China sticks to its guns on emissions ahead of G8 meet

BEIJING (AFP) — China said Thursday it was eager to discuss "long-term goals" on fighting climate change at the G8 summit but stuck to its position that rich nations must lead on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.



"We are ready to discuss the establishment of a long-term global goal to cope with climate change including sustainable development, emissions reductions and efforts to tackle climate change," said Chinese official Su Wei.



But Su, head of the climate change department in China's top economic planning agency, gave reporters no specifics.



China and the United States are the world's top sources of the industrial and other emissions blamed for global warming, an issue expected to top the agenda at the G8 meeting next week in Japan.



But Su and other Chinese officials repeated Beijing's position that China and other developing nations were the "victims" of climate change caused by the long-term emissions of developed countries.



"Actually, developing countries are innocent and they are the biggest victims of climate change," Su said in a briefing on China's position ahead of the summit.



UN chief Ban Ki-moon said last week he would press Group of Eight leaders at the summit to tackle climate change, along with other major issues such as the world food crisis.



Japanese media this week quoted President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who also will attend meetings surrounding the summit, as urging developing countries to join rich nations in setting targets for emissions cuts.



China has long resisted such calls, saying its relatively low per capita emissions and emergence only recently as a major source of greenhouse gases should exempt it from drastic actions.



Su deflected repeated questions about whether China would commit to targets in emission cuts.



China's greenhouse gas output has soared in recent years as its largely coal-powered economy has expanded at double-digit pace.



Chinese President Hu Jintao, who will attend meetings at the summit, last month urged renewed efforts to curb global warming, stressing "time is limited" in finding solutions to the problem, according to state media.

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