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![The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in the Peruvian capital Lima from Dec. 1- 12 [Image: UN]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/15737345080_2a4015bbd2_z.jpg)
The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in the Peruvian capital Lima from Dec. 1- 12 [Image: UN]
China has criticized Australia’s refusal to donate to the UN Green Fund saying it is an obligation of developed countries.
The UN Green Fund is a “trust-building process”, said Su Wei, Chinese envoy to the talks and Australia’s downplaying the importance of the fund is “not good news”, he said.
The fund is meant to be the biggest single funding route for the $100 billion that developed countries have pledged should flow to poor nations each year by 2020.
Over 190 nations are negotiating new limits on greenhouse gas in a UN conference in Lima, the capital of Peru.
In an interview to Associated Press on Friday, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Canberra will push for a “common playing field”.
“The new agreement should establish a common playing field for all countries to take climate action from 2020 and seek commitments from all the major economies to reducing emissions,” she said in an apparent reference to whether China as the second biggest economy should contribute to the fund.
One major source of contention in the discussions has been whether major economies like China and rich Middle-eastern nations should be exempt from contributing to the fund.
Beijing is insisting that developed countries must do far more to cut emissions since they contributed the most to environment degradation since the Industrial Revolution.
Developed nations must offer finance, technology and capacity building support to developing countries to help them adapt to and address climate change.
“These supports should also be included in the post-2020 contributions of developed countries,” said Su Wei, the Chinese envoy.
Australia also questioned the commitments made by China in a recent deal with the US on emission cuts.
“China has already said that it will continue business as usual until 2030. We want to know whether there’s some sort of binding commitment,” Bishop said.
Canberra has said it will use its aid programs with bilateral partnerships to reduce the impact of climate change on developing countries.
China’s BRICS partners, India and Russia, are yet to set a target for fossil fuel.
The UN is urging around 200 nations to arrive at a consensus for a climate accord at a summit in Paris in late 2015.
In a key announcement made by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama earlier last month, both countries agreed on an accord to cut emissions. China said 2030 would be peak year for its soaring greenhouse gas emissions, the first time it has set a limit. The US would cut emissions by more than a quarter from 2005 levels by 2025, stressed Obama.
A UN panel on climate change has warned that unchecked climate change could have “severe, widespread and irreversible impacts” on human society and nature with heatwaves, floods, storms and rising sea levels.
The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in the Peruvian capital Lima from Dec. 1- 12.
The meeting is intended to pave the way for a new agreement addressing climate change, planned to be passed at the end of 2015 in Paris and come into force in 2020.
TBP
