Originally published February 26 2006
Asia-Pacific group commits to cleaner energy
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The six-nation partnership (made up of the U.S., Australia, India, China, Japan and South Korea), is seen by many as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol. The U.S. and Australia have not signed up to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.
The six-nation Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate committed to invest in cleaner energy technologies at its inaugural meeting in Sydney, Australia on Thursday.
But pledges by the US and Australian governments were slammed by green groups as "disastrous", as these countries have not also signed up to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
The partnership, comprising the US, Australia, India, China, Japan and South Korea, is widely seen as a would-be alternative to the Kyoto Protocol.
The US and Australia have refused to sign up to the protocol, though the other four partners have.
At the meeting, Australian prime minister John Howard pledged $75 million over five years for cleaner energy technology.
US energy secretary Samuel Bodman said the White House would propose an additional $52 million in the 2007 budget to manage the partnership and promote clean technologies in the Pacific region.
Both countries promised partnership with industry to reduce the growth in greenhouse gas emissions.
"Our societies require of us that we find solutions to these issues that maintain the momentum of economic growth," said Howard, again rejecting Kyoto-style national emissions targets.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) found that if the technologies were adopted worldwide, they could cut emissions from anticipated levels by 23% by 2050.
But environmentalists point out that this is in a scenario where industry carries on as usual, so the overall greenhouse gas emissions worldwide will have increased massively compared with levels today.
"Unfortunately, those anticipated levels would represent an increase of 100% in emissions and would lock the world into a warming of 4�C," says WWF's climate director Jennifer Morgan.
It set up government-business task forces to devise "action plans and performance indicators" for reducing emissions in power generation, construction, steel, aluminium, cement and coal mining.
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