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Jonathan Watts; photo courtesy of the journalist

The Guardian's Jonathan Watts reported on Japan for seven years before taking up his post in Beijing in August 2003.

His career includes coverage of the Asian financial crisis 1997-98, the G8 summit in Okinawa in 2000, the South Korea-Japan World Cup 2002, the Tsunami disaster in 2005, the Sichuan earthuake and the Beijing Olympics of 2008.

Watts was a contributor to Mother Jones, The Christian Science Monitor, The South China Morning Post, The New Statesman and The Asahi Shimbun, as well as contributing to TV.

He is currently putting the finishing touches on a book about the environment, When a Billion Chinese Jump and working as The Guardian's first Asia Environment Correspondent.

Danwei asked Watts some questions about Copenhagen, the media backlash against China following its close, and the environment reporting projects that he has been conducting, and doing as part of a team.

Danwei: Were you optimistic before taking off for the Copenhagen summit?
Jonathan Watts: I was impressed with the progress that was made before the summit started. Getting so many nations, including China, US and India, to declare carbon targets was an achievement. I did not have high expectations for the Copenhagen conference, but I was hoping to see a little movement on some of the major issues.

Danwei: At which point － before or during Copenhagen － did you realize that the climate accord was going to freeze Europe out and as Miliband said, be "hijacked by a group of countries"?
JW: I don't see it quite as you describe. There was a gulf in the expectations of the different parties. It soon became apparent that the BASIC group (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) were playing for a 0-0 draw. They did not want to sign up to anything that would constrain their future economic growth. Europe wanted ambitious, legal targets for 2020 and 2050. The US was most concerned about ensuring China made its emissions data more transparent and avoiding criticism for its dismal record in recent years. Europe was the furthest from achieving its goals, which is depressing as I think its targets were
the best way to keep the rise in temperature below two degrees celsius. China and the US, the world's two biggest emitters, came away happier as they can now continue emitting without legal constraints for a longer period of time, perhaps indefinitely.