China and Australia unveil new policies on global warming Governments that do not want to do anything about global warming often point to China, which will soon become the biggest source of the greenhouse gases that are heating up the planet. What point is there cutting back on our own emissions, the foot-draggers ask, if our efforts are obscured by a vast and growing cloud of pollution from China? In an attempt to counter this argument, China unveiled a new policy on global warming this week. The day before, Australia, a charter member of the "not-without-China" camp, had reversed its position and resolved to cap its own emissions irrespective of China's actions. But America, which has also just declared itself willing to limit its emissions, is calling for negotiations on a scheme to tackle global warming involving all big polluters, including China. All these announcements came just before the annual summit of the Group of Eight, a club for rich countries, which this year is focusing on climate change. Some g8 members, such as Germany and Britain, are keen to adopt tough measures to fight climate change. But America prefers a more leisurely approach. Meanwhile, the biggest poor countries, including India and China, are also attending-setting the stage for a heated debate. China argues that rich countries are responsible for most of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and so should shoulder most of the burden of reducing them. It also points out that although its overall emissions are huge and growing fast (they will surpass America's this year, according to the International Energy Agency), they are still far lower than America's when measured per person (see chart on next page). It would be unfair, it argues, to deprive China's citizens of the chance to live as lavishly as Americans do, despite all the pollution that might entail. Moreover, China is already trying to curb its emissions. In fact, many measures announced this week are old policies repackaged. Ma Kai, the minister whose brief includes global warming, highlighted China's commitment to generate 10% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Much of that will come from hydroelectric power. But China is also the world's fifth-biggest user of wind turbines, and the biggest consumer of the sort of solar panels used to heat water. Greater use of nuclear power should also help reduce China's emissions. The government is building four new nuclear reactors, and earlier this year placed an order for another four