China won't cut its CO2 emissions...

Well, China has been clear about this for years now...

Four months away from the Copenhagen negotiations, which aim to produce a successor to the Kyoto treaty, China's chief climate change negotiator confirmed that the world's leading polluter was holding out for developed countries to reduce emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels.

"We have all along believed that due to the historical responsibility of the developed nations, they must continue to take the lead with large reductions beyond 2012," said Yu Qingtai.

He added we "have demanded that developed nations reduce emissions by 40 percent... this is fair and reasonable... China's position has not changed."

While China has taken dramatic steps to develop its green energy industries and has placed the environment at the heart of its domestic strategy, it has also resisted any regulations that would dampen industrial growth. Under the UN Framework on Climate Change, China is not required to set emissions cuts, since its emissions per-capita are still far lower than those in Western countries.

The European Union has said it will slash emissions by 20 pe rcent by 2020 compared with the 1990 level. The US Congress is considering legislation that would reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020. China has said neither of those pledges is sufficient.

A strategic meeting between Chinese and American leaders in Washington last week also failed to make any progress, and several environmental campaigners are concerned that time is running out before Copenhagen to hammer out a deal.