China Says Other Nations Should Do More About Climate Change

Rich countries responsible for most of the world's greenhouse gas emissions should take the lead on climate change, a commentary in China's state media said on Tuesday, a week before the opening of global talks on the issue.

China is set to surpass the United States as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide, the main gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, but has resisted pressure to agree to caps or specific targets on its emissions.

The commentary said that from the Industrial Revolution until the 1950s, the developed world was responsible for 95 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and accounted 77 percent of the world's total from 1950 to 2000.