China Environmental Law

If there has been a gradual “softening” in China’s climate change rhetoric lately, it was forcefully arrested today by the frosty, hard-line comments of China’s top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, before a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC). Here’s what he said, in bullet form:

• The conflict between developed countries centers on economy, technology and global dominance whereas developing nations fight against restrictions on their developments.
• The conflicts are driven by commercial and political interests.
• The ongoing international negotiations on climate change had not seen fundamental changes.
• The target of attack is still the major emission economies.
• Developed countries widely emphasize climate problems while playing down the importance of economic development. They highlight common responsibilities but not differentiated responsibilities.
• They [the developed countries] have talked much, but not done much.

I wouldn’t anticipate anything helpful in that NPC resolution on climate change predicted for this week.