developing and developed countries are very different in their historical emissions responsibilities and current emissions levels, and in their basic national characteristics and development stages," Yang said in a statement. "Therefore, they should shoulder different responsibilities and obligations in fighting climate change."

He said the conference also created a consensus on key issues such as long-term global emissions reduction targets, funding and technology support to developing countries, and transparency. He did not go into details.

"The Copenhagen conference is not a destination but a new beginning," Yang said.