China gets tough with its climate change proposals

China wants developed nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels within 11 years and also commit 0.5-1.0% of their annual economic worth to subsidizing emissions cuts in poorer countries, the Financial Times reported. Beijing’s hardline demands, revealed on Thursday, include provisions that developing countries should curb emissions on a voluntary basis and only if this fits in “with their national situations and sustainable development strategies.” The proposals were privately dismissed by Western officials as merely jockeying for position ahead of formal negotiations, which begin in Bonn on June 1. However, some other developing countries have made more extreme demands. It is hoped an agreement on a successor to the Kyoto protocol can be reached at a final summit in Copenhagen in December. China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, wants financial assistance and technical support in making emissions cuts, which it says would cost US$146 billion per year.