Paddy Tipping raises the problem of China's contribution to climate change

Paddy Tipping asked the Deputy Prime Minister about the problem of China's contribution to global warming via coal fired power stations.

With the Chinese economy growing by 13 per cent. a year and reports that a new coal-fired power station is being opened every fortnight in China, it is a major source of carbon pollution. How confident is the Deputy Prime Minister about involving China in a successful outcome, post-Kyoto?

I'm glad that Paddy Tipping has raised this, because I think it's a big problem, and I don't share Prescott's confidence. China is desperate for energy and climate change may be even lower on their list of priorities than it is in the more affluent West.

Emissions from coal are a big problem, particularly as with oil running out, the Developed World is likely to turn to coal gasification as a major source of transport energy. Although it might be possible to capture the carbon produced, it seems likely that a lot of it wouldn't be, because it's more difficult and more expensive.

Unfortunately at the end of the debate, John Prescott reveals his (almost) total ignorance of the topic when he fails to understand the question about contraction and convergence. I agree with Martin Owen's comment "God help us!". It illustrates starkly how little the Government actually knows or cares about climate change.