Cablegate: Media Reaction: Copenhagen Summit

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P 270949Z NOV 09
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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: COPENHAGEN SUMMIT

TOPIC: Copenhagen Summit

HEADLINES AND EXCERPTS:

"The right move on the climate chessboard"
The independent English-language South China Morning Post had this
editorial (11/27): "In less than a year, China has moved from being
a pariah to an advocate in the run-up to the climate talks in
Copenhagen next month... Unlike the U.S., Australia and the
European Union, it has not declared a target for an outright cut to
carbon emissions, pledging instead to reduce its carbon intensity,
the amount of greenhouse gases it produces as measured against its
economic output. But the commitments Beijing has already made
towards establishing a low-carbon economy have convinced many
doubters that it means business.

"Ed Miliband, the British energy and climate secretary, and Todd
Stern, the U.S. special envoy for climate change, have acknowledged
China's efforts in recent months. This is not just a matter of the
central government seizing the initiative to make sure China is not
diplomatically isolated if the Copenhagen talks fail... The truth
is that Beijing is genuinely scared by what extreme climate change
could do to the nation's farming regions, food supply, the
livelihoods of tens of millions of farmers -- and the threats such
disruptions pose to the rest of the economy.... In the end, though,
Beijing's ability to rein in emissions will ultimately depend on the
nature of the economy.

"It has long relied on industrial investment and exports to promote
economic growth. This tendency has been exacerbated by the massive
stimulus program launched in the wake of the global financial
crisis. A shift towards domestic consumption and services will not
only help rebalance world trade and reduce its massive trade surplus
that has antagonized many trading partners... It will cut emissions
and energy consumption on a sufficiently large scale to reverse
global emission trends. )/LHQQ+[-language Hong Kong Economic Times had
this editorial
(11/27): "No doubt, it is great news to most global
environmentalists that both the U.S. and China, the two top
greenhouse gas emitting countries in the world, support the upcoming
Copenhagen Summit. Behind the scene, it is, actually, an economic
competition between the two... The Chinese government finally
realized climate change has become a matter of 'life-or-death.'
Developing energy efficiency technology, the so called fourth
industrial revolution, has become a key to survive in the coming
decades."

"Green clock starts ticking"

The English-language China Daily HK Edition had this editorial
(11/27): "China's pledge to substantially reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions in the next decade will not only boost the prospects of a
global deal on climate change at next month's conference in
Copenhagen, but also is a clarion call from the world's largest
developing economy that it's going all out to embrace a low-carbon
future. The country will cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of
GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, taking 2005 as the base year. The
government decision, announced yesterday, was voluntary and based on
existing national conditions... If the rest of the developing world
sees that a country like China can thrive by emitting less, they
will find more reason to throw their weight behind a global deal on
climate change. Of course, that decision will also depend on
whether the rich countries keep their promise of transferring
technology and providing financial aid to poor countries to enable
them to fight climate change."

MARUT

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