Officials and experts have contested a recent report that said
China had for the first time overtaken the United States as the
world's top producer of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The report, released on Tuesday by the Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency, said China overtook the US in emissions of CO2
by 8 percent in 2006. While China was 2 percent below the US in
2005, coal consumption and increased cement production had caused
the numbers to rise rapidly.
The study said China, which relies on coal for two-thirds of its
energy needs and makes 44 percent of the world's cement, produced
6.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2006. In comparison,
the US, which gets half of its electricity from coal, produced 5.8
billion metric tons of CO2, it said.
"It is meaningless to compare China's national greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions with those of other countries, as China has the
world's largest population," Cui Cheng, deputy director of the
energy research institute at the National Development and Reform
Commission.
Qin Gang, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said:
"China's gas emissions per capita are far below that of developed
countries.
"Take China and the Netherlands. China's annual per capita
figure is 3.66 tons, while for the Dutch it is 11.4 tons, about
three times higher. China's emissions are just at survival
levels."
Qin said developed countries were also responsible for the high
levels, as they had moved their factories to China.
"On one hand, they boost their production in China, on the
other, they denounce the country's high emission levels. It is
unfair."
China released 5.6 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in 2004,
according to China's National Climate Change Program.
(China Daily June 22, 2007)
