China has warned rich nations not to shirk their responsibility on climate change. It is urging them to provide developing countries with the funds they need to tackle the issue.

 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry says developed nations are acting insincerely in their apparent commitment to helping poor countries.

Duan Jielong, Dept. Director-General of Chinese Foreign Ministry, said, "We think there has at least been a big gap in the sincerity of developed countries in terms of financing at the moment. They haven't done enough to shoulder their due responsibilities."

The department director-general stresses rich countries bear most of the responsibility for creating existing pollution. Therefore the idea that developing nations have to make cuts is both unrealistic and goes against a consensus already reached.

Duan said, "Any attempt to require developing countries to shoulder the responsibility of cutting emissions is not consistent with the international consensus, nor will it be conducive to reaching a new agreement by the international community in fighting climate change in the future."

The past few days of the UN Climate Change Conference have exposed deep differences on emissions cuts, and funding needed to address the problem.

The US has pledged to contribute to a rich-country fund which aims to help poor nations tackle the issue. But the US special envoy for climate change says China will not be a recipient of the fund as it has a booming economy and large foreign exchange reserves.

China insists the offer of funds be an imperative duty of developed nations. It hopes the relevant parties will make the effort to achieve results acceptable to all sides.