TIANJIN, China, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- China has urged developed nations to improve carbon emissions targets.
"The emissions reductions goals of developed countries should be dramatically increased," said China's chief negotiator Su Wei Tuesday during international climate negotiations in Tianjin.
"We can't discuss other elements and not discuss emissions reductions. It's unavoidable."
Some 3,100 delegates from 194 nations gathered in Tianjin, the final meeting prior to the U.N. climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico, in November and December.
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Su's remarks came ahead of a WWF study released Wednesday at the climate talks, also recommending that industrialized nations set emission reductions targets.
The study, "Plugging the Gap," indicates that global emission levels are on track to reach 47.9 gigatons-53.6 gigatons by 2020 -- well more than the 40 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent budget suggested by scientists to limit rising temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius.
"While it is clear that some countries are waking up to the transformations they will need to make to create a low-carbon economy, other countries have failed to grasp the need for deep carbon reductions now, and are risking the safety and prosperity of all as a result," said Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF United Kingdom, The Guardian newspaper reports.
"The climate talks in Tianjin need to see at least some indications that this trend is changing," he said.
WWF says that governments can decrease the "gigaton gap" by transforming carbon-intensive economies in the developed world and financially supporting climate change action in the developing world.
Establishing science-based emission reduction targets in industrialized countries, the study shows, has the potential to stop up to 4.3 gigatons per year from being emitted to the atmosphere.
The paper concludes that it is possible to stay within the 2020 carbon budget but only if industrialized nations deliver more ambitious emissions reductions policies and increase efforts to help developing countries curb their emissions growth.
Xie Zhenhua, China's top climate change official and vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission said Wednesday that the country's greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to peak before its per capita gross domestic product reaches $40,000, state-run news agency Xinhua reports.
China, the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases, now has a per capita GDP of slightly more than $3,000.
"We will try to get passed the peak of emissions as early as possible but this also hinges on how much money the developed nations will offer and what technology they will transfer as required by the international protocols," Xie said.
