China will take part in international negotiations on combating global warming after the U.N. Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012, according to a report in The Yomiuri Shimbun of Japan. Beijing did not sign on to the Kyoto Protocol, the world's most significant attempt to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. But with China scheduled to surpass the United States in 2010 as the world's biggest polluter, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is set to announce his country's intention to join a post-Kyoto framework for action.
Wen will make the announcement on Wednesday during a diplomatic visit to Japan, which has agreed to help China improve its energy efficiency. China will also release later this month its national plan for reducing global warming. Although China has become a massive polluter as its economy has surged, it has also sought to clean up its image in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
China relies mainly on dirty coal for power, and whether its leadership is serious about making headway on the issue remains to be seen. Both China and the US worked hard last week to water down the latest foreboding IPCC report summary on climate change.
But Wen's announcement in Japan is sure to put pressure on the Bush administration, which has done everything in its power not to act on global warming. One of Bush's first decisions as a new president was to pull out from the Kyoto talks, citing as a reason that China was not a participant.
