China thinks addressing climate change is a "common duty"

China says nations have a common duty and responsibility on climate change


Chinese leaders have made noise that addressing climate change is a common duty of mankind, but they still think that the world's leading economies -- other than theirs -- need to take the most drastic steps to address it.

Given what happened in this country on Tuesday, November 2, not much is going to happen from the U.S. sector in the foreseeable future.

The following two statements are a good illustration of the phrase "talking out of both sides of one's mouth":

A Chinese climate change official said countries share “a common duty and responsibility” to tackle the issue, even in the absence of an international agreement on what steps to take. Nations shouldn’t delay acting on climate change, Sun Zhen, deputy general counsel at the National Development and Reform Commission’s department of climate change, said at a global warming forum in Hong Kong today. “Evidence of the effects of climate change is there,” he said.

BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT...

China said at the Tianjin meeting richer nations should pledge deeper emissions cuts before developing nations are asked to do more. “Developed countries should accept their historic responsibilities over climate change,” Sun said today.

So we've still got an Alphonse-Gaston situation in front of the global climate change action plank. And nobody (meaning nation) is willing to step out there first.