Asia still focused on coal despite low-carbon goals

Asia’s burgeoning green growth not yet enough to topple king coal

The United Nations climate negotiations in December are propelling a worldwide drive towards low-carbon growth in the energy sector, as nations submit pledges to control and reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. In the 23 years since the Rio Earth Summit created the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the focus has been chiefly on developed nations’ efforts to rein in fossil fuel use, but this year’s meeting will see all member countries accepting a common responsibility to combat the effects of climate change. From China, with an annual carbon footprint of 9.7bn metric tons, to the island of Niue, which accounted for just 50,000 mt of CO2 equivalent emissions in 2010, 196 state