China will vigorously promote energy conservation and emissions
reduction to tackle climate change and promote sustainable
development, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said on Tuesday.
"In order to ease the conflict between economic development and
environmental protection, China will stick to the concept of
human-oriented and scientific development," Zeng told the opening
ceremony of an international forum of Nobel laureates and
world-renowned economists.
China would pay more attention to "the expansion of domestic
demand, the development of primary and tertiary industries,
innovation and technological progress", he said.
The government would adjust the development mode mainly through
energy conservation and emissions reduction, Zeng said, adding it
would actively promote the use of renewable energy such as
hydropower, wind energy, biomass energy and solar energy and the
development of nuclear power.
"The proportion of renewable energy in overall energy
consumption should rise from the current eight percent to 15
percent in 2020," he said.
Thermal power and iron and steel industries with high energy
consumption and pollution would be eliminated at a faster speed,
while energy-efficient buildings and environmental-friendly light
bulbs would become dominant, Zeng said, calling for development of
the recycling economy and efficient use of the energy
resources.
Forest coverage would be increased from 18.2 percent in 2005 to
20 percent in 2010, he said, adding frontier technologies such as
hydrogen fuel cell and carbon absorption would be developed to
support environmental protection.
A resource tax and pricing system, a user-pays mechanism for
mineral resources and an environment compensation system should be
established with improved laws and regulations to build an
energy-saving and environment-friendly society, he added.
Nine Nobel laureates and five world-renowned scientists,
including Robert Mundell, Edmund Phelps, Richard Schrock and Thomas
Schelling, are meeting from Sept. 11 to 14 to discuss energy
efficiency with 600 Chinese scientists, officials and experts.
They are expected to give more than 50 lectures on topics such
as solar energy and its market development, global warming and the
reduction in greenhouse gases in Beijing.
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2007)