South Korea Says India, China Need Carbon-Cutting Targets, Too

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – South Korea has proposed a new way to commit developing countries to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change.

South Korea's climate ambassador and chief negotiator, Rae-Kwon Chung, has suggested that countries like China and India record their domestic carbon policies in an international registry. Although registering would be voluntary, it would amount to a commitment that could be monitored and verified.

Today, only 37 countries have binding targets for reducing carbon emissions, while others — including China, the world's largest producer of global warming carbon emissions — have no obligations at all.

Chung says the proposal, outlined in a conference call from Washington on Friday, would break a negotiating deadlock by creating a new category of countries committed to cut greenhouse gases.