S. Korea to bid for 2012 U.N. climate summit

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COPENHAGEN, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is seeking to host a global climate
summit in 2012 in a bid to show its commitment to combating global warming, South
Korean officials here said Sunday.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will deliver a keynote speech on Thursday at
the United Nations climate summit, revealing a plan to hold the 2012 U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate Change in Seoul, said the officials, who
requested anonymity.
"The turn to host the 2012 climate summit will be awarded to an Asian nation ...
and there are no negative views on our bidding to host the conference," said an
official.
This year's conference aims to create a replacement for the U.N. Kyoto Protocol
on climate change, which expires in 2012, and will run Monday through Dec. 18.
Leaders from 194 nations will try to settle disputes over to what extent
mandatory emissions cuts should be imposed on poor and rich countries.
According to the officials, China, Japan, India and several other Asian countries
showed their support for Seoul's hosting of the 2012 climate summit at the
meeting of the Asia group of the conference, held three days ago.
Next year's climate summit is to be held in Mexico. The 2011 climate summit is
scheduled to be held in South Africa.
South Korea, although not obliged to cut emissions under the Kyoto Protocol,
unveiled its plan last month to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from
its forecast, or "business-as-usual" (BAU), level in 2020. This would be
equivalent to reducing the country's emissions by 4 percent from 2005 levels.
sam@yna.co.kr
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