Spotlight falls on 'big emitters'

The EU has violated principles of the Kyoto Protocol, applying the same emission cutting standards among developed and developing countries and putting pressure on China. The United States also wrestled with China during the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

The EU was not satisfied with America's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol and its lack of responsibility for emissions reductions, so the Copenhagen Summit came as an opportunity for Europe to put pressure on the United States. Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, promised that the EU would provide 7.2 billion Euros (US$10.3billion) of financial support in the next three years and asked the U.S. to do the same. Confronted with pressure from the EU and developing nations, the United States finally agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent in 2020 compared with 2005 and provide 10 billion dollars of special fund to the least developed countries each year. During the climate summit, the EU led the United States in terms of morality.

China has been targeted by the EU as another "big CO2 emitter". Sarkozy commended China for its commitment to cut emissions by 40-45 percent, but he also maintained that what China had done was far from enough. The EU insisted that China should match developed nations in terms of carbon emissions reduction. This violated the "common but differentiated responsibilities" principle, and so was rightly refused by China. The EU also proposed an "independent inspection system" to monitor China's carbon emission reduction and encourage China to accept binding emissions cutting target. Additionally, the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, also mentioned the transparency of emission mitigation inspection. Evidently the EU and the United States have joined together to deal with China.

The EU states have targeted the big emitters not only because of their desire to shift public attention and relieve pressure on themselves but they had other concerns. The EU orally promoted the climate negotiations, while maintaining that the Kyoto Protocol should be abolished and two-way negotiations should be changed into single ones. Besides, it did not accept the "common but differentiated responsibilities" principle. The EU aimed to urge developing countries to commit to the same binding emissions cutting targets as the developed nations. "Developed and developing countries must accept the binding emission cut targets, and the EU will accept the mid-term emission cut target of 30 percent only if other countries work together," said EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The United States has taken a passive role in the climate talks but also declared all the world major economies must start to reduce emissions intensity and a transparent inspection system should be established. Under these conditions, the U.S. can provide financial aid.

These requirements have not conformed to the basic principles of the Kyoto Protocol, and of course were not approved by the attending parties. The Copenhagen Climate Summit has not born any binding and essential agreement, for which European nations and the United States should be blamed.

The author is a researcher with the Xinhua News Agency's World Issue Research Center.

(This article was translated by Wu Huanshu and Yang Xi.)