China, 'world's greatest polluter', building two new power s

[Linnea]

China is building two new power stations a week, a leading climate change official warned today. - dailymail.co.uk

However, John Ashton, the Foreign Office's special representative for climate change, said there was no point blaming China for rising global CO2 emissions as rich nations had to set an example for China to follow.

His statement came as a new report from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency suggested China might already be the world's greatest polluter, with emissions rising by nine per cent last year, compared with 1.4 per cent in America.

"It is a massive challenge," Mr Ashton told the BBC. "We need to convince China that they don't have to make a choice between prosperity and protecting the climate ... there is also a moral case.

"Most greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been put there by developing countries without having to worry about the climate."

Mr Ashton added that much of China's emissions growth was driven by consumers in the West buying Chinese goods. Also, it is estimated that the average American still pollutes between five and six times more than the average Chinese person.

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