Int'l community welcomes China's emissions cut target:ambassador

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The international community welcomed China's recent promise on its greenhouse gas emissions reduction, Spanish Ambassador to China Carlos Blasco Villa said here Friday.

China's target is closely connected with its commitment to energy saving and the transition to a low carbon economy, Carlos Blasco Villa said in a written interview.

China announced on Nov. 26 that it would reduce the intensity of its carbon dioxide emissions per GDP unit in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent from the 2005 level.

Carlos Blasco Villa said that the UN Copenhagen conference on climate change should reach an ambitious and fair agreement on tackling climate change. The meeting should send out the first signal to admit that unlimited economic development regardless of price is not sustainable.

The UN climate change conference in Copenhagen scheduled from Dec. 7 to 18 had been widely seen as an opportunity for world leaders to strike a deal to succeed the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

Carlos Blasco Villa told Xinhua that EU had already put in place clear targets to cut emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. And it was ready to move further to a 30-percent reduction if other developed countries would take related measures and the developing countries would make due efforts based on their abilities and responsibilities.

The EU and China have established solid and steady partnership in jointly dealing with the climate change, he said, noting that, at the 12th China-EU summit, both sides agreed to strengthen political dialogue and conduct cooperation on new energy, energy saving, technology transfer and urban sustainable development.

EU and China signed a joint statement on tackling climate change in 2005 at the 8th China-EU summit.

Carlos Blasco Villa said that Spain would like to help China expand use of renewable energy, adapt to and mitigate the effect of climate change and train related personnel.

He said, "I strongly believe that we would have the opportunity to enhance energy cooperation and work together to address the climate change. "

Spain is one of initiators to use renewable energy. Not including the nuclear energy, about 10 percent of its energy is renewable.