At Climate Meeting, China Balks at Verifying Cuts in Carbon Emissions

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Smog obscures the skyline in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Populist anger over toxic smog has convinced some Chinese leaders that industrial coal consumption must be curbed. Credit Jacky Chen/Reuters

Last week, climate change negotiators from around the world converged on Lima, Peru, with a new sense of momentum. One driver of that attitude was the fact that just last month, President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China made a joint announcement in Beijing in which each pledged to try to limit or reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the coming years. Mr. Xi promised that China would reach an emissions peak by “around 2030” and have 20 percent of its energy come from non-fossil fuels by that year.

Now in Lima, climate negotiators are trying to shape commitments that would be finalized at a summit meeting in Paris next year. The talks are scheduled to run through this week. One proposal would require countries to submit to international electronic monitoring and verification in cutting carbon dioxide emissions, to ensure they are keeping to their commitments.

China has for years balked at such requirements, and as of early this week its negotiators in Lima were working to ensure that the final document would not include such clauses, said an environmental advocate in Lima, who is tracking the talks and spoke on the condition of anonymity to not be seen as influencing the events. Some evironmental analysts say China might simply be staking out a starting position for negotiations and may eventually relent.

Chinese officials have sometimes referred to a 24-year-old clause in an earlier agreement that says countries should have “common but differentiated responsibilities,” meaning developed and developing nations have different standards to meet when it comes to taking action on climate change.

On Monday, The New York Times asked the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the country’s insistence that outsiders should not monitor emissions-reduction pledges. Hong Lei, a ministry spokesman, said in a written statement:

Your question touches on the issue of transparency. On this issue, China always supports increasing transparency and further improving the rules of reporting. The new protocol over the reporting mechanism of greenhouse gas emissions should reflect “the common but differentiated responsibilities” between developed and developing countries, taking into consideration the reality that developing countries’ basic capacities in areas like national statistics and assessment are still insufficient. Developed countries should provide appropriate support to developing countries.

Your question is very specific. Its details have yet to be verified. As far as I know, the Lima conference is just entering its second week, and a relevant draft is still under negotiation. All sides will hold further discussions on the principles of open transparency, consensus through consultation and initiative by signatories.

In the last two years, Chinese leaders have become more willing to discuss international cooperation in combating climate change. That is in large part because a populist surge of anger over toxic smog in Chinese cities has led some leaders to conclude that industrial coal consumption — the main source of the smog — needs to be curbed. Coal burning is also the main source of carbon dioxide emissions, and so fighting climate change overlaps with fighting pollution.

At an academic conference in Beijing on Monday, a meteorologist, Zhang Xiaoye, emphasized again that coal is the main source of pollution, according to The Beijing News. Last year, China consumed 3.61 billion tons of coal, equal to the rest of the world combined. The effects are visible on a weekly basis, especially in northern Chinese cities. On Tuesday afternoon, readings on the air quality index at the United States Embassy in Beijing exceeded 400, well into the “hazardous” range, in which people are not supposed to venture outdoors.

Patrick Zuo and Jess Macy Yu contributed research.