Chinese minister appears to question climate change

Chinese minister Xie Zhenhua took everyone by surprise at a press conference today when he appeared to suggest that climate change was a natural cyclical process and not due to increase in carbon emissions.
    
"There is one of point of view that climate change or the climate warming is caused by cyclical element of the nature itself," Xie, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reforms Commission said at a press conference.

He had earlier mentioned that the mainstream view on climate change was mentioned in the four reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"I think we need to adopt an open attitude to scientific research that we need to have inclusive thought for all kinds of views concerning this because we want our views to be more scientific and more consistent," Xie said in Chinese which was translated by an interpreter.

He was replying to a question on whether the IPCC reports could be relied upon after its controversial conclusion on melting of Himalayan glaciers.

"IPCC should come on board to clear the doubts otherwise it would give room for denialists," Buyelwa Sonjica, South African minister on Water and Environmental Affairs said.