US Secretary of Energy Dr. Stephen Chu said yesterday that fighting climate change is not the responsibility of rich countries alone. Speaking at Tianjin University on July 17, he said developing countries, and China in particular, cannot afford to delay action on reducing CO2 emissions.

US Secretary of Energy Dr. Stephen Chu delivers a speech at Tianjin University on July 17 . [Pang Li/China.org.cn]

The Nobel Prize-winning physicist cited the catastrophic outcomes of climate change, including flooding of coastal cities and population displacement. China, the world's most populous country, is particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, he added. Climate change would deal a deadly blow to the tree population and would cut food production. If this happens, China will be unable to feed its huge population, he said.

Dr. Chu said China faced a choice. It could follow the example of the developed countries and get rich first, then invest in environmental improvement when the situation is already very bad. Or it could take immediate action on energy efficiency, by adopting clean energy technologies.

Dr Chu urged China to take the second path. He said China should begin reducing its dependence on fossil fuels and ensure that new infrastructure is built taking energy efficiency into account. He pointed out that energy-efficient buildings are not costly; on the contrary they can save money.

In his hour-long speech, Dr. Chu also talked about his family and recounted some of his experiences in scientific research. Occasional touches of humor provoked laughter from the audience. Earlier, he had visited the university’s archives to view photos of his grandfather who was dean of the university in 1930s.

Dr. Chu, who was born in America, but whose family originates from Jiangsu Province in east China, won the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics for his research on trapping atoms using laser beams. He has long advocated a shift away from fossil fuels to combat global warming.

Before heading to Tianjin, Dr. Chu visited the Hebei Province headquarters of ENN, a Chinese company specializing in clean energy technologies.

(China.org.cn by Pang Li, July 18, 2009)