BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese negotiators achieved their goal at Copenhagen climate talks in ensuring financial aid for developing nations was not linked to external reviews of China’s environmental plans, its top climate envoy said yesterday.
Britain, Sweden and other countries have accused China of obstructing the climate summit, which ended last month with a non-binding accord that set a target of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius but was scant on details.
China would never accept outside checks of its plans to slow greenhouse gas emissions and could only make a promise of “increasing transparency,” Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, said at a forum.
Developed nations’ promise of $100 billion in financial aid by 2020 to help poorer countries adapt to climate change offered a good stepping stone for negotiations, he said.