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Xi to attend Paris summit; will not make new concessions

President Xi Jinping Will Attend The Paris Climate Conference Next Week, It Was Announced Today As A Top Diplomat Here Said The Chinese Leader Will Bring No New Concessions To The Negotiating Table.

PTI | Updated on: 25 Nov 2015, 02:49:23 PM

Beijing:

President Xi Jinping will attend the Paris climate conference next week, it was announced today as a top diplomat here said the Chinese leader will bring no new concessions to the negotiating table.

Xi Jinping will attend the climate conference in Paris from November 29-30 at the invitation of French President Francois Hollande, Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Xi will be present at the conference which is expected to be attended by top world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to work out a durable deal to reduce the greenhouse gases which are blamed for global warming.

Ahead of the Paris meet, China, which is the top emitter of greenhouse gases along with th US, has hoped that “a powerful, ambitious and legally binding deal” can be reached in Paris.

Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a briefing that world leaders will be in attendance in France “to lend political impetus” to the meeting but “are not there for negotiations”.

“The Paris conference is not about tabling new proposals

it’s about narrowing differences and reaching agreement on the basis of the existing proposals,” he added.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s special representative on climate change, told the media here last week that 2015 deal should reflect the principles of “common but differentiated responsibilities (CDR)” and “respective capabilities”.

The Paris climate change conference, due to begin on November 30, is the latest attempt by world leaders to reduce carbon emissions through a legally binding treaty after the talks in Copenhagen in 2009 failed to deliver a deal.

Now with frequent extreme weather and related natural disasters as well as the imminent sea-level rise, expectations are high that the Paris conference will reach a second legally-binding treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Yet in the run-up to the conference, major differences remain, particularly on the principle of CDR.

Accords and conventions reached previously agreed that rich countries should mobilise USD 100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries fight climate change.

Developed nations still have much to do in their pledges to provide money and transfer low-carbon and environmental friendly technologies to developing countries, Xie said.

“Each country should deliver what they have promised, which is the basic foundation of political trust,” Xie said,

adding that mutual trust is a prerequisite to a successful conference.

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First Published : 25 Nov 2015, 02:45:00 PM

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