:00:00. > :00:00.month ago in West London. Now on BBC News, all the latest
:00:00. > :00:16.business news live from Singapore. The business of battling climate
:00:17. > :00:25.change. The UN Summit in New York sees China promising to cut its
:00:26. > :00:35.emissions. Weaker demand for coal are hitting
:00:36. > :00:38.the manufacturers hard. `` mining giant BHP. Thank you for joining us
:00:39. > :00:44.for Asia Business Report with me, Rico Hizon.
:00:45. > :00:47.At the end of a special summit on climate change in New York, the UN
:00:48. > :00:48.Secretary General said that never before
:00:49. > :00:53.together for the business of reducing carbon emissions and said
:00:54. > :01:12.the summit had shown the international community could rise
:01:13. > :01:14.to the challenge. Speaking on the sidelines, the vice premier of China
:01:15. > :01:17.agreed with him and with Barack Obama that the largest emmitters
:01:18. > :01:20.producing countries have a response ability to lead. TRANSLATION: We
:01:21. > :01:23.will announce actions after 2020 as soon as we can reduce carbon
:01:24. > :01:26.intensity and increase the share of nonfossil fuels, raise our forests
:01:27. > :01:35.stock and try to limit CO2 emissions as soon as possible. Next year, we
:01:36. > :01:47.will become the first Asian country to implement a nationwide emissions
:01:48. > :01:58.trading scheme. We will also let frugal consumers save electricity
:01:59. > :02:00.and send it back to the grid. Indonesia pledges to reduce our
:02:01. > :02:09.greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. The target will go up to 41%
:02:10. > :02:14.with international support. We heard the pledges they are from
:02:15. > :02:17.China, South Korea and Indonesia. China making its first contributions
:02:18. > :02:23.and South Korea promising to be the first country in Asia to introduce
:02:24. > :02:26.an emissions trading scheme. Early, I spoke with an economist to ask for
:02:27. > :02:38.his thoughts on some of these targets. It is a big target and we
:02:39. > :02:42.must have them but for the whole point about climate change. It is
:02:43. > :02:45.like boiling a frog in water. You slowly start heating up the water,
:02:46. > :02:48.it is not until the frog finds it intolerable to stay in the water and
:02:49. > :02:51.jumps out that people actually do anything. It is significant that
:02:52. > :02:54.these leaders are doing something now but unfortunately, they will all
:02:55. > :02:58.have bigger issues to worry about stop in the case of China, they will
:02:59. > :03:01.try to ensure that emissions peak at a certain time as early as possible
:03:02. > :03:04.but they will have big issues as well and climate change should be
:03:05. > :03:12.something they are thinking about the budget isn't really paramount.
:03:13. > :03:18.This comes as the Chinese economy is slowing down. Going forward, is
:03:19. > :03:25.reducing carbon emissions good economics for the Chinese? That is
:03:26. > :03:35.the crucial point and that is what I mean when I say they have other
:03:36. > :03:39.issues to worry about. China need to ensure that economic growth carries
:03:40. > :03:42.on at 7.5% this year and next year and if it doesn't, what will they
:03:43. > :03:46.do? Climate change will get put on the back burner for a while. Many of
:03:47. > :03:49.these leaders like to speak from both sides of their mouth at the
:03:50. > :03:53.same time and which one they speak out of is determined by the economy.
:03:54. > :04:02.They have to say the right things on a global stage. What about South
:04:03. > :04:06.Korea introducing emmissions trading? That is a good example of
:04:07. > :04:10.them coming up with a scheme. No`one knows whether it will in South Korea
:04:11. > :04:14.as it hasn't worked elsewhere in the world. South Korea thinks it will be
:04:15. > :04:17.able to do something. Unfortunately, these leaders at these forums have
:04:18. > :04:21.to say something. They have to be seen to do something or else what is
:04:22. > :04:24.the point of turning up? They got a good soundbite and they will have
:04:25. > :04:25.delivered their homework. You don't sound very hopeful about these
:04:26. > :04:43.reductions in carbon emissions. Moving to other news. Barclays has
:04:44. > :04:46.been fined a record $62 million by a UK regulator for failing to keep its
:04:47. > :04:50.clients' assets separate from its own. The bank said it did not profit
:04:51. > :04:53.from the issue and no customers lost out. This comes three years after
:04:54. > :05:03.the lending giant paid out $1.8 million for a similar problem.
:05:04. > :05:06.Prosecutors in South Korea are investigating the owners of Tesco,
:05:07. > :05:08.HomePlus, after allegations that private information of customers was
:05:09. > :05:11.sold to insurance companies. Tesco said it was cooperating with the
:05:12. > :05:14.probe. In a separate case, they are also under fire in the UK after
:05:15. > :05:19.overstating their half your profit guidance. Starred Up is buying out
:05:20. > :05:25.its Japanese partner in a deal worth more than $900 million. They will
:05:26. > :05:28.buy the 60.5% stake in the Japanese unit it doesn't own in hopes to
:05:29. > :05:34.complete the buyout by the end of the year. For more news from around
:05:35. > :05:39.the region, log on to the BBC website and click on the business
:05:40. > :05:42.index. Weak demand for coal from China is
:05:43. > :05:54.impacting the world's largest mining company. It has meant lower prices
:05:55. > :05:59.for the commodity . BHP will cut 700 jobs in a coalmining venture with
:06:00. > :06:04.Mitsubishi. The losses amount to about 7% of the joint`venture's
:06:05. > :06:12.workforce. Earlier, I spoke with a commodity analyst and asked if this
:06:13. > :06:17.was a drastic move I'd BHP. This is quite a drastic move. If you look at
:06:18. > :06:20.what BHP has done in two years, it has removed cost from its
:06:21. > :06:26.operations. It has done so successfully. It has done that
:06:27. > :06:33.without looking at its workforce. It did take a 160 jobs from its coal
:06:34. > :06:36.operations and this is the first significant move we have seen for
:06:37. > :06:45.them to reduce their workforce in that sector. Could we see more steep
:06:46. > :06:49.layoffs going forward for BHP? We certainly think that they will look
:06:50. > :06:53.continually at their cost base and we could see perhaps that there
:06:54. > :07:02.might be other job releases in future. Probably not so much in coal
:07:03. > :07:13.but in other operations. That is something we are watching closely.
:07:14. > :07:16.David Mannix, commodity analyst. 100 million Chinese are expecting to
:07:17. > :07:20.move to cities by 2020 and that puts pressure on the government to build
:07:21. > :07:24.economically sustainable cities. Six years ago, China teamed up with
:07:25. > :07:27.Singapore to build what is tipped to be the largest eco` city ever.
:07:28. > :07:37.Wasteland has been turned into apartment blocks. Our correspondent
:07:38. > :07:41.went to one such city and Tianjin. As you drive across the bridge into
:07:42. > :07:48.the city, there is a definite sense of entering a different place. It is
:07:49. > :07:50.not so much the broad boulevards and tree`lined sidewalks, or the
:07:51. > :07:53.reminders that 20% of the city's power will one day come from
:07:54. > :08:00.renewable energy. What is noticeable is what is missing. The overwhelming
:08:01. > :08:04.question as you walk around this city in the afternoon heat is, where
:08:05. > :08:07.is everybody? The developers say they are coming and there are 12,000
:08:08. > :08:11.residents already here. Just two years ago there were virtually none.
:08:12. > :08:22.But that is a fraction of the 350,000 the city will eventually
:08:23. > :08:26.support. In the local market, there is none of the usual bustle of food
:08:27. > :08:36.shopping. And at the community centre, there is no lineup to play.
:08:37. > :08:39.But for locals like this Madame Yuang and her friends, the
:08:40. > :08:43.environment is a big attraction. TRANSLATION: I used to live in a
:08:44. > :08:49.city and the air quality was not great. Here it is great.
:08:50. > :08:52.In a country notorious for polluted cities, this project is a commitment
:08:53. > :08:53.by China to build a sustainable urban centre. The sheer scale of the
:08:54. > :09:07.place makes it hard to replicate. was planned to be highly workable...
:09:08. > :09:12.This man is in charge of everything from water quality to waste
:09:13. > :09:22.disposal. One of the biggest challenges is balancing everything.
:09:23. > :09:29.Do we go for the highest environmental targets or what the
:09:30. > :09:32.market can support? Only building what you can sell at the moment?
:09:33. > :09:39.That's right. 60 `70% of the homes here are sold. On the Commercial
:09:40. > :09:43.Street, this woman has sold wine for the last two years and says more
:09:44. > :09:53.people are moving in and it gets busier every year. The eco city s
:09:54. > :09:56.trying to attract new residents just as China's property sector slows
:09:57. > :09:59.down but the hope is that the promise of cleaner and Greener acts
:10:00. > :10:06.as a buffer against the headwinds. `` greener.
:10:07. > :10:12.Before we go, here is a look at the markets. Asian stocks are in
:10:13. > :10:16.negative territory. Wall Street declined overnight after US equities
:10:17. > :10:17.retreated as investors digested signs of slowing global growth.
:10:18. > :10:22.retreated as investors digested signs of The Nikkei is down by 24
:10:23. > :10:28.points. The Hang Seng, 12 points and Sydney plus the benchmark index
:10:29. > :10:29.given back 44 points. Those are the Asian markets. Thank you for
:10:30. > :10:50.investing the time with us. I'm Mike Embley. The top stories
:10:51. > :10:52.this hour. The US government has said Tuesday's
:10:53. > :10:57.airstrikes were successful, and were the beginning of a sustained
:10:58. > :10:58.campaign against the group. China is attempting to tackle
:10:59. > :11:00.climate