APEC leaders to sign declaration on climate change

Climate change is one of the top agenda at this year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum held in Australia. Both Australia and the United States are pressing for the other Asia Pacific leaders to support a statement on climate change. But negotiations have not been going well and some countries are unhappy that the climate change issue was discussed at the APEC meeting instead of at the next UN meeting.

After tough negotiations, APEC leaders have agreed to sign the “Sydney Declaration” to call for action on climate change and set non-binding “aspirational targets”. One of the targets is to reduce energy intensity by at least 25% by 2030. The declaration states:

The world needs to slow, stop and then reverse the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions

Whether the countries will commit to the targets remain to be seen but the declaration will help to pave the way for further negotiations at the post-Kyoto UN meeting in December.

Source: Reuters; Channel NewsAsia. Photo credit: rockygirl05.

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