UN Climate Change Summit: Obama Touts US Efforts, Challenges China To Reduce Emissions

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Speaking at the 2014 UN Climate Change Summit on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama challenged China to do more to help reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment.
In comments made during the one-day meeting hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York, the President said that China – which is the most populous nation on Earth and also experienced the quickest increase in carbon pollution levels – had to join the US to lead other countries in CO2 reduction.
“We have a responsibility to lead. That’s what big nations have to do,” Obama said to a round of applause from the delegates on hand, according to CNN.com’s Elizabeth Hartfield and Leigh Ann Caldwell. He added that the “urgent and growing threat of climate change” would ultimately “define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other” issue facing the world today.
Obama, who has used his executive powers to help combat global warming in America, spoke to over 100 world leaders at Tuesday’s event in order to spur on efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, said Mark Landler and Coral Davenport of the New York Times. He pledged that the US would establish ambitious new emission reduction goals prior to next year’s climate negotiation, but added the work would need to continue after he left office.
“Yes, this is hard, but there should be no question that the United States of America is stepping up to the plate,” the President said, according to Landler and Davenport. However, he went on to warn that any attempt to solve the problem of climate change was doomed to fail without strong international support. “We can only succeed in combating climate change if we are joined in this effort by every nation, developed and developing alike.”
“Today, I call on all countries to join us, not next year or the year after that, because no nation can meet this global threat alone,” he added. “We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.”
To that end, Obama touted an executive order announced earlier this year that will require US power plants to cut pollution levels by 30 percent of 2005 levels by the year 2030, the New York Times reported. He also vowed that the country would meet its previous pledge to reduce overall CO2 emissions 17 percent from 2005 level by 2020.
In addition, CNN.com reported that the President had previously revealed a plan to reduce carbon pollution in June 2013. That plan included directing the US Environmental Protection Agency to establish new emission standards for active coal plants, and by working with countries such as China and India to establish new plans to address the greenhouse gas emissions at a global level.
“Reciting record-setting temperatures and a litany of natural disasters, from hurricanes and wildfires to droughts and floods, Mr. Obama tried to raise the sense of urgency surrounding climate change at a United Nations meeting dominated by fears of terrorism,” said Landler and Davenport. However, they added that while the event “showcased how climate change has become a genuinely global preoccupation,” it also “reinforced the divides between developed and developing countries” on the issue.
Chinese President Xi Jinping chose not to attend the meeting, and instead sent vice premier Zhang Gaoli as his country’s representative. At the summit, Zhang said that China’s carbon intensity was down 28 percent this year from 2005 levels, and that 24 percent of the country’s installed energy capacity was coming from renewable sources.
Zhang went on to state that the nation was on pace to meet its goal of reducing emissions from 2005 levels by at least 45 percent by 2020, according to Landler and Davenport. He added that “as a responsible major developing country, China will make an even greater effort to address climate change and take on international responsibilities that are commensurate with our national conditions.”
“The climate speech, the civil society discussion and other UN activities came just hours after the United States and allies made their first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria,” said David Jackson of USA Today. “On Wednesday, Obama delivers his annual address to the United Nations General Assembly. Later that day, [he] chairs a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss concerted international action against the Islamic State.”