Reuters Summit-CO2 cost will make China curb emissions-IEA
05 Jun 2007 13:08:56 GMT Source: Reuters
(For other news from the Reuters Global Energy Summit, click on http://www.reuters.com/summit/GlobalEnergy07?pid=500) LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - China and India are fully aware of the risk of climate destabilisation and will seek to minimise the impact of their growing energy demand, William Ramsay of the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. "China's CO2 emissions are growing very rapidly because its people want the motor scooter, the motor car, the refrigerator, and why not?," he told the Reuters Global Energy Summit. IEA Deputy Executive Director Ramsay said it would not be difficult to persuade China and India to join global efforts to halt climate change. "We don't need to convince them," he said. "China has been living on the edge of the Gobi desert for many years and it keeps coming closer," he said. "You can scrape sand off your windscreens in Beijing any day, already," he added. China released its first national plan on climate change on Monday, which set out broad goals to tackle global warming. The country, which depends on coal for nearly 70 percent of its energy needs, plans to use more nuclear and clean energy sources and to upgrade to cleaner coal-fired power plants. However, Ramsay added that he did not think China and India would support the European-proposed global carbon trading system as a means to curb emissions. "They're not prepared to trade growth for green," he said.
