Put Poorest at the Centre of the Fight Against Climate Change

Put Poorest at the Centre of the Fight Against Climate Change

November 28, 2007

Launch of the 2007/2008 Human Development Report in China

 
    BEIJING, China, Nov. 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
International technology transfer is crucial to help reduce
carbon emissions in developing countries which themselves
are increasingly vulnerable to global climate change. If
swift actions are not taken to help the poor to adapt to
the adverse impact of climate change, human development
progress made in developing countries could stall and even
reserve by midcentury, according to the 2007/2008 Human
Development Report, released today in Beijing. 

    (Logo:
http://www.xprn.com/xprn/sa/20061107113358-34.jpg )

    "Climate change is now a common concern for all
humanity as a whole to be dealt with through concerted
global action. Developing countries such as China, which
are rapidly growing in emissions, should play a lead role
to find common solutions and take a critical position in
the effort to save our planet," said Khalid Malik,
United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident
Representative in China.

    Entitled "Fighting climate change: Human
solidarity in a divided world", the reports argues
that although China is to become the world's largest source
of CO2 emissions over the next decade, a person in the US
still emits on average five times more carbon than a person
in China. 

    The report argues that compared to developed countries,
which take up 13 percent of world's population and produce
over half of CO2 emissions, China has a small per capita
carbon footprint by international standards. By 2015, per
capita emissions from China are projected at 5.2 tonnes,
which is about one-fourth of the 19.3 tonnes in US and a
third of the average in developed countries.

    "If every person in the developing world had the
same carbon footprint as the average person in Canada or
the US, we would need nine planets to aborb all of the
pollution. We however have only one planet," said
Malik. 

    Sharing responsibilities: turning the tide on climate
change
 
    The Report argues that the world's richest countries
have a historic responsibility to take the lead in
balancing the carbon budget by cutting emissions by at
least 80 percent by 2050; meanwhile, these countries should
also adopt a new mechanism to transfer clean energy
technology to developing countries. Supported by such
measures, developing countries such as China should also
play their part by introducing new clean energy technology
to improve energy efficiency and use of renewable energy.

    The Report stresses that international technology
transfer cooporation and capacity building are crutial to
help developing countries reduce emissions. This can align
with exsisting energy plans in China that focus on
introducing expanded programmes for renewable energy and
accelerated introduction of clean coal technologies. 

    The Report says that under China's 11th Five-year Plan,
the Chinese Government has set a wide range of goals to
change the current emission situation, for example,
establishing clean coal technology initiatives to enhance
energy efficiency and set the scene for an early transition
to carbon capture and storage; retiring inefficient power
plants and industrial enterprises; as well as promoting
renewable energy. Under a 2005 renewable energy law, by
2020, China will be producing 17 percent of primary energy
from renewable sources¡ªmore than twice the level today.

    "Tomorrow is today": Investing more in
adaptation 

    The Report warns that rapid economic growth has gone
hand in hand with a steep decline in poverty, yet China is
highly vulnerable to climate change. If not acting quickly,
the climate change affected areas in China could experiece a
revesal in human development by midcentury. 

    "The poor, who have the lightest carbon footprint
and bear no responsiblity for the ecological debt we are
running up, are the most vulnerable and will be affected
the most by global warming," said Malik.

    By 2020, average temperatures in China are projected to
be between 1.1 and 2 degrees Centigade above 1961-1990
level, says the Report. If current emissions patterns
continue, two-thirds of China's glaciers, including Tian
Shan, are likely to disappear by 2060 and the remaining
ones will be gone by the end of the century. In South and
East Asia, changes in rainfall, temperatures and the
availability of water would cause great losses in
productivity for food staples, thereby thwarting efforts to
cut rual poverty. As a result, half of China's 128 million
rural poor and 40 percent of the country's agricultural
land area which accounts for one-third of GDP may be
affected, according to the Report.

    "Failure to act on climate change will have grave
consequence for human development in poor areas in the
world, and it will undermine efforts to tackly
poverty," Malik added. 

    Moreover, extreme weather events have become more
common during the past few years, such as droughts in
north-eastern China, flooding in the middle and lower
reaches of the Yangtze River and coastal flooding in major
urban centres such as Shanghai. Approximately 3 million
people were displaced during the 2007 monsoon period in
East Asia, with large tracts of the region registering the
heaviest rainfall since records began.

    The world's major challenge, mentioned in the Report,
is to change the emissions trajectory in a our global
economy without compromising human development. The Report
stresses that in climate change adaptation, as in other
areas, prevention is better than cure. Every US$1 invested
in pre-disaster risk management in developing countries can
prevent losses of US$7. National research confirms this
broad cost-benefit story. In China, the US$3 billion spent
on flood defences in the four decades up to 2000 is
estimated to have averted losses of US$12 billion.

    UN Reponse¡ªforging a inclusive partnership
 
    The Chinese Government published its first-ever
National Climate Change Programming in June 2007 outlining
the key directions China will take to achieve its own
national targets on climate change mitigation and
adaptation, and to align with global processes. UNDP and
the United Nations family in China are working with key
Government agencies like National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) to implement China's new strategy and to
integrate key findings from the Report on links between
climate change and human development. 

    Specifically, the United Nations in China will soon
launch a new UN-China Climate Change Partnership Framework
(CCPF) with NDRC, the Ministry of Commerce, and various
ministries to support design of new technology transfer and
green investment mechanisms, design of innovative post-Kyoto
strategies, local piloting of new technologies for clean
coal, increased efforts to achieve efficiency and renewable
energy targets, and mainstreaming climate change adaptation
in future development and investment programmes. 

    The programme will bring together a team of nine UN
agencies, a landmark inter-agency initiative to bring the
full force of the UN to bear on China's mitigation and
adaptation challenges. Under the framework, UNDP will use
its convening power to set up, together with NDRC, a
climate change information center which will serve as an
innovation hub to engage international best practices and
facilitate knowledge sharing globally including south-south
cooperation. 

    UNDP is the UN's global development network, advocating
for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience
and resources to help people build a better life. We are on
the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own
solutions to global and national development challenges. As
they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of
UNDP and our wide range of partners. 






    For more information, please contact:

     Ms. Zhang Wei
     Communications Officer
     UNDP China
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]
     Web:   http://www.undp.org.cn