Hu highlights principles to tackle climate change

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-23 00:14

UNITED NATIONS: The Chinese president on Tuesday outlined four principles needed for a successful concerted effort to deal with climate change worldwide.

While addressing the opening session of the UN climate summit, President Hu Jintao said that fulfilling respective responsibilities, achieving mutual benefit and a win-win outcome, promoting common development and ensuring financing and technology were of the utmost importance in making these efforts work.

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The Chinese president, who travelled to the United States to attend a string of UN meetings, and the forthcoming Group of 20 (G20) Summit, described fulfilling respective responsibilities as the core of the concerted efforts.

"The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities embodies the consensus of the international community," said Hu. "Adherence to this principle is critical to keeping international cooperation on climate change on the right track."

Hu called on both developed and developing countries to take active steps to deal with climate change issues.

"Developed countries should fulfil the task of emission reduction set in the Kyoto Protocol... and support developing countries in countering climate change," he added, urging developing countries to also work hard to adapt to climate change according to their national conditions and with the financial and technological support from developed countries.

On achieving mutual benefit and a win-win outcome, the Chinese president said that, as the goal of the concerted effort, whole-hearted cooperation and coordinated actions of the international community were required.

Hu said that, though not their outright responsibility, it served their long-term interest if developed countries extended assistance to developing countries in tackling climate change.

Promoting common development was the basis of the concerted efforts, he said.

"Without common development, particularly the development of developing countries, there cannot be a broad and solid basis in the long run for tackling climate change," he said.

To wrap up his insight into how to tackle climate change, President Hu gave great significance to financing and technology transfer.

"Ensuring financing and technology holds the key to the success of our effort," said Hu.

He urged developed countries to take up their responsibilities and provide developing countries with new, additional, adequate and predictable financial support to facilitate their dealings with climate change.

"This, in effect, represents a joint investment in the future of mankind," he stressed.

The Chinese president arrived here Monday for the UN climate change summit and other UN meetings. He will also attend a financial summit of the G20 in Pittsburgh scheduled for September 24-25.