Friday, October 19, 2007

Exports fuel China's CO2 output

Some very serious people are already talking about CO2 tariffs to be imposed at the border.
This will get interesting.

From the BBC:

A quarter of China's greenhouse gas emissions are produced making goods exported to the West, a report from a UK government-funded body has found.

Climate research body the Tyndall Centre, using 2004 data, estimates the emissions are double those of Britain for the same period.

It wants rich nations to take the lead in cutting the pollution they cause.

In the last year, UK imports from China rose by 10%, nearing 6.5 million tonnes, according to a recent study.

'Rethink needed'

The Tyndall Centre report concludes that in 2004 - the most recent year in which comprehensive data is available - net exports from China accounted for 23% of its total CO2 emissions.

The authors said the emission levels are due to China's trade surplus, but are also due to the relatively high level of carbon intensity within the Chinese economy....