China sees tackling climate change as urgent-Stern

BEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) China's leaders recognise the urgency of tackling climate change and that reducing greenhouse gases does not mean slamming the brakes on growth, the author of an acclaimed report on global warming today said.

At a news conference to outline a study he presented to the British government in October, former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern disputed the premise of several questions that China was not doing enough to address global warming.

''There is a sense of urgency in China,'' Stern, head of the British government's economic service, said. ''It's important to recognise that China is moving, and moving quite quickly.'' Other Western diplomats and environmental experts are less impressed, however, and privately fret that China's leadership is not fully aware of the dangers of global warming or putting enough priority on measures to tackle it.

Stern's review said timely measures to curb the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that warm the planet, and so avoid the worst impact of climate change, could cost as little as 1 percent of global gross domestic product a year.

But failure to act promptly would spell environmental disaster.

The overall costs and risks of climate change would be the equivalent of losing 5 per cent of world economic output each year, now and forever.

For China, the world's number two producer of greenhouse gasses, global warming would exacerbate droughts in the north and floods in the south, in part because of the melting of Himalayan glaciers, Stern said.

SERIOUS CONCERN ''There is serious concern in China, as there should be, about the problems of receding snow cover and melting of glaciers.'' Stern said the focus of his meetings in China had been very practical. Officials wanted to explore the transfer of technology and help with the financing of a shift to a low-carbon economy.

Support will be vital if fast-growing China is to ween itself off, or clean up the coal-fired stations that currently provide over 80 percent of its electricity supply .

MOVING AHEAD Stern said China deserved credit as one of the few countries where forest cover had increased and for energy-saving commitments in the ruling Communist Party's plan for 2006-2010.

''China is not waiting. China is moving ahead,'' he said. ''I don't think there's any question of waiting for others.'' Noting that China would implement an export tax on energy-intensive exports this month, Stern said he believed Beijing had also embraced the idea of using price incentives to encourage the move to a low-carbon economy.

''I think that principle is accepted in China, and I hope that China does go forward with these kinds of policies as part of the story of increasing energy efficiency, of encouraging technology for renewables, carbon capture and storage for coal and so on.'' But Beijing still sets prices for diesel, gasoline and electricity some of the key generators of greenhouse gasses which analysts say encourages waste and makes investment in cleaner technology less financially attractive.

Stern said it was the poorest countries that would suffer most if global warming was not tackled. Far from costing jobs, more efficient use of energy would save money and developing new technologies would be a rich source of growth.

''The idea that you've got to grow first and adjust later is wrong. It's one of the key conclusions of the Stern review and I think it's recognised here in China,'' he added.

REUTERS SY PM1333