China says rich should fight warming

BEIJING - China said yesterday that richer countries should set aside 1 percent of their gross domestic product to help poorer nations fight global warming.

China has long called on developed countries to shoulder what it says is their historic burden to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that are chiefly responsible for causing a rise in global temperatures. But the latest remarks by a senior Chinese climate official were the first to propose specific demands on rich countries.

"The funds that developed countries provide for developing countries to deal with climate change should represent approximately 1 percent of the GDP of the developed countries," said Gao Guangsheng, who heads the climate change office at the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body.

An international mechanism also needs to be established to support the transfer of technology to cut harmful emissions, Gao said, according to a transcript of a news conference posted on the website of the information office of the State Council, or Cabinet.

China now generates a large share of the world's greenhouse gases, with some experts saying it has already overtaken the United States as the world's number one emitter.

Gao said the developing countries had to take action to fight climate change, but that richer countries must provide money and technology to help poorer ones.

ASSOCIATED PRESS