Chinese Premier Avoids Emission Committments As Climate Barely Makes It Onto Party Agenda - Reuters

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BEIJING, March 16 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday promised a national plan to address climate change but avoided offering emissions caps, speaking after a parliament session where global warming barely scraped on to the agenda. Fast-industrialising China is the world's second-largest producer of greenhouse gases, which scientists warn are behind rising average global temperatures that threaten weather havoc.

Wen said China was working to reduce its energy use -- the majority of emissions come from burning coal, oil and gas -- and would offer a plan to address climate change. "Although we are a developing country, we have nonetheless formulated a response plan for Chinese climate change based on international treaties concerning greenhouse gas emissions," Wen said.

But in a once-a-year news conference, in which every word is carefully chosen, Wen steered clear of concrete commitments.

In recent months, world leaders have queued up to call for action on global warming, with even long-time sceptic President George W. Bush raising concerns. But Wen's guarded remarks and the topic's absence from his keynote work report suggested China is wary of tackling the issue even as it moves into the international emissions spotlight.

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