China on Wednesday said its efforts to cut greenhouse emission were the best in the world, vowing continued work.
"China's energy consumption per-unit GDP has decreased by 10 percent from that in 2005, our target this year is another 5 percent drop," Yu Qingtai, China's top envoy on climate change, told a press briefing in Beijing.
Released in 2007, China's National Climate Change Program set a goal of lowering energy consumption per-unit GDP by 20 percent by 2010 from that of 2005, which Yu said would cut a total of 1.5-billion-ton greenhouse emission, an equal to 300 million ton of carbon dioxide every year.
"The figure shows that China's effort to cut greenhouse emissions and its actual effect are second to none," the envoy said.
Stressing China's status as a developing nation at a stage of industrialization and urbanization, Yu said the country was confronted with double challenges of developing the economy and protecting environment.
"China has a population of 150 million who are living on less than two U.S. dollars a day, a poverty standard recently set by the United Nations," Yu said.
With its coal-dominated energy mix, China looked to the renewable energy as a way to cut gas emissions, Yu said.
Under China's national program, the renewable energy will account for 10 percent in the country's energy total by 2010 and up to 15 percent by 2020.
"China has achieved impressive progress in utilizing renewable energy," Yu said, citing the figure of 2008 showing that the country's use of hydropower and solar power ranked first in the world, wind power the fourth.
China's bio-gas users in countryside, Yu said, amounted to 26 million by 2007, which would help reduce the use of 16-million-ton coal annually and cut 44 million tons of carbon dioxide.
Although the global economic downturn took its toll on China, Yu said the Chinese government didn't waver in its efforts to tackle climate change.
Of China's 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package unveiled last year, around 58 billion yuan was earmarked for climate change projects, Yu said. "The percentage ranked the second worldwide, according to a report by the Hongkong-Shanghai Banking Corporation."
Yu said the Chinese government also advocated the energy-efficient products among the public with an aim to cutting greenhouse emission.
"In a nutshell, China has taken the climate change seriously, set clear goals and acted vigorously," Yu said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2009)
