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GCN in Copenhagen: China signals intention to move forward on MRV

18 December 2009

The international community could be given greater insight into China's domestic measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In his address at the opening session of the final segment of COP-15 on Friday, Premier Wen Jiabao said the China would "increase transparency" of its emission reductions and "actively engage in international exchange, dialogue and cooperation". This has increased speculation that Beijing is on the verge of striking a compromise which could make its climate actions 'measurable, reportable and verifiable' (MRV).

Political pressure on Beijing to allow international review of its mitigation efforts has intensified recently, particularly from the US, where the poltical integrity of a global climate deal depends on involving China, which has now overtaken the US as the world's largest emitter. On Thursday, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton announced that Washington is ready to contribute to a $100 billion annual finance package to support the developing world limit its emissions, provided that certain conditions are met: namely, that China and other large emerging economies accept independent scrutiny of their actions to curb C02.

These sentiments were today echoed by President Obama who, in his address to the COP, called for a "mechanism to review whether we are keeping our commitments" in order to "ensure that an accord is credible". Without this level of accountability "any agreement would be empty words on a page", said Obama. On Wednesday, Senator John Kerry, suggested that the fate of U.S. climate legislation may rest on concessions made by China and India at Copenhagen in the area of MRV.

China has previously stated that it is not opposed to MRV for mitigation actions that receive international financing, technology, or capacity building support. However, it has remained fervently opposed to international scrutiny of domestic actions that do not receive such support.

In a press conference on Thursday, He Yafei, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that would not accept verification of 'voluntary' measures that is "intrusive" or infringes on Chinese sovereignty. Beijing's recent pledge to cut the carbon intensity of its economy by 40-45% by 2020 is deemed by Chinese authories to be subject only to domestic law, since it will not rely on finance from industrialised countries.

Earlier this month, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced it would be working with China's National Development and Reform Commision (NDRC) to develop China's national greenhouse gas inventory, using best-practices and sound methodologies.
 
In November, the GCN hosted a high level dialogue with national climate regulators aimed at promoting collaboration of this kind, so that developing countries can develop the technical and human capacity needed for accurate emissions accounting. In conjunction with the meeting, the GCN also published a briefing paper on the importance of MRV for enshrining trust and cooperation between Parties in a global climate deal.