Guest Post: Local issues, global challenge

This guest post was written by Meng Si, Managing editor for chinadialogue‘s Beijing office.

CANCUN, Mexico - The two central dilemmas - emission reduction and economic development - will become ever greater issues for developing countries, but they also present global challenge that requires cooperation to solve.

On December 1, in an event jointly organised by China and UNDP, Xu Guoping, the director of intergovernmental think-tank the South Centre, said he believed that most developing nations will enter a stage of development similar to China’s sooner or later, and whether or not the developing world can smoothly transition into the low carbon path will be the key to achieving global emission-reduction targets.

“China is not a very rich developing country, it is only average. China now faces two major problems, one is China’s huge population, while development is rapidly increasing at an annual pace of about 10%,” Xu Guoping said.

Despite enormous pressure, the Chinese central government will continue to spare no effort in the promotion of low-carbon societies and economic transformation. It has closed down 700 billion kilowatts of small thermal power plants - exceeding the total installed capacity of the United Kingdom - and individual local governments even limited the electricity supply to hospitals and other public facilities. China takes the lead in renewable-energy development, and its US$34.6 billion investment in clean energy accounts for 30% of total investments made by G20 countries. In 2010, China’s total carbon-dioxide emissions were the highest in the world.

“Can other developing countries do all that China does?” Xu Guoping is sceptical. He believes that, in order for all developing countries to transition to a low-carbon path, they need to do more than China. Imagine the challenges.

But some think that, with China and other countries exploring the way, the costs in the future transition to sustainable development will be greatly reduced for developing countries.

According to a Reuters report at the end of last month, the latest data suggests that developed countries currently account for only 43% of global carbon-dioxide emissions whereas, in 1990, it was 65%.

The Cancún conference is half over, and following Japan’s statement of opposition to extending the Kyoto Protocol in the second term, emission reduction requirements developing countries will face are becoming increasingly clear. Japan reasoned that the Protocol only deals with 27% of global carbon-dioxide emissions, directing emission issues at developing countries and provoking their opposition.

In Climate Policy Brief, Xu Guoping wrote that he thinks developing countries are facing more requirements for responsibility, while developed countries are beginning to reject responsibility.

Xu Guoping believes that developed countries are demanding that developing countries make greater contributions to reducing emission targets in the long-term by proposing that the overall target in 2050 should be to reduce global emissions by 50% compared to the 1990 level. This means that if national emission reduction is 80% of the total, and per capita emission reduction in developing countries need to be reduced by 50%, in terms of a normal economy, emissions would have to be reduced by 80%. This will be an extremely difficult target for developing countries.

The population of developing countries account for over 80% of the global population. Zou Ji, China’s chief representative for the World Resources Institute, said on the issue of climate change, “the world’s problems are China’s problems and China’s problems are also the world’s problems.” This concept can be generalised in that problems of developing countries are also the world’s problems. Facing potential pressure from emission reduction, if developed countries cannot provide adequate financial and technological support to developing countries, yet expect them to overcome the traditional development model of dependence in the current global economic situation and promptly make the transition within a period they can control, it is almost a fantasy.

Read more from Meng Si on Chinadialog’s Editor’s Blog.