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Danish PM lauds Wen's role at meet

By Cheng Guangjin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-12 09:11

BEIJING - Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has praised Premier Wen Jiabao's role at the climate change summit held in Copenhagen last December, once again commending China's efforts in tackling climate change.

Vice-President Xi Jinping (waving to the delegates) at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia. [China Daily]

"As a host, I can testify to the facts that Premier Wen played a very constructive and positive role," Rasmussen said in an interview to China Central Television (CCTV) on the sidelines of the annual session of the Bo'ao Forum for Asia (BFA), a pan-Asian platform for dialogue on key issues affecting Asia and the world.

"I think it's right to say that without his (Wen's) personal involvement, we wouldn't have achieved the result-oriented Copenhagen Accord," Rasmussen added.

By far, 115 countries have agreed to abide by the Copenhagen Accord, Rasmussen, who is to hold talks with Wen in Beijing on Monday, said.

This is not the first time that the Danish PM has hailed China's efforts, even as some other countries viewed the summit as a disappointment and accused China of having failed the climate change negotiations. UK's Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband, in particular, said Beijing had "hijacked" the talks by vetoing two agreements on limiting emissions, only a few days after the summit concluded.

In a letter dated Feb 12 to Premier Wen, Rasmussen said he completely agreed with the Chinese premier on his positive evaluation of the Copenhagen Conference and its achievements, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang had said in February. "He (Rasmussen) appreciates the important and constructive role played by China, especially by Premier Wen himself during the Conference and feels encouraged by China's positive evaluation and support of the Copenhagen Accord," Qin had said.

The Copenhagen Accord set a commitment to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). It was agreed to by the leaders of the United States, China, India, Brazil, South Africa and major European nations after two weeks of tense negotiations in the Danish capital.

Premier Wen had attended the three concluding days of the conference, and exchanged views with other leaders and heads of international organizations, including Rasmussen, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He also delivered a speech at the summit.

In his speech, Wen had called on all parties to act pragmatically, demonstrate political will, take note of each other's concerns, rapidly build consensus and seek an effective way of pushing forward the negotiation process.

During the summit, Rasmussen had said the Danish side highly appreciated the targets China had announced for greenhouse gas emissions control.

The Chinese government had reported its emission cuts progress to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, reaffirming a reduction of carbon dioxide emission intensity per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 against 2005 levels.

"They are a reflection of China's positive efforts in promoting international cooperation in dealing with climate change," Rasmussen had said in December.

Agencies contributed to the story.

CHINA DAILY