WWF applauds Chinese premier's attendance at Copenhagen climate summit

GENEVA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) applauded on Thursday the announcement that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao would attend the upcoming UN climate summit in Copenhagen.

"The world needs a legally binding agreement, and we need leaders like Wen Jiabao to come to Copenhagen to make that happen," Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF global climate initiative, said in a statement in Geneva.

China announced Thursday that the country is going to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared to the level of 2005.

"A 40 to 45 percent reduction in China's carbon intensity from business as usual projections is far from trivial," Carstensen said.

The WWF, founded in 1961, is active in more than 90 countries. It is headquartered in Gland, Switzerland.