Lu Xuedu, China's chief negotiator in the ongoing talks of a new and binding United Nations climate agreement has spent the past week attending the CC8 climate conference in Sarpsborg in Norway. And apparently the man likes what he sees when presented with samples of the latest Norwegian environmental technology, especially concerning the treatment of CO2 emissions.
"We'd very much like to collaborate with Norway in developing this technology. The rounding-up and storage of CO2 is very interesting to China," Mr. Lu told Norwegian media this week. Norway and the Middle Kingdom have already initiated negotiations, but so far no concrete projects have been agreed upon. A slight cause for concern among Norwegians as the Asian juggernaut holds similar talks with both Japan and Australia. The Chinese market holds enormous potential for environmentally sound technology, as the country's 90% coal-fuelled economy continues to break both growth and pollution records year after year.
"China's coal-based economy has an incredibly high emission rate per used Norwegian krone (NOK). At the same time the Chinese have ambitions of lifting the general population out of poverty and will never concede to climate initiatives that could potentially curb economic growth." says Marius Holm, deputy manager at Norwegian environmental NGO Bellona. "And that's why technology transfers are the way to go. It would be great if Norway could provide several of the largest Chinese coal power plants with full-scale waste treatment facilities before, say, 2015.
Full story in Norwegian
News category: Norway
Published on this site: Jun. 11, 2008
Source: e24.no