China sets emissions "intensity" reduction target

Chinese officials today announced targets for reducing the country's greenhouse gas "intensity," which is a measure of emissions relative to economic output, the state news agency Xinhua reported.
 
The announcement comes a day after the White House said President Obama will offer a provisional U.S. emissions cut "in the range" of 17 percent by 2020 at next month's international climate talks in Copenhagen.
 
China's government is not pledging an outright cut to its emissions, but rather vowed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent in 2020. The reduction would be a "binding" policy, Chinese officials said.
Both nations' targets are relative to 2005 emissions levels.
 
The Xinhua account quotes Qi Jianguo, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stating that China's intensity target means that its emissions in 2020 would be roughly the same as they are today.
 
Also today, the Chinese government announced that Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the Copenhagen summit. The White House said yesterday that President Obama would attend Dec. 9. The summit runs from Dec. 7-18.