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Publish date: December 7, 2010
Written by: Jonathan Temple
News
China originally suggested this at COP15 last year. But the Minister was contradicted by the Deputy Director of China’s National Development and Reform Commission who denied the initiative.
Observers were straining to make sense of the differing comments. Jennifer Morgan, head of the World Resources Institute’s Energy and Climate Program said, “I think that the interesting thing to note is that you had the foreign minister saying slightly different things. That needs to be clarified.”
Alden Meyer, Director of Union of Concerned Scientists, said “ You’re getting slightly different language from different ministers but I read it as a genuine offer to have the pledges they put on the table inscribed in a legally binding manner.”
But realistically, there is little change in China’s basic insistence that any action it takes be voluntary while industrialized countries must make binding commitments. This move also puts some pressure on the US and Japan to show some flexibility in the negotiations.
The top US climate negotiator said Tuesday that China’s hints that it might adopt binding greenhouse gas emissions were not the “game changer” that some have suggested.
The US Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern, said that there was nothing new in the Chinese remarks – they made similar commitments in Copenhagen last year.
“I’ll be perfectly honest – I don’t see anything there” he said. “As far as I can tell, it doesn’t appear to be anything new. It looks like business as usual.” Stern said that he is seeking decisions rather than a legally binding commitment at Cancun. He said the negotiations were “difficult” but said that a result was still possible before the talks conclude at the end of the week.
Jonathan Temple is the director of Bellona USA.
Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.