Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in Copenhagen?on Friday the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" was the core and bedrock of international cooperation on climate change and must never be compromised.

In his speech, delivered at the opening session of the final summit segment of the U.N. climate change conference here, Wen said developed countries account for 80 percent of the total global carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution over 200 years ago.

"If we all agree that carbon dioxide emissions are the direct cause for climate change, then it is all too clear who should take the primary responsibility," the Chinese premier said.

Developing countries only started industrialization a few decades ago and many of their people still live in abject poverty today, Wen said, "It is totally unjustified to ask them to undertake emission reduction targets beyond their due obligations and capabilities in disregard of historical responsibilities, per capita emissions and different levels of development."

Developed countries, which are already leading an affluent life, still maintain a level of per capita emissions that is far higher than that of developing countries, and most of their emissions are attributed to consumption, Wen said.

In comparison, emissions from developing countries were primarily survival emissions and international transfer emissions, the Chinese premier said.

"Today, 2.4 billion people in the world still rely on coal, charcoal and stalks as main fuels, and 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity," so any action on climate change must be taken within the framework of sustainable development and should by no means compromise the efforts of developing countries to get rid of poverty and backwardness, he said.

Wen urged developed countries to take the lead in making deep quantified emission cuts and provide financial and technological support to developing countries as "this is an unshirkable moral responsibility as well as a legal obligation that they must fulfill."

Developing countries should, with the financial and technological support of developed countries, do what they can to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change in light of their national conditions, Wen said.

China faces special difficulty in emissions reduction

China's population of 1.3 billion presented a special difficulty in cutting emissions but it would do whatever was within its capacity to address global climate change, said Chinese Premier said on the conference.

China's per capita GDP has only just exceeded 3,000 U.S. dollars and, according to U..N standards, China still had 150 million people living below the poverty line, Wen said in his speech, delivered at the opening session of the final summit segment of the U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen.

The premier said China faced the arduous task of developing the economy and improving people's livelihoods.

"China is now at an important stage of accelerated industrialization and urbanization, and, given the predominant role of coal in our energy mix, we are confronted with a special difficulty in emissions reduction," Wen said.

However, China had always regarded addressing climate change as an important strategic task, he said, adding that, between 1990 and 2005, China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP were reduced by 46 percent.

"Building on that, we have set the new target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level, " Wen told delegates from all across the world.

"To reduce carbon dioxide emissions on such a large scale and over such an extended period of time will require tremendous efforts on our part. Our target will be incorporated into China's mid- and long-term plan for national economic and social development as a mandatory one to ensure that its implementation is subject to supervision by the law and public opinion," Wen said.

"We will further enhance the domestic statistical, monitoring and evaluation methods, improve the way emissions reduction information is released, increase transparency and actively engage in international exchange, dialogue and cooperation," the Chinese premier said.

China's mitigation action unconditonal

Premier Wen said China had not attached any condition to its target for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions or linked it to the target of any other country.

Wen said it was with a sense of responsibility to the Chinese people and mankind that the Chinese government had set the target for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

"This is a voluntary action China has taken in light of its national circumstances," Wen said.

"We have not attached any condition to the target, nor have we linked it to the target of any other country," the Chinese premier said. "We will honor our word with real action. Whatever outcome this conference may produce, we will be fully committed to achieving and even exceeding the target."

Focus on present needed in fighting climate change

"In tackling climate change, we need to take a long-term perspective but, more importantly, we should focus on the present. The Kyoto Protocol has clearly set out the emission reduction targets for developed countries in the first commitment period by 2012," Wen said.

However, a review of implementation showed the emissions from many developed countries had increased rather than decreased and the mid-term reduction targets, announced by developed countries recently, fell considerably short of the UNFCCC requirements and the expectations of the international community, the Chinese premier said.

"It is necessary to set a direction for our long-term efforts, but it is even more important to focus on achieving near-term and mid-term reduction targets, honoring the commitments already made and taking real action," Wen said.

Strengthen UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol

Wen said?the campaign against climate change hadn't just started, the international community had been engaged in this endeavor for decades now.

"The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol are the outcomes of long and hard work by all countries" and the two documents reflected the broad consensus among all parties and served as the legal basis and guide for international cooperation on climate change, Wen said.

So the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol "must be highly valued and further strengthened and developed," he said.

Wen said the outcome of the Copenhagen conference must stick to, rather than obscure, the basic principles enshrined in the convention and the protocol and it must follow, rather than deviate from, the mandate of the "Bali Roadmap."

"It should lock up rather than deny the consensus and progress already achieved in the negotiations," Wen said.