Isra-Mart srl:Cancun: China talks up low carbon ambitions

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The second week of the Cancun Climate Summit kicked off today with the Chinese delegation seeking to underline its commitment to curbing greenhouse gas emissions through a series of events designed to promote its low carbon cities plan.

A group of officials representing Chinese city and state governments met today at an event on the sidelines of the Cancun Summit hosted by the Climate Group think tank, in an attempt to highlight the adoption of low carbon growth strategies in a number of China's largest and fastest-growing cities.

"Low-carbon development has become a common concern in China, from top to bottom," said Yi Wang, deputy director-general for the Institute of Policy & Management at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "The state-set target of a 20 per cent improvement in energy intensity sent a strong signal to local districts, and their enthusiasm and ambition to act has equalled if not exceeded that of the central government."

The event also saw the publication of a major new report from The Climate Group, entitled China Clean Revolution Report III: Low Carbon Development in Cities, which details how Chinese cities are pioneering a wide range of technology, policy and planning measures in order to help curb emissions.

In particular, the report provides examples of how city governments are rolling out industrial and domestic energy efficiency measures, investing in low carbon transport projects, and promoting urban renewable energy systems such as landfill gas capture and ground source heat pump systems.

It also predicts that the adoption of China's next five year plan, which is due to be published early next year and is expected to contain a target for reducing China's carbon intensity by 40 to 45 per cent by 2020, will further accelerate the development of city-wide sustainability strategies.

However, the report also warns that the breakneck pace of China's urbanisation will make it extremely difficult for the country to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the medium term.

The release of the report comes as China's chief negotiator signalled that he remained confident "positive results" can be delivered during the second week of the negotiations.

"As long as all parties have sincere political wills, China thinks the talks will eventually achieve positive and meaningful results, and is confident that it will reflect what was laid out in the Bali road map," Su Wei told Chinese news agency Xinhua.

However, he also warned that while China was willing to compromise on a number of relatively minor issues there was "no room for compromise on principles", such as the country's insistence that the Kyoto Protocol be extended.

In related news, the summit's Mexican hosts also attempted to underline their commitment to curbing greenhouse gas emissions after the Mexico City legislature approved a dedicated climate bill late last week that will regulate emissions and establish a city-wide carbon market.

The bill, which was fast-tracked through the legislature to ensure it coincided with the Cancun Summit, establishes a climate change commission for the city, imposes binding emission targets, creates a climate change fund for investment in adaptation and mitigation projects, and authorises the city government to introduce green taxes and incentives.

Jennifer Haverkamp, managing director of international climate policy at the US-based NGO Environmental Defense Fund, hailed the bill as a landmark piece of legislation.

"While nearly 200 nations are struggling to move forward within the UN process, Mexico City is showing that state and local governments aren't waiting on the UN to take real, concrete actions to reduce global warming pollution and protect their citizens from climate change," she said.