REFILE-China's Wen promises national climate change plan
16 Mar 2007 09:36:45 GMT Source: Reuters
(Refiles to clarify reference to carbon dioxide in 6th para) BEIJING, March 16 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday that his fast-industrialising country will issue a plan to address climate change but held out no promises to accept international caps on its growing greenhouse gas emissions. China is the world's second biggest emitter of human-generated greenhouse gases, which scientists warn are behind rising average global temperatures that in coming decades could wreak havoc through drought, unstable rain patterns, increasingly intense hurricanes and rising sea levels. Wen told a news conference marking the end of China's annual parliament session that China was working to reduce its energy use and would offer a plan to address climate change. "Although we're a developing country, we have nonetheless formulated a response plan for Chinese climate change based on international treaties concerning greenhouse gas emissions," Wen said. China approves of the Kyoto Protocol, which sets greenhouse gas emissions limits for developed countries while setting none for poorer, developing countries like China, Wen noted. But Wen sidestepped whether China -- set to overtake the United States as the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, widely believed to be one of the main causes of global warming -- would accept such limits. "The Chinese government holds a responsible attitude to the world and conscientiously carries out its due international responsibilities," Wen said.
