Copenhagen:
China accused the United States and other rich nations on Tuesday of backsliding on fighting global warming during negotiations at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
In return, the top US envoy said Chinese greenhouse gas emission commitments should be independently verified.
Yu Qingtai, China's special representative on climate change, said the "difficulties" in the negotiations were caused by some countries making "unreasonable requests for developing countries."
He said there were "still many issues of concern." "What we request from developed countries is that they need to translate their commitments into concrete actions," he told a news conference on Tuesday.
Trying to ease the tension, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said rich and poor countries must "stop pointing fingers" and should increase their pledges to cut emissions to salvage the faltering talks on a climate pact.
The European Union also urged both the US and China to increase their commitments on emissions targets, but the US would not change its offer.
New negotiating drafts circulating on Tuesday showed key issues, including emissions targets for industrial countries, climate financing for developing countries, and verification of emissions, remained unresolved.
"You can't even begin to have an environmentally sound agreement without the adequate and significant participation of China," said US special climate envoy Todd Stern.
China and other developing countries are resisting US-led attempts to make their cuts in emissions growth binding and open to international scrutiny rather than voluntary.
China, the world's largest polluter, is grouped with developing nations at the talks, but the US doesn't consider China to be in need of climate-change aid.
In Beijing, China accused developed countries on Tuesday of trying to escape their obligations to help poor nations fight climate change.
President Barack Obama and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are among more than 110 world leaders expected in Copenhagen this week.
The US has offered a 17 percent reduction from 2005 emissions levels by 2020.
That amounts to a 3 percent to 4 percent cut from 1990 levels - the baseline year used by many other countries.
China has pledged to cut "carbon intensity" - a measure of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of production - by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels.
Since China's economy is expected to double in size in coming years, that pledge means China's emissions will only increase by nearly 50 percent, instead of doubling.
Neither the US nor the Chinese offer impressed the 27-nation EU, which has promised to reduce its emissions by at least 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2020 - and go up to 30 percent if others make comparable commitments.
Japan and Russia have already promised 25 percent cuts. China believes the US and other rich nations have a heavy historical responsibility to cut emissions, and that any climate deal should take into account a country's development level.
In return, the top US envoy said Chinese greenhouse gas emission commitments should be independently verified.
Yu Qingtai, China's special representative on climate change, said the "difficulties" in the negotiations were caused by some countries making "unreasonable requests for developing countries."
He said there were "still many issues of concern." "What we request from developed countries is that they need to translate their commitments into concrete actions," he told a news conference on Tuesday.
Trying to ease the tension, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said rich and poor countries must "stop pointing fingers" and should increase their pledges to cut emissions to salvage the faltering talks on a climate pact.
The European Union also urged both the US and China to increase their commitments on emissions targets, but the US would not change its offer.
New negotiating drafts circulating on Tuesday showed key issues, including emissions targets for industrial countries, climate financing for developing countries, and verification of emissions, remained unresolved.
"You can't even begin to have an environmentally sound agreement without the adequate and significant participation of China," said US special climate envoy Todd Stern.
China and other developing countries are resisting US-led attempts to make their cuts in emissions growth binding and open to international scrutiny rather than voluntary.
China, the world's largest polluter, is grouped with developing nations at the talks, but the US doesn't consider China to be in need of climate-change aid.
In Beijing, China accused developed countries on Tuesday of trying to escape their obligations to help poor nations fight climate change.
President Barack Obama and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are among more than 110 world leaders expected in Copenhagen this week.
The US has offered a 17 percent reduction from 2005 emissions levels by 2020.
That amounts to a 3 percent to 4 percent cut from 1990 levels - the baseline year used by many other countries.
China has pledged to cut "carbon intensity" - a measure of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of production - by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels.
Since China's economy is expected to double in size in coming years, that pledge means China's emissions will only increase by nearly 50 percent, instead of doubling.
Neither the US nor the Chinese offer impressed the 27-nation EU, which has promised to reduce its emissions by at least 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2020 - and go up to 30 percent if others make comparable commitments.
Japan and Russia have already promised 25 percent cuts. China believes the US and other rich nations have a heavy historical responsibility to cut emissions, and that any climate deal should take into account a country's development level.
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