UN Climate Change Summit: China taking lead?

China’s President Hu Jintao said at the United Nations Summit today in New York that China would work towards curbing its emissions, CNN reports. As the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Jintao says the Chinese are committed to reduce its emissions by a “notable margin” in the upcoming years.

AP reported that U.S. President Barack Obama also talked at the summit earlier. “We understand the gravity of the climate threat. We are determined to act,” Obama said. “And we will meet our responsibility to future generations.”

Jintao did not present any specific proposals of how to accomplish reducing their carbon footprint. Some tweets criticized his and Obama’s announcements:

thereisnoplan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) @arenda china’s taken the lead on bs’ing about climate change. 22 Sep 2009 from Seesmic in reply to arenda

myYaletown (Vancouver, Canada) China vows climate change action but lacks real detail- emissions should grow slower than the economy. 22 Sep 2009 from web

dunnwilson (Truro, Cornwall, U.K.) If US and China don’t keep climate change promises we could make the leaders shop in truro Sainsbury’s. That’ll teach them to mess with us! 22 Sep 2009 from TwitterBerry

luluchadora (Undisclosed) please. someone tell me how china’s economy is still “emerging,” thus giving them a free pass to ignore int’l climate change regulations? 22 Sep 2009 from web

LadyBarometer (Chattanooga, TN) @CNN We should not be the only country steering toward climate change, it’s a world issue, not a U.S. Issue, just take a look at China. 22 Sep 2009 from web in reply to CNN

mlmattador (Orlando, Fla.) Why is the US not taking leadership on climate change… instead China and India are taking the lead… http://ow.ly/qvfh 22 Sep 2009 from HootSuite

Others were thankful of these peaceful talks that might just lead to a united front against climate change:

KevinAlcena (Bahamas) I am very proud of Pres. Obama and the Pres. of China. I feel that these 2 gentlemen are very sincere in their commitment to climate change. 22 Sep 2009 from TweetDeck

deadmagicbones (Undisclosed) Thank you to China for vowing to make efforts against climate change and co2 levels. 22 Sep 2009 from web

conneally (Geneva, Switzerland) As #China comes in from the cold, could Climate Change yet be a force for Global Unity? http://bit.ly/hfjYN 22 Sep 2009 from bit.ly

The hope that the two nations that are credited with contributing the most to the global climate change, China and the U.S., might encourage them to step up their programs to curb their emissions. However, some Twitterers thought that Jintao did a better job making promises to slow the climate change than Obama:

DaveKeating (London, U.K.) European frustrations with the US at this climate change summit are reaching boiling point. China is emerging as a hero http://bit.ly/EaEn9 22 Sep 2009 from web