Middle America's Worldview

Members of APEC are to be in their yearly meeting to discuss free trade, ect. However, this year, it seems terrorism, free trade, security will not be on the forefront of discussion. Rather, the big concern is the weather. Yes, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, is pushing for the climate change to be the hot topic (pun included).

The countries that make up APEC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. India is keen to join.

Climate Expected to Top Asia-Pacific Meeting Agenda
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
September 04, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - World trade and security will be on the table, but as Asia-Pacific leaders gather in Sydney, Australia, this week the issue of climate change looks set to dominate the headlines.

Some of the 21 nations whose leaders will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting are unhappy with the environmental focus at a forum historically aimed at promoting free trade.

But Australian Prime Minister John Howard is set on achieving some kind of climate agreement, noting that the leaders of the world's biggest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) -- the "greenhouse gas" many scientists blame for climate change -- will be attending.

With the presidents of the United States, China and Russia among those around the table, progress on the issue was vital, Howard told a press conference in Sydney.

He noted that the APEC meeting comes ahead of two major climate events -- a conference of major economies called by President Bush in Washington later this month, and the annual meeting of the U.N.'s climate change body in Bali, Indonesia, in December.

"Nobody is arguing you can fix climate change at the [Sydney] meeting," he said. "If we can get some consensus on a way forward on climate change out of a body including America, Russia and China, that's a huge step forward."

President Bush, who was due to arrive in Sydney later Tuesday after a surprise stopover in Iraq, said ahead of leaving Washington that climate change would be an important part of the APEC meeting.

"If you're truly interested in dealing with greenhouse gases, people need to focus on the development of technologies that will enable us to, on the one hand, grow our economies, on the other hand, be good stewards of the environment," he said.

Bush said the Australian prime minister would take the lead on the issue, "and the United States will play a constructive role."

Bush and Howard have been berated by environmental activists for years for their antipathy towards the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international treaty that requires industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by set amounts by 2012.

Arguing that legally mandated emission curbs would harm their economies, the U.S. and Australia -- a major coal exporter -- were alone among industrialized nations to reject the protocol. They also criticized the fact that countries like China and India, although major emitters, were exempt from mandatory reductions under Kyoto because they are considered "developing" nations.

The U.N. meeting in Bali in December aims to discuss a successor agreement to Kyoto for the post-2012 period.

Howard's proposals are believed to involve goals to reduce "energy intensity" in the APEC region -- not Kyoto-style mandatory emission cuts.

On Monday, the Australian leader reiterated his view on Kyoto.

"We do not believe that continuing down the Kyoto path is going to provide a solution to the problem," he said. "We think that will be a recipe for a partial and ultimately ineffective response to a growing problem. What I would like to see the APEC meeting in Sydney do is develop a consensus on a post-Kyoto international framework that attracts participation by all emitters."

Speaking in Washington late last week, Dan Price, deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs, said the climate-related topics for discussion in Sydney would include energy efficiency, forestry, technology development, alternative energy and efforts to reduce barriers to trade in environmental goods and services.

'Undermining Kyoto'

Howard's plan to have climate change on an APEC forum agenda for the first time has drawn some opposition.

Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz was quoted as saying neither Australia nor the U.S. had the credentials to use APEC as a forum to address climate change since they are not Kyoto signatories. Officials from several other Southeast Asian countries have also voiced unease.

Environmental activists in Australia are skeptical of Howard's agenda too -- and not only because he faces an uphill re-election campaign in the coming months.

Greenpeace called on APEC countries to reject Howard's "efforts to undermine the Kyoto Protocol."

"Real action on climate change means moving away from coal and shifting to clean, renewable energy -- and we don't have the luxury of time for expensive talkfests that have no concrete outcomes," said Ben Pearson, energy campaigner for Greenpeace.

In an open letter to APEC leaders, the Climate Action Network Australia urged them to embrace Kyoto.

"To avoid dangerous climate change, a post-2012 agreement must be built using the architecture of the Kyoto Protocol: absolute emission reduction targets for developed countries, and expanded mechanisms that facilitate contributions from developing countries," said the group, a branch of the international Climate Action Network.

"The very best way for Mr. Howard to demonstrate international leadership at APEC would be for him to get together with President Bush and ratify the Kyoto Protocol," said another organization, the Australian Conservation Foundation.

'Support, don't attack'

During his four-day visit to Australia, Bush will also hold one-on-one talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and several other leaders, a three-way breakfast meeting with Howard and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and a meeting with the leaders of Southeast Asian nations.

As has become commonplace during such gatherings, demonstrations are expected by various groups campaigning against free trade, globalization and U.S. foreign and environmental policies.

Howard has taken the unusual step of posting a clip on the video-sharing Website YouTube urging protesters to refrain from violence at the summit.

Anyone planning to be disruptive, he said, should "stop for a moment and consider that if they really are worried about the issues such as poverty, security and climate change, then they should support APEC and not attack it."







Major security precautions put in place in Sydney include a steel and concrete fence designed to keep protestors -- and terrorists -- away from the 21 leaders and their delegations. Some 5,000 police and troops will be on duty.

Members are APEC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. India is keen to join.