China countered a Danish working paper presented at the UN climate change conference on Thursday, proposing that only industrial countries be forced to set specific targets on greenhouse gases, according to dpa. According to the French daily Le Monde, India, Brazil, South Africa and Sudan also worked on the text to the proposal, which however did not mention any concrete numbers. The Chinese proposal does call on developing nations to take action on climate protection but only "on the basis of their specific national circumstances." The environmental non-governmental organization Greenpeace called the proposal too weak. A stabilization of the earth"s temperature at 2 degrees of warming would not be possible if developing countries did not participate, said Martin Kaiser, head of the climate policy at Greenpeace International. He added that industrialized nations however had to take the first step. A plan proposed by climate conference host Denmark drew the ire of developing countries when it called for developing countries to limit their emissions of greenhouse gas emissions. Developing countries say the developed world had more cuts to make before it could make demands of the developing world. The talks, which broke down on Wednesday in recriminations between developed and developing countries, had been clouded by opposition to a demand from low-lying island nation Tuvalu, which is pushing for the talks to lead to a legally binding agreement. Additionally, European Union officials slammed China and other developing nations for stonewalling talks. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called such back and forth the usual political theatre, terming it a normal part of any such conference. Denmark said earlier Thursday it would offer a proposed deal over the weekend. EU nations are working to prepare a joint approach to the talks in advance of the closing days, December 17-18, when more than 110 world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, are expected to come to the conference to negotiate. Greenpeace meanwhile welcomed a funding proposal made at the climate conference Thursday by international investor George Soros. The Soros proposal would have the world"s richest nations use 100 billion dollars of the foreign exchange reserves received from the International Monetary Fund to develop emissions-reducing projects in poor countries. "Rich countries could double available funding to combat climate change by donating recently issued Special Drawing Rights to a new green fund," Soros said, stating that the money was lying idle in reserve accounts and IMF vaults. In response, Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said: "Money is one of the keys to a good outcome in Copenhagen. ... But money alone will not do it. We need political will." The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presented a report at the climate summit warning of a souring of the oceans. The Switzerland-based environmental group said in a report released Thursday that increased release of CO2 in the atmosphere was making seawater more acidic and was threatening ecosystems and aquatic life essential for human food and economies. "Ocean acidification can be best described as the evil twin of climate change," said Dan Laffoley, lead editor of the report. The oceans, which absorbs 25 per cent of all the carbon dioxide emitted annually, have grown 30 per cent more acidic since industrialization began 250 years ago. In addition to reducing the ocean"s ability to regulate climate, ocean acidification in the past has been linked to mass extinctions of some species, the report said. If CO2 levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, sea water acidity could increase by 120 per cent by 2060 greater than anything experienced in the past 21 million years. By 2100, 70 per cent of cold water corals may be exposed to corrosive water.
