Annan upbeat about Copenhagen summit

By Zhang Xin and Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-29 08:01

Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan said the climate change conference in Copenhagen, with or without a groundbreaking deal, will be a success despite media reports that an agreement is unlikely.

Annan, UN officials, dignitaries and celebrities called for the Copenhagen conference's participating nations to reach a deal in December.

Their appeal comes ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to China next month, when he and President Hu Jintao will discuss their respective stances on how to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

"Climate change does not stop in the Copenhagen conference in December," said Annan at a media briefing in Beijing on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN's presence in China. "It is another beginning, whatever the outcome of the conference would be - whether there is an agreement or not."

He said that the Copenhagen conference would still be a success without a global agreement.

Media reports have said that current UN officials and diplomats believe that chances of an agreement in December are slim. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also is reportedly planning "post-Copenhagen talks" due to an expected slow negotiation process in Copenhagen.

The European Union set goals of a 20-percent carbon emission reduction by 2020 compared to the 1990 level; the Japanese government has recently pledged to make a 25-percent greenhouse gas reduction.

Annan called on countries to achieve the goal of a 25-percent to 40-percent reduction by 2020 and a 50-percent reduction by 2050.

China and the US, two significant greenhouse gas emitters, should join efforts with other nations to achieve a global target, Annan said.

Timothy Wirth, president of the UN Foundation, agreed with Annan and said that "among the 191 countries to be involved in Copenhagen, the most important relationship is the one between China and the US. China is the largest developing country and the US is the largest developed country".

"We are very hopeful the US will take on strong binding commitments," Wirth said. "We are also very hopeful that China will also take on binding commitments."

He noted Obama has changed the US' stance on climate change, an enormous breakthrough leading up to Copenhagen.

He said the meetings between Hu and Obama will be "extremely important".

"It is hard to overestimate the relationship between the two biggest countries and two biggest polluters," he said.

China and the EU will coordinate positions on climate change negotiations during the upcoming China-EU summit in Nanjing, said Serge Abou, EU ambassador to China.

The China-EU summit, scheduled for Nov 30, will be held days before the Copenhagen conference.

Abou said China and the EU share the same approach on efforts to combat climate change, but it is based on "common but differentiated responsibilities".

"Clearly we do not expect China to take the same kind of commitment as developed countries, but we hope China will make significant efforts, because without China, there is no way we can fulfill the international objective," Abou said at a China-EU forum of cooperation on carbon capture and storage.

The EU is encouraged by Hu's speech at the recent UN climate summit, in which he promised that China will achieve notable reductions on its carbon intensity by 2020, Abou said, adding that he is expecting China to be precise on the target at the Copenhagen summit.