A realistic and feasible way to settle the disputes over the issue of climate change is to work out "developing phases" for developing countries in their effort to achieve modernization, a climate change expert told Xinhua recently.

"It is unrealistic to ask developing countries, including China and India, to meet the standards and norms for developed countries," said Huang Jing, former senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, a leading think tank in the United States.

Huang, who has closely followed the climate change row between the developed and developing countries, said the "developing phases" initiative envisages clearly defined standards in each developing phase that must be met.

As the country is developing, the standards should also change, he said.

"While the developing countries are committed to meet the standards in each 'phase', the developed countries are obliged to provide necessary technical and economic support to them," he said.

Economic development and modernization are the basic and universal rights for all peoples in the world, and the only way to achieve modernization is through industrialization during which massive increases in energy consumption and pollution are inevitable, said Huang.

The developed countries have the moral obligation to help developing countries overcome the unavoidable dilemma in their efforts to achieve modernization via industrialization, Huang said.

"Political leaders and people in the developed societies should realize that they are not only helping the developing countries but essentially themselves as well," he said.

"Should the developing countries fail to handle their energy and environment issues in the process of industrialization, there would be a disaster for the entire world," Huang added.

Huang also called for serious efforts from the developing countries to improve energy efficiency, curb pollution and protect the environment. Being "developing" cannot be an excuse for overlooking energy and environment issues, he said.

The senior researcher said communication, coordination and cooperation, which he defined as 3Cs, were the only way to success, while confrontation and isolation would surely spell failure.

"With the 3Cs principle, members of the world community have to first concentrate on working out globally acceptable treaties and agreements, with concrete measures, standards and mechanism, that have to be followed by all countries," he said.

On Tuesday, representatives from 17 of the world's major economies and biggest emitters of greenhouse gases gathered in Honolulu, Hawaii, to discuss ways to tackle climate change in the coming decades.

The idea of bringing the world's major economies for climate change talks was initiated by President George W. Bush in May 2007,when the United States was under growing pressure to contribute more to solving the issue of greenhouse gas emissions.

"The increasingly 'active' involvement of the United States in the global effort to secure energy supply and improve the environment revealed a positive signal," said Huang.

The move of the Bush administration showed that the energy and environmental issues have drawn serious attention from the US policy elites as well as the general public.

He warned that a US consensus has to be reached on how to solve the problems and, more importantly, what role the United States needs to play and how much it should contribute to such a global effort.

Huang was optimistic about the future of the world climate.

"The entire history of our human beings is a history of overcoming challenges. Now the challenges from the energy security and environment are more formidable than ever which demands a joint effort from all of us," Huang stressed.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2008)