In Environmental News

This doesn't surprise me. Unfortunately, I heard from a very highly placed individual that China is not serious about environmental issues. Cracking down on foreign owned enterprises gives the illusion that China is concerned but merely serves as a protectionist measure.

China will not be tied to set targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the European parliament's climate change committee said on Wednesday, following meetings with Chinese officials. However, it was suggested that, rather than sign up to a full international pact on global warming, China might be persuaded to join other developing countries in pledging anti-climate change action. The talks came ahead of a summit in Bali in December at which representatives from 191 nations will discuss what to do once the Kyoto protocol on climate change expires in 2012, the Financial Times reported. The US has said that developing countries such as China and India must help cut emissions even though their historical and per capita contributions to global warming trail those of the West. The International Energy Agency predicts that China will surpass the US as the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases this year.