By Chris Buckley
Beijing - China must swiftly decouple its rapid economic growth from rising carbon dioxide emissions for global greenhouse gas levels to stay manageable, the authors of a new study said, urging sweeping support to help that transition.
The study from Britain's Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research by Tao Wang and Jim Watson finds China can transform into a "low-carbon economy" with the right mix of clean energy, carbon storage technology and development policies.
But at the release of the report to officials and experts in Beijing on Wednesday, Wang said the task of turning the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter into a green economy will be difficult, even in the easier scenarios.
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And it would require big commitments of technology and funding from wealthy countries.
"It's very crucial to slow the growth [of China's emissions] as early as possible and to reach a peak as early as possible," Wang, a researcher at the University of Sussex, told the meeting.
"It's vital for China to have the technical and financial assistance to make the fast transition which is necessary," he said in a separate interview.
Wang and Watson said their study suggested China's CO2 output should peak between 2020 and 2030, because keeping accumulated emissions within tolerable levels would be increasingly difficult if output keeps growing beyond then.
"What we're not saying is that China should take on a target now," Watson, a researcher at the Tyndall Centre, said. But, he added, "slowing the trajectory from the steep rise it's been on is needed, whatever future you conceive of."
Chinese climate change policy officials and experts are developing the government's position for negotiations aiming to agree the outlines of a new pact on fighting global warming by the end of the year.
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