U.S. Envoy lauds China’s efforts against carbon emissions

China is making serious efforts to deal with carbon emissions, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said. He added that he "enormous respect" for what China is doing domestically.

Stern stated that he knew China is doing a great deal with respect to increasing energy efficiency, renewable energy and so forth after visiting factories, the Tianjin Climate Center and various places in China in October.
In November 2009, China promised to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, while increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 15 percent by 2020.

During the 11th Five-Year 2005-2010 Plan period, China's investment in energy-saving and emission-reduction projects reached about US$300 billion, more than US$30 billion of which came from the Chinese government, according to China's National Development and Reform Commission.

Stern said even with all the good work China is doing, its emissions are still enormously high. However, "China is certainly making serious efforts to deal with it," Stern said.