China Self-motivated to Combat Climate Change

Therefore, the country has much at stake if climate change is left unattended.

China has integrated combating climate change into its national strategies for the transformation of its economic growth mode and economic restructuring. The 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2015) shows the emphasis on green and low-carbon development.

It is transforming its economic growth pattern toward a more balanced one, from export- and investment-driven growth toward a more domestically centered model based on internal consumption, technological innovation, and environmental sustainability.

During the 2006-2010 period, China's aggregate energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) dropped 19.1 percent from that of 2005, which is equivalent to a reduction of 1.46 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The nation has set ambitious and challenging goals on reducing carbon emissions. By 2015, China is aiming to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent, cut CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 17 percent and raise the proportion of non-fossil fuels in its overall primary energy mix to 11.4 percent.

However, China's development rights need to be respected. It is unfair and unreasonable to hold China to absolute cuts in emissions at the present stage, when its per-capita GDP stands at just US$5,000.

Those developed countries pointing the finger at China for not pledging quantitative emission cuts should consider China's overall situation.

Its historical and per-capita emissions of greenhouse gases are far below those of developed nations, although rapid economic growth and its population base has made it one of the biggest producers of the gases.

Even without the funds committed by developed countries to the developing world in Copenhagen in 2009, China has been well-prepared for combating climate change.

However, poor nations and small island nations whose existence is threatened by rising sea levels, now stand before a climate fiscal cliff. Developed nations should fulfill their promises of providing financial and technological aid to developing countries in alleviating global warming damage, even amid the international economic downturn.

The principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" should be well honored at the ongoing U.N. climate talks, the framework of which was launched two decades ago.