China says climate change threatens major projects

Climate change threatens some of China's most important infrastructure projects, China's top meteorologist warned in a state newspaper, adding the country's rate of warming was higher than the global average. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

4 May11:37 AM

[BEIJING] Climate change threatens some of China's most important infrastructure projects, China's top meteorologist warned in a state newspaper, adding the country's rate of warming was higher than the global average.

Zheng Guoguang, head of China's Meteorological Administration, told the weekly newspaper the Study Times that the uptick in recent weather disasters such as floods, typhoons, droughts and heatwaves had a "big connection" to climate change.

Such catastrophes were a threat to big-ticket schemes such as the Three Gorges Dam and a high-altitude railway to Tibet, he said.

"Against the backdrop of the global warming, the risks faced by our large engineering projects have increased," Mr Zheng told the newspaper's latest edition, published on Monday. "Global warming affects the safety and stability of these big projects, as well as their operations and economic effectiveness, technological standards and engineering methods,"he added in the paper, published by the Central Party School, which trains rising officials.

China's rate of warming was "at an obviously higher rate"than the global average, with the north of the country warming faster than the south and winters faster than the summer, Mr Zheng said. "The first decade of this century was the hottest in the past 100 years," he added.

Dealing with climate change was necessary for China to put its economy on a more sustainable growth path, Mr Zheng said, something the country's leadership has been aiming for. "Climate change is a lever which can push our country's economic transformation."

Coal accounts for about 60 per cent of China's CO2 emissions, which are causing massive health problems because of the smog they generate.

China, the world's biggest emitter of climate-changing greenhouse gases, has sought to shift increasingly to cleaner burning hydrocarbons such as natural gas and to renewable energy.

In a joint announcement with the United States last year, Beijing said it would aim to peak its fast-rising emissions"around" 2030, and the United States said it would seek to cut emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025.

REUTERS

    
 

Brent falls towards US$66, China factory activity falls

Brent crude dipped towards US$66 a barrel on Monday as weak Chinese data stoked demand fears, while near-record supplies from OPEC producers reinforced worries about oversupply. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

4 May11:23 AM

[SINGAPORE] Brent crude dipped towards US$66 a barrel on Monday as weak Chinese data stoked demand fears, while near-record supplies from OPEC producers reinforced worries about oversupply.

China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, saw its biggest drop in factory activity in a year to 48.9 in April, a private business survey showed on Monday. The sub-50 point level indicates a contraction compared with the previous month.

The data came on the heels of a top government think tank's forecast that China's economic growth could slow further to 6.8 per cent in the second quarter. "The Chinese data is weaker but it seems the oil market has had a limited reaction. What the market really wants to see is supply being cut to match the demand level," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney's CMC Markets.

Oil supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40 per cent of oil supplies, climbed 0.2 per cent to a more than two-year high of 31.04 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, boosted by production from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, a Reuters survey showed.

The increase in Opec supply has put output further above forecasts of demand for its oil in the first half of 2015.

Brent June crude futures dropped 24 cents to US$66.22 a barrel by 0238 GMT, after hitting its 2015 peak of US$66.93 on April 30.

US June crude declined 35 cents to US$58.80 a barrel. WTI hit its highest this year at US$59.90 on May 1.

Brent crude has recovered by more than 40 per cent since its near six-year low of US$45.19 a barrel in January, as geopolitical tension in the Middle East and declining US rig counts provided support.

Both Brent and US crudes posted their biggest monthly price rise in nearly six years in April.

But the US oil rig count is beginning to decline more slowly, after falling for a record 21 straight weeks to its lowest level since September 2010, in a possible sign that the collapse in drilling could be coming to an end.

Speculators cut their net long US crude futures and options in the week to April 28, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.

REUTERS