Leaders of Germany, China, and Australia Speak Out on Climate Change

On her second trip to China as the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel spent her time urging China to do more to halt climate change.  In a joint news conference, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said, "The Chinese wish, like all people, for blue skies, green hills, and clear water."

He went on to say that reducing emissions in China is a more difficult task than doing so in Germany because of the higher population and lower GDP per capita.  The Premier also made this point: "China has taken part of the responsibility for climate change for only 30 years, while industrial countries have grown fast for the last 200 years."

Also making headlines today, Australia's Prime Minister , John Howard, (formerly a climate change skeptic) announced that he wants to use the September 8-9 meeting of 21 APEC leaders to form a new approach to tackling the climate change issue and set a "long-term aspirational goal" for reducing GHG emissions. 

Howard said, "The key task in Sydney is to give political direction to the shape of a future framework for climate change that is truly global."  Interesting to note, Australia and the United States are the only developed countries that have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol for reducing GHG emissions.  "We should strive to find agreement on principles for international action that genuinely address the problem, whilst allowing countries such as China and Indonesia to continue to grow and prosper," he added.

By Cassandra Darwin
cdarwin@enviance.com