25 June 2007The Guardian
Asian business and government leaders have accused rich countries of hypocrisy, saying they run polluting industries with cheap labour in China and then blame the country for worsening climate change.
"This is green imperialism," Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Malaysia's deputy finance minister, told a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum on east Asia, a two-day conference in Singapore.
A Chinese aviation tycoon told the forum that the west was the original polluter, while an American businessman noted that Asia's energy consumption is relatively disproportionate to its contribution to the world economy.
But all participants agreed that instead of apportioning blame, the problem should be solved internationally and with private sector participation.
China has come under increasing pressure from the west to take more forceful measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The country relies on coal - among the dirtiest of fuels - to provide two-thirds of its energy.
At the conference, the US and Australia were also criticised for not signing the Kyoto protocol, which caps the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that can be emitted in industrialised countries.
China is a signatory but because it is considered a developing country it is exempt from emission reductions - a factor often cited by Washington and Canberra as a reason for not accepting the treaty.
Nor Mohamed said sustainable growth is important, but "there is no point in singling out" one country when it is a global problem. "Companies that are polluting in China are owned by American, European, Japanese and others. They are benefiting from the cheap labour, from the resources and at the same time accusing China of pollution," said Nor Mohamed.
"There should be no hypocrisy. Let's take the hypocrisy out of the equation," he said. "Treat it as a global problem ... the world has to play a role rather than take the issue in a very adversarial or biased basis."
In 2006, China overtook the United States in carbon dioxide emissions by about 7.5%, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency's report last week. While China was 2% below the US in carbon dioxide emissions in 2005, voracious coal consumption and increased cement production caused the numbers to rise rapidly, the agency said.
China uses other statistics to contend that it is not the worst offender: with a population of 1.3 billion people, China releases about 4,762kg (10,500lb) of carbon dioxide per person, while the United States releases nearly 19,277kg (42,500lb) per person.
Chen Feng, the chairman of China Hainan Airlines, said "now is not the time" to attribute blame but to create an international solution, noting that the west was the original polluter when its industries were ruining the environment 100 years ago.
"So the way I see it is, you (the west) were bandits before you became right-minded people," he told the discussion.
Japan's environment minister, Masatoshi Wakabayashi, said it was "significant" that President Bush had proposed the 15 biggest emitters of greenhouse gases hold meetings and set an emissions goal.
"Without the participation of United States, China and India - the main emitters - we will not stop global warming," Mr Wakabayashi said.
