Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- China pledged for the first time to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions in proportion to economic growth in a new effort to fight global warming that lacked numerical goals.

President Hu Jintao offered to reduce the so-called carbon intensity of factories and power plants in the world’s third- biggest economy by an unspecified amount at a United Nations summit on climate change yesterday in New York.

China unveiled the initiative less than three months before it joins about 190 nations in Copenhagen for a final round of negotiations on a new climate treaty. The offer, a step forward in talks over how to rein in industrial emissions, drew criticism for its lack of detail.

“Conceptually, it’s an important breakthrough,” said Elliot Diringer, who oversees international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Virginia. “But the critical questions are how ambitious a target they will set and whether they’d be willing to commit to it internationally.”

China, which before yesterday hadn’t cast efforts on climate change in terms of a carbon-dioxide reduction, will target the amount of heat-trapping emissions produced for every unit of gross domestic product, Hu said.

“We will endeavor to cut carbon-dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a notable margin by 2020 from the 2005 level,” Hu said. He did not commit to add the policy to a new treaty.

Energy Conservation History

China has previously set goals to reduce activities that cause air pollution. According to targets set by Premier Wen Jiabao last March, the country aims to cut the energy required to produce every 1,000 yuan ($147) of gross domestic product by 20 percent in the five years to 2010.

The nation has cut the energy use target by more than 4 percent in the first six months and will likely be able to meet the 20 percent goal next year, Su Wei, the head of the climate change office at the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top planner, said in July.

As for reducing the emissions intensity, the goal is to lower the CO2 discharged to produce the same amount of goods and services. China’s absolute emissions, though, could grow as it adds new factories and cars.

Todd Stern, President Barack Obama’s top climate negotiator, withheld judgment on the announcement. The importance of the initiative “all depends on how significant” China’s reduction is, he told reporters.

Biggest Polluters

China and the U.S. produce about 40 percent of the emissions blamed for global warming, rising sea levels, more intense storms and declining water resources. China and developing countries such as India say they won’t sign on to binding limits on CO2 that crimp economic growth.

Without agreement between the two nations, other countries have less incentive to make commitments by year-end in Copenhagen. Obama, prior to a closed-door meeting with Hu yesterday, said he wants the U.S. relationship with China to be “more dynamic” in dealing with global and regional challenges.

Hu’s announcement was disappointing because it didn’t include a specific target, said Martin Kaiser, coordinator of climate politics for the environmental group Greenpeace.

“It seems that Hu Jintao wants to hold the details as a negotiating chip,” Kaiser said in an interview. “He might have listened to President Obama’s speech, which did not include any news.” Obama said yesterday that rich nations must lead on the issue and that fast-growing economies such as China and Brazil have to contribute.

Energy Efficiency

China will step up efforts to improve energy efficiency and preserve forests, which help remove CO2 from the atmosphere, Hu said. China previously said it will reduce the amount of energy used in manufacturing and will add power from nuclear reactors and solar panels that produce no CO2 emissions.

“Whilst not giving any specific numbers Hu signaled a willingness to move forward the negotiations by stating explicitly that China will aim for a significant carbon intensity reduction,” said Ailun Yang, the climate and energy manager at Greenpeace in China. “This is a step in the right direction.”

China will increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 15 percent by 2010, according to Hu. Forest coverage will rise to 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion cubic meters by 2010 from 2005 levels. Nuclear energy capacity will rise to 70 million kilowatt hours by 2020 from 9.1 million kilowatt hours.

China’s Plan

China has submitted a plan to cut emissions and develop renewable energy to the Cabinet for approval and may announce the proposal before the Copenhagen climate talks, Zhou Fengqi, an adviser to the energy research institute at the National Development and Reform Commission, said Sept. 21.

The name of the game for all countries is “de- carbonization,” Diringer said. “A carbon-intensity goal would set that as an overriding priority around which China would then orient a whole suite of policies.”

The goal of international talks is to find a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Under the Kyoto accord, industrialized nations have emissions limits while China and other developing nations are exempt.

The U.S. rejected Kyoto, never signing the accord, in part because it did not include commitments from China.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net. Kim Chipman in New York at kchipman@bloomberg.netWinnie Zhu in Shanghai at wzhu4@bloomberg.netDune Lawrence in New York at Dlawrence6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 23, 2009 05:31 EDT