China’s rising greenhouse gas output illustrates the need for greater global cooperation against climate change, U.S. President George W. Bush’s environmental adviser said Tuesday.
James Connaughton said China had responded positively to calls from the U.S. and others for a global agreement to limit greenhouse gases after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
China’s participation is key because it is believed to have passed, or will soon pass, the United States as the world’s biggest carbon dioxide emitter.
“What that underscores is the importance of us all acting together,” Connaughton told reporters following a series of meetings with Chinese economic, environmental and science and technology officials.
Connaughton said discussions focused on an agenda for upcoming climate change talks at the United Nations and the regional Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum’s summit, as well as a Sept. 27-28 summit hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss “life after” the Kyoto Protocol expires.
Clinching a post-Kyoto deal will likely take several years of intense and difficult negotiations, which are expected to start at a December meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The United States is not a party to the Kyoto agreement and large developing countries such as China, India and Brazil are exempt from its obligations. They have argued that emissions reductions should not be allowed to hurt their economic growth and poverty-eradication efforts.
China overtook the United States as the leading carbon dioxide emitter in 2006, according to a report in June by the independent Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which is paid by the Dutch government to advise it on environmental policy.
Connaughton said the data had not been internationally validated, but said such a conclusion shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Over the weekend, Connaughton visited China’s largest coal methane-fired power plant in the northern province of Shanxi, one of 15 such projects being codeveloped in China by the two nations’ governments.
Officials at both the national and provincial levels are extremely enthusiastic about that technology, which captures methane, a volatile gas that is a contributor to global warning, and converts it into electricity.
BEIJING: China’s rising greenhouse gas output illustrates the need for greater global cooperation against climate change, U.S. President George W. Bush’s environmental adviser said Tuesday.
James Connaughton said China had responded positively to calls from the U.S. and others for a global agreement to limit greenhouse gases after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
China’s participation is key because it is believed to have passed, or will soon pass, the United States as the world’s biggest carbon dioxide emitter.
“What that underscores is the importance of us all acting together,” Connaughton told reporters following a series of meetings with Chinese economic, environmental and science and technology officials.
Connaughton said discussions focused on an agenda for upcoming climate change talks at the United Nations and the regional Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum’s summit, as well as a Sept. 27-28 summit hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss “life after” the Kyoto Protocol expires.
Clinching a post-Kyoto deal will likely take several years of intense and difficult negotiations, which are expected to start at a December meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The United States is not a party to the Kyoto agreement and large developing countries such as China, India and Brazil are exempt from its obligations. They have argued that emissions reductions should not be allowed to hurt their economic growth and poverty-eradication efforts.
China overtook the United States as the leading carbon dioxide emitter in 2006, according to a report in June by the independent Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which is paid by the Dutch government to advise it on environmental policy.
Connaughton said the data had not been internationally validated, but said such a conclusion shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Over the weekend, Connaughton visited China’s largest coal methane-fired power plant in the northern province of Shanxi, one of 15 such projects being codeveloped in China by the two nations’ governments.
Officials at both the national and provincial levels are extremely enthusiastic about that technology, which captures methane, a volatile gas that is a contributor to global warning, and converts it into electricity.
BEIJING: China’s rising greenhouse gas output illustrates the need for greater global cooperation against climate change, U.S. President George W. Bush’s environmental adviser said Tuesday.
James Connaughton said China had responded positively to calls from the U.S. and others for a global agreement to limit greenhouse gases after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
China’s participation is key because it is believed to have passed, or will soon pass, the United States as the world’s biggest carbon dioxide emitter.
“What that underscores is the importance of us all acting together,” Connaughton told reporters following a series of meetings with Chinese economic, environmental and science and technology officials.
Connaughton said discussions focused on an agenda for upcoming climate change talks at the United Nations and the regional Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum’s summit, as well as a Sept. 27-28 summit hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss “life after” the Kyoto Protocol expires.
Clinching a post-Kyoto deal will likely take several years of intense and difficult negotiations, which are expected to start at a December meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The United States is not a party to the Kyoto agreement and large developing countries such as China, India and Brazil are exempt from its obligations. They have argued that emissions reductions should not be allowed to hurt their economic growth and poverty-eradication efforts.
China overtook the United States as the leading carbon dioxide emitter in 2006, according to a report in June by the independent Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which is paid by the Dutch government to advise it on environmental policy.
Connaughton said the data had not been internationally validated, but said such a conclusion shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Over the weekend, Connaughton visited China’s largest coal methane-fired power plant in the northern province of Shanxi, one of 15 such projects being codeveloped in China by the two nations’ governments.
Officials at both the national and provincial levels are extremely enthusiastic about that technology, which captures methane, a volatile gas that is a contributor to global warning, and converts it into electricity.