Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Asia-Pacific Partnership Meets

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The aim of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, according to United States energy secretary Samuel Bodman, is to "work together with the private sector... to take concrete action to meet energy and environment needs while securing a more prosperous future for our citizens."

The six nations involved in the partnership are Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States. Ministers from the six countries met in Sydney with over 120 representatives from the electricity, mining, aluminium, cement, steel, finance and renewable business sectors.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting, outlining the partnership’s strategy, the group said that it recognized that "fossil fuels underpin our economies, and will be an enduring reality for our lifetimes and beyond. It is therefore critical that we work together to develop, demonstrate and implement cleaner and lower emissions technologies that allow for the continued economic use of fossil fuels while addressing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions."

At the meeting, both China and India stressed the role of technology transfer and poverty alleviation. Vice-Minister for the National Development and Reform Commission in China, Jiang Weixin, said that, though the government attached a great deal of importance to climate change, one of the most pressing problems was reducing poverty. For India, Environment and Forests Minister A. Raja said that alleviating poverty was a priority for developing nations.

The United States and Australia committed a total of US$128 million funding for the alliance and related activities. The first year commitment from the United States will be US$52 million, with a similar amount likely in ensuing years. The money will be used to support the application of clean technology in the developing nation partners. Australia has pledged US$76 million over five years for clean development projects, capacity building activities and a continuing role in AP-6.

The inaugural meeting set up task forces covering cleaner fossil-fuel energy, renewable energy, power generation, steel, aluminium, cement, coal mining, and buildings and appliances.

The partners have stressed that the alliance rests on a non-binding compact designed to complement rather than replace the Kyoto Protocol. "While Kyoto puddles on nicely, the real reductions will come from technology," claimed Ian Macfarlane, Australia’s Minister for Industry. "This is not a diplomatic love-in. It’s a hard-edged business plan with targets and reporting duties," he continued.

Catherine Fitzpatrick of Greenpeace reckons that the new agreement is more a trade pact than an environmental solution. "The short-term interests of the fossil-fuel sector have been put ahead of the long-term health and welfare of ordinary people," she concluded.

Environmental groups in Australia reacted to the AP-6 meeting with the release of a report detailing the dire consequences if the nation fails to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Predicting that the AP-6 pact will lead to a doubling of greenhouse gases and a 4 degrees Celsius rise in temperature, the organizations warn that rainfall will be substantially reduced, river systems may dry up, snow cover in the Australian alps could virtually disappear and 15,000 Australians might die each year as a result of heat-related illnesses. "Things like the kakadu wetlands are very definitely going to be going," according to Greg Bourne of the World Wide Fund For Nature Australia.

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