Hopes of Durban Conference

Can we expect much of the Durban conference that opens on Monday in South Africa?

It seems not. Despite the increasingly serious impact of global warming on our lives, major nations are reluctant to take the big step forward necessary to deal with the challenge of climate change.

The conference in Durban is probably the last chance for countries to agree to continue the pledges they made as part of the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire at the end of 2012.

Since there is no sign of countries creating and signing a new deal in the near future, the efforts of all countries should be focused on extending this protocol, which was signed and ratified by 193 countries in 1997 and has become the foundation for the UN-led global endeavor to fight global warming.

Developed countries must shoulder the responsibility for their historical contributions to global warming, and developing countries need to step up their efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, which will not just contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change, but also help to make their development sustainable.

Of course, it will take time for them to cut emissions by a margin substantial enough to achieve the target of 2 degrees Celsius of warming. Their developed counterparts are in position to help them in this regard by offering both technology and financial aid, which would enable them to reduce energy intensity and thus emissions considerably.

Nearly one third of the world's energy consumption and 36 percent of carbon dioxide emissions are attributable to manufacturing. What the developed nations should take into account is the fact that manufacturing industries are now mostly located in developing countries such as China, India and Brazil. Western companies profit from outsourcing their manufacturing to developing countries and consumers in developed countries consume a larger share of the products manufactured by emerging economies, so it is fair and entirely justifiable that rich countries extend a helping hand in whatever way they can to their developing counterparts to reduce emissions.

Whatever the result of the Durban summit, China has already set out its objectives and tasks for addressing climate change in the coming five years: carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by 17 percent and energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent as compared with 2010, and the capacity of carbon sinks will be increased to control greenhouse gas emissions.

Industrialized countries committed to a 'Green Fund" at last year's Cancun summit and China sincerely hopes that the 100 billion US dollars will be raised annually by 2020, which will help developing countries meet the cost of dealing with climate change.

Seeking common ground, shelving differences and promoting trust between rich and poor countries are what people around the world expect of all participating countries, so that the conference is more than just a lot of hot air.

All countries should ask not what this summit can do for them, but what they can do to ensure a fruitful conclusion to this summit and the sustainable development of all nations in the long run.