California to sign U.N. compact to help China cut emissions

 

SACRAMENTO (AP) — California’s top environmental official on Tuesday plans to sign an agreement with the United Nations to help China reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The memorandum of understanding drafted by the U.N. Development Programme pairs California with one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

California produces more greenhouse gases than any other state but also has taken strides to significantly reduce its output.

That includes attempts to roll back auto and factory emissions, while trying to institute an emissions-trading system for industry.

California promises to share policy ideas and research for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, according to the four-page agreement to be signed on Earth Day in Beijing.

 

The state also would mobilize public agencies and encourage private entities in California to support climate change projects in China.

“I think it will help show them they can indeed reach set targets and move forward on environmental protection and maintain a strong economy as California has,” Linda Adams, California’s Environmental Protection Agency secretary, said Monday in a telephone interview from Beijing.

She is on a 10-day trip to China to discuss climate change with government and business leaders.

China now rivals the U.S. as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

The Bush administration has refused to sign international commitments to cut emissions, saying the country would be at a competitive disadvantage unless those treaties also include China, India and other developing nations.

But China and others have said they should not be forced to cut their output because their per-capita emissions are below those in industrialized countries.

Beijing is one of the world’s most polluted cities.

 

A fog of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide often blankets the city at levels five times higher than safety standards set by the World Health Organization.

The pollution has been a worry for some athletes hoping to participate in this summer’s Olympic Games.

Although the International Olympic Committee has said the pollution would not endanger their health, several athletes have said they are considering wearing masks during competition.

California’s agreement with the development program, a subsidiary of the U.N. that promotes economic development, follows several years of international outreach by the state.

In 2005, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an environmental agreement with the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau to help improve air quality and water quality.

 

The agreement was amended in 2007 to further bolster California’s support of Beijing’s air quality programs.

Schwarzenegger also has entered agreements with other states and parts of Canada to implement a carbon-trading program. The governor has said those agreements will help California meet the goals of a 2006 law seeking to cut greenhouse gases roughly a quarter by 2020.

On Monday, Schwarzenegger said the state’s agreement with China recognizes that climate change requires a global solution.

“America has to lead, and we are doing so with or without Washington,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “California is not waiting for the federal government to take action.”

President Bush last week called for a halt in the growth of greenhouse gases by 2025 but does not favor mandatory emission cuts. Schwarzenegger has urged greater urgency in trying to halt the growth in emissions.

While California is pursuing its climate change goals, state regulators and politicians are bickering over how best to implement the landmark 2006 greenhouse gas law.