China will 'soon' release climate pledges to UN

China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is likely to soon submit to the UN its pledge on cutting back such emissions blamed for global warming, a top US official said Tuesday.

"My sense is that it's coming soon, but I don't have exact information on it," said US special envoy for climate change Todd Stern, after top-level talks with his Chinese counterparts in Washington.

All countries are meant to put forward their targets for cutting emissions ahead of UN-led talks in Paris in December aimed at forging a pact to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels to take effect from 2020.

China and the US stunned the world in November after a summit between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, when Beijing committed for the first time to limiting its greenhouse gas output -- setting a target date of about 2030 for its emissions to peak.

It also pledged that 20 percent of its energy would come from renewable sources by 2030.

But it has yet to put forward its whole submission for the UN, even though Chinese officials had pledged that it would be submitted in the first quarter of 2015.

Stern praised Beijing's November announcements as "quite strong" and said they had revealed two "critical elements" of its plan to tackle its emissions of greenhouse gases.

But he acknowledged that "anything that any country announces will be met, even the strongest contributions, will be met by a wish by some that it would be more."

Any contributions would be initial ones and would need to be "updated periodically," he added, stressing also the need for complete transparency to ensure all countries were sticking to their commitments.

Stern was speaking after meeting Chinese counterparts during annual strategic and economic talks, held this year in Washington.

The talks were hailed as "productive" and Stern also announced that the first ever low city carbon summit between China and the US would be held later in the year in Los Angeles.
Source: AFP