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U.S.
President Barack Obama, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during
their meeting held on the sidelines of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change
Conference, in Le Bourget, outside Paris, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Evan
Vucci)
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Leaders of the United
States, China and India — the world's top three carbon polluters — engaged in
some private diplomacy Monday on the sidelines of the international climate
change conference.
And while each spoke of a shared interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
members of the trio differed in nuance. Each has to attend to his own
interests.
Associated Press report continues:
A look at the geopolitics of climate change, as practiced by
President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi:
WHO'S
NO. 1?
China
gets the distinction of top billing among carbon polluters, having overtaken
the U.S. as its economy has rapidly expanded. It accounts for about 28 percent
of global emissions.
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U.S.
President Barack Obama, right, meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
during the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Le Bourget,
outside Paris, on Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
|
The U.S. is second at 14 percent. India places third, at 7
percent. Those 2013 numbers are the latest figures from the U.S. Energy
Department's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center. New figures come out
next week.
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OBAMA'S
"RESPONSIBILITY"
The
president said the U.S. "not only recognizes our role in creating this
problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it." His
administration has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions to 26 percent to 28 percent
below 2005 levels within 10 years — if the Republican-controlled Congress or
the courts don't block him or his successors reverse him.
But
Obama also wants developing nations — who didn't play a big role in creating
the problem — to share responsibility for fixing it by limiting their future
greenhouse gas emissions. He said they need to "skip the dirty phase of
development" and go straight to cleaner technologies. And that could be
costly. There's a long-running dispute over whether developing nations should
share the same burden as industrialized nations, and neither Xi nor Modi fully
embraced Obama's all-in-it-together message. Obama did acknowledge "you
cannot forge a climate agreement without taking into consideration the level of
development." But Congress is blocking the first installment of the US$3
billion he pledged to a U.N. fund to help developing nations transition to
cleaner energy and cope with the effects of climate change.
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XI'S
"RESPECT"
China
has had a change in mindset since being accused of obstructing climate talks in
Copenhagen six years ago. It has invested in solar, wind and hydro power and
promised to cut carbon emissions per unit of economic output by 65 percent. Xi
also has pledged US$3.1 billion to help developing countries combat climate
change. But the Chinese president stressed Monday that the eventual climate
deal must include aid for poor countries and respect differences between
developing and established nations. He said the deal should accommodate
national interests. "Addressing climate change should not deny the
legitimate needs of developing countries to reduce poverty and improve living
standards," he said.
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MODI'S
"BALANCE"
With
at least 300 million people lacking access to electricity, India faces a
particular challenge in restraining future greenhouse gas emissions as its
economy grows and brings prosperity to those millions. It has promised to
reduce its emissions intensity by 33 percent to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005
levels. Emissions would continue to grow under the plan, as its economy grows.
But the increase relative to economic output would be lower than otherwise.
Modi
called Obama his friend and pledged to work shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S.
on new technology initiatives. But he's also sounding a not-our-fault message.
He stressed that climate
change is a global problem "not of our making" and called for
restoring "a balance between economy and ecology." As Modi wrote in
the Financial Times this week: "The principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities should be the bedrock of our collective enterprise. Anything
else would be morally wrong." Obama, for his part, said that while he
recognized Modi's deeply felt desire to pursue "development, growth and
poverty eradication," the Paris deal also "has to reflect serious and
ambitious action by all nations to curb their carbon pollution."
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