Six nations propose alternative to Kyoto

VIENTIANE, Laos, August 3, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)

Six countries will launch a program to promote renewable energies as a solution to climate change.

The United States, Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea will develop and promote “new investment opportunities, build local capacity and remove barriers to the introduction of clean, more efficient technologies” which include wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, nuclear and clean coal. The plan was announced at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.

Clean coal technology topped the list of technologies to be promoted, but the agreement mentions no targets for reducing GHG emissions. The pact is not designed to undermine the goals of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change nor the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but to provide practical solutions to excess carbon emissions, says U.S. deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick.

Combined, the six member nations of the ‘Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development & Climate’ represent half of the world's economy, population and energy consumption, and produce half of global GHG emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol requires industrialized countries to reduce GHG emissions by an average of 5.2% by 2012, but the U.S. and Australia declined to ratify the treaty, while Japan did ratify and is legally bound by its provisions, while it does not apply binding emissions limits to China, India or South Korea. Developing countries are required to implement policies and measures to address climate change which reflect their specific circumstances.

A fund will be established by members to develop technology-based solutions, including energy efficiency, combined heat and power, combined cycle, liquefied natural gas, carbon capture and sequestration, methane capture, village energy systems, bioenergy and other renewable energies.

“In the end, the key to solving these problems is going to be cleaner technologies,” says Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer. “These things are going to be a lot more effective over time than just political declarations.”

The partnership will begin formally in November, when the six countries meet in Australia to discuss a charter. Signatories to Kyoto will also meet in Canada in November to discuss the post-2012 round of negotiations on the treaty.

The agreement has been criticized by environmental groups, which note that the U.S., Australia and China have large coal deposits.

The pact is nothing more than a trade agreement in energy technologies between the countries in question, says Stephanie Tunmore of Greenpeace. The best option to cope with climate change is to increase energy efficiency and invest in renewable energy.
 

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