China demands developed nations
pay for climate correction!
-Dr. Abdul Ruff
________
UN climate conference, known as COP21, organized by world leaders to
find credible solutions for fast tempos of climate change, is scheduled for 30
Nov - 11 Dec 2015 in Paris where a terror attack has caused havoc and it
appeared world leaders would be forced to focus on terror instead of climate
challenge.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
called today for rich nations to honour their commitment to provide $100
billion a year to developing countries to tackle climate change. Xi told the UN climate summit in Paris that
developed countries should accept "more shared responsibilities" for
limiting global warming and helping poor countries adapt to a climate-afflicted
world. "Developed countries should honour their commitment of mobilising
$100 billion each year from 2020 and provide stronger financial support to
developing countries afterwards," Xi said, according to an official
translation of his remarks. "It is also important that climate-friendly
technologies be transferred to developing countries."
Rich nations pledged at a UN
summit in Copenhagen in 2009 to muster $100 billion (94 billion Euros) annually
in financial support to poor countries starting in 2020.
World leaders opened pivotal climate talks in
Paris, saying the stakes are too high to end the talks without achieving a binding agreement
to help slow the pace of global climate change.
Rich nations pledged at a UN summit in
Copenhagen in 2009 to muster $100 billion (94 billion Euros) annually in
financial support to poor countries starting in 2020.
The money is meant to help them cut greenhouse
gas emissions that drive global warming, as well as to adapt to rising sea
levels, droughts and other potentially catastrophic impacts. However, six years
later poor nations are frustrated that rich countries are yet to fully commit
to the fund.
The debate over the money highlights a
long-standing feud between rich and poor nations over how to distribute
responsibility for tackling climate change.
While China and the United States have pledged
to work together to fight global warming, Xi made clear today that poor nations
should not have to sacrifice economic growth. "Addressing climate change
should not deny the legitimate needs of developing countries to reduce poverty
and improve their people's living standards," Xi said.
"The Paris conference should reject the
narrow minded mentality of a zero-sum game and call on all countries --
developed countries in particular -- to assume more shared responsibilities for
win-win outcomes."
Rich nations acknowledge a historical
responsibility for global warming. But holding temperature increases below two
required degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) -- the UN-endorsed goal --
will be impossible if emerging giants such as China and India fail to step up
their efforts, they argue.
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