New climate pact must consider historical emissions: Chinese official

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New climate pact must consider historical emissions: Chinese official

(Xinhua) 13:22, November 15, 2013

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WARSAW, Nov. 14 -- A new global pact under discussion at the ongoing UN climate talks should take into account historical carbon emissions by developed countries, a Chinese official said here Thursday.

Su Wei, deputy chief of the Chinese delegation, said industrialized countries are mainly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions in the past two hundred years.

The current climate change was caused mainly by developed countries since the industrial era as greenhouse gas has an atmospheric life of 50 to 200 years, he said.

"It is important to take the historical responsibility element into the context of climate actions after 2020," said Su, who is also director of the climate change department of China's National Development and Reform Commission.

China supports Brazil's proposal to study the historical responsibility for the accumulated carbon emissions, he added.

The two-week climate talks held in the Polish capital is set to lay the groundwork for a new global climate agreement to be signed in 2015 with binding targets on emission reductions for post-2020 period.

Su also called for concerted efforts from all countries as global warming is a common threat, saying the recent super typhoon in the Philippines serves as an immediate warning to humanity.

Admitting that China is a leading emitter at present, he stressed that the Asian country is far below the average emission level in historical terms, and its per capita emission level is lower than that of most developed countries.

"China is in the process of industrialization and modernization," he said. "The emissions will arise to some extent, but we are trying to limit the increase rate."

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