U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2009)

Todd Stern
Special Envoy for Climate Change
Statement to the House Foreign Affairs Committee
November 4, 2009

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Developed countries, meanwhile, tend to see an unforgiving problem with potentially grave and irreversible consequences that cannot be solved without the full participation of developing countries -- particularly China and the other emerging market economies. According to the International Energy Agency, 97 percent of the projected increase in global emissions between now and 2030 will come from developing countries.

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China, for example, has demonstrated a growing commitment to clean energy in the past several years. China's current five year plan includes the goal of reducing the energy intensity of the economy by 20% by 2010 and the aim of increasing the share of renewable energy in the primary energy supply to 15% by 2020. China has also implemented increasingly stringent auto emissions standards, and there are many other initiatives underway.

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On the bilateral track, we have engaged in countless private discussions around the world with key countries to delve into the particulars of our respective concerns and generate ideas for moving forward. These conversations also are an opportunity to discuss the important role that this issue plays in our overall bilateral relationships. This was evident in the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue that took place in June, where climate change was the featured issue in the joint opening session. We left no doubt that we consider climate and clean energy to be central to the US-China relationship.

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In light of all this, what ought developed countries expect of China and the other major developing countries? They must take actions that will significantly reduce their emissions below their so-called "business-as-usual" path in the mid-term (around 2020) to an extent consistent with what is called for by the science; they must reflect these actions in an international agreement, just as developed countries we must reflect our own undertakings; and these actions must be subject to a strong reporting and verification regime. In addition, all countries, developed and developing, major and smaller, must, with assistance where needed, develop low-carbon growth plans to steer the course of their future development and put the world on the path to a low-carbon global economy.

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