BEIJING (Kyodo) Alarmed by the slow progress in global negotiations on a new carbon-capping pact, young people in Asia are increasingly calling on China, Japan and other major greenhouse gas emitters to step up to the plate, emphasizing that transformation to a low-carbon economy would generate new jobs and other opportunities.
About 270 university students and young professionals from 11 countries met this month in Beijing to give "wakeup calls" to policymakers involved in U.N. talks leading toward a key climate meeting in December in Copenhagen, where the world will try to strike a deal on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
"As the No. 1 carbon dioxide emitter in the world, China should be responsible. We should do more" to curb emissions, Chinese delegate Yupu Zhao said after the International Youth Summit on Energy and Climate Change at Tsinghua University on July 18 and 19. "And we hope to cooperate with big players like the European Union, Japan and America to do more."