|
U.S. TO JOIN PACIFIC COUNTRIES IN NON-BINDING CLIMATE
CHANGE PARTNERSHIP
On July 28, five major Pacific powers and the United States
announced that they have agreed to work together to tackle the challenge of
climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – without
mandatory limits. The Bush Administration says the agreement, called the
Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, will complement the
Kyoto Protocol, but will not set mandatory emissions targets. This new
partnership includes two major developing countries, India and China, which had
been exempt from Kyoto’s emissions restrictions. The Federal Environment
Minister of Australia said that the five participating countries have been
quietly working on the pact for months.
Key Facts about the Partnership:
The treaty attempts to combat climate change by developing more
energy-efficient and cleaner technology “to meet national pollution reduction,
energy security, and climate change concerns in ways that reduce poverty and
promote economic development.”
The six countries that presently compose the partnership – China, India,
Japan, Australia, South Korea, and the U.S. – account for more than 40% of the
world’s GHG emissions.
The treaty as it stands today has no enforcement mechanism, leaving countries
to meet national emissions targets voluntarily.
The participants of the partnership have pledged to collaborate on clean coal,
natural gas, methane, civilian nuclear power, geothermal power, rural energy
systems, solar power, wind power, and bio-energy technologies.
Representatives from each country will meet in Adelaide, Australia in November
to work out the technicalities of the agreement; the Conference of Parties to
the Kyoto Protocol, in which all other industrialized countries participate and
which requires cuts in GHG emissions, will also meet in November.
Updated September 6, 2005
+ TAKE ACTION
|
