China Says Wealthy NationsShould Spend 1% of GDP to Fight Warming

Saying that the U.S., Europe, and other industrialized nations have spent “virtually nothing” to slow global warming, a top Chinese official called on those countries to commit 1 percent of their Gross Domestic Product to transfer green technologies to developing nations and help wean their economies from carbon-based fuels. Gao Guangsheng, chief of the climate change office in the National Development and Reform Commission, acknowledged that developing nations such as China are obliged to fight global warming, but maintained that the world’s wealthier countries must first take meaningful steps to solve the problem. “Developing countries have not carried out their relevant commitments,” Gao said at a news conference. His statement foreshadows China’s position at crucial climate talks next year in Copenhagen, where the Chinese will likely decline to curb their own greenhouse gas emissions until industrialized countries launch a major effort to transfer alternative energy technologies to developing nations.