16 Asian nations stop short of setting targets on climate change

$2.9b and a green pact
But 16 Asian nations stop short of setting targets on climate change
Lee U-Wen, Today Online 22 Nov 07;

IT was a day of both big steps and hobbled ones, some might say, on the environment.

Leaders of 16 Asian countries, including large polluters China and India, yesterday inked a pact to work together to help Asia go green.

Ahead of a crucial climate change conference in Bali next month, the 16 nations signed a new declaration on climate change, energy and the environment, promising to forge a new environmental blueprint that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, set to expire in 2012.

Leading the way was Japan, whose Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveiled a US$2 billion (S$2.89 billion) aid package to help developing Asian nations combat pollution and climate change, and promote the use of nuclear energy.

Speaking at the one-day East Asian Summit — held as part of the Asean Summit — yesterday, Mr Fukuda said the plan included soft loans and training programmes over five years to help countries tackle air and water pollution and improve sewage processing.

But not everything went as smoothly.

A plan to get the 16 nations — the 10 Asean countries together with China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea — to adopt "aspirational" targets on climate change was canned, after India voiced its objections.

Originally, they were all to have pledged to reduce by at least 25 per cent of their energy intensity, the amount of energy needed to produce a dollar of GDP, by 2030.

At a press conference, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told the Asian leaders that India's top priority for now was economic development.

"If we look at the emissions on a per-person basis, then India's (are) less than developed countries'. (Dr Singh) is willing to have a target equal to the cap of the developed countries, and if (their) cap comes down, India will come down with them," said Mr Lee.

On its part, China's Premier Wen Jiabao said his country would try to freeze its key pollution emissions at 2005 levels.

He also proposed hosting an international climate change forum next year, to improve Asia's ability to address global warming.

Despite no actual emission-reduction targets being set in the declaration, one that target leaders did commit to was the increase of forest cover by at least 15 million hectares by 2020.

Mr Lee said: "This is a declaration of intent, not a negotiated treaty of what we are actually going to do to restrict ourselves. It is difficult for any group of countries to make the hard-binding commitment to restrict ourselves."

Environmentalists, however, have criticised the declaration for its lack of concrete targets and falling short of the region's ambitions.

Mr Rafael Senga, a spokesman from global conversation group the World Wildlife Fund, told AP: "Major players like China and India should show leadership in crafting a global consensus towards concrete targets and decisive action. Rhetoric must be scaled down, and genuine regional cooperation on sustainable energy must be scaled up."

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the declaration would make the Bali meeting "easier than it would have otherwise been".

"To be realistic, these negotiations are going to take a couple of years. There has been a turning of the tide in terms of China and India's positions on climate change. We are at last seeing these major developing countries saying, yes, we need to do things and stabilise greenhouse gas emissions."


Asia leaders pledge action on climate change
Summit declaration in Singapore paves the way for UN's Dec meeting in Bali
Arti Mulchand, Straits Times 22 Nov 07;

EAST Asian leaders yesterday took a major step towards tackling climate change when they signed a declaration pledging to take actions to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The emissions are said to cause global warming.

The Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment was all the more significant as it was signed by China and India, which have long resisted calls to join in efforts to tackle the problem.

Signalling the seriousness with which it views the issue, China went a step further and pledged to make more efficient use of energy - cutting its energy consumption for every dollar of gross domestic product by 20 per cent in five years - and said that it would hold a forum in Beijing next year on coping with climate change.

Japan, which has set an ambitious target of a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050, also unveiled a US$2 billion (S$2.9 billion) aid package to help East Asia fight pollution and climate change over the next five years.

Other countries also pitched in with separate green initiatives. For its part, Singapore will host a forum on liveable cities, to showcase how cities can develop while protecting their environments, disclosed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a press conference yesterday to wrap up the past three days of back-to-back summit meetings.

The significance of yesterday's summit declaration on the environment was that it paves the way for the United Nations climate change meeting in Bali next month, when countries are set to begin tough negotiations for a new pact on limiting greenhouse gases when the present Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

The declaration was signed yesterday by 16 countries - Asean, along with India, China, South Korea, Australia, Japan and New Zealand - and will set the stage for further negotiations with a wider circle.

'It...makes the Bali meeting easier than it would have been otherwise,' said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, adding that getting China and India to agree to taking action on stabilising, then reducing emissions of carbon dioxide was 'essential'.

According to sources involved in the four-month negotiations, while all parties were reluctant to have concrete targets, all - except India - eventually relented.

But because of objections from India, an 'aspirational goal' for the region to make more efficient use of energy - by at least 25 per cent by 2030 - was replaced by a more vague pledge to work for a 'significant reduction'.

Noting this yesterday, Mr Lee said that developing countries like Indonesia, India and China had made 'eloquent presentations of why, for them, economic development is a priority, overriding imperative'. Their concerns would have to be considered in any deal to succeed Kyoto.

'Climate change has to be addressed, but they cannot afford to leave people in absolute poverty as still remains the case amongst some proportion of their population.'

But, Mr Lee said, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had indicated that he may be willing to match caps on emissions per capita made by developed countries, and bring those down if developed countries did the same.

Mr Singh had added that the greenhouse gas emissions for each person in India were lower than the amount of pollution that the average person in developed countries produced.

Australia's Mr Downer said he is 'optimistic' that progress will be made.

'I think there's a turning of the tide. Now we are at last seeing these major developing countries saying, 'Yes, we need to do things as well'...Of course, they want the developed countries to do a lot, and that's understandable and that's acceptable,'' he said.

Members of East Asia Summit seal 'green' deal
Lynette Khoo, Business Times 22 Nov 07;

LEADERS from 16 Asian countries signed a 'green' pact yesterday, committing to individual and collective action to address climate change, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency.

The Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment was signed by members of the East Asia Summit (EAS), held yesterday on the sidelines of the 13th Asean Summit here.

These countries include some of the world's biggest polluters: China, India and Australia.

Under the declaration, the 16 countries pledged to support work to achieve a common understanding on a 'long-term aspirational global emissions reduction goal to pave the way for a more effective post-2012 international arrangement'.

This global emissions reduction goal is meant to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012 and which requires developed countries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions to 5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. But the world's biggest polluters United States, Australia, China and India are not signatories to the Protocol.

In the area of improving energy efficiency and the use of cleaner energy, EAS members pledged to work towards achieving a significant reduction in energy intensity and implement measures recommended by the EAS energy ministers, including the formulation of voluntary energy efficiency goals by 2009.

While there were no numerical targets in the declaration on emissions reduction, the document set a goal to increase cumulative forest cover of all types of forest in the EAS-wide region by at least 15 million hectares by 2010, promote cooperation on afforestation and reforestation, and reduce deforestation and forest fires.

The declaration also included cooperation for the development and use of civilian nuclear power within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for interested EAS members, amid concerns over soaring oil prices.

Singapore has proposed to convene an EAS conference on 'Liveable Cities' in June 2008 to address the related issues of urbanisation, climate change, energy and the environment.

Yesterday's declaration will set the stage for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting to be held in Bali next month and reaffirms EAS's commitment to tackle climate change and contribute to global mitigation efforts, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his opening remarks at the 3rd EAS yesterday.


East Asia Summit Declaration on Climate Change
PlanetArk 22 Nov 07;

SINGAPORE - Following are the key points of the "Singapore declaration on climate change, energy and the environment" signed by the East Asia Summit (EAS) nations.

The EAS includes the 10 Southeast Asian members of ASEAN plus China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. The declaration does not include numerical targets for the reduction of emissions, but includes some of the world's largest polluters.

The declaration states that the EAS nations are:

"Concerned about the adverse impact of climate change on socio-economic development, health and the environment, particularly in developing countries, and thus emphasising the need to enhance their adaptive capacities, as well as for the international community to urgently act to address the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions;

"Recognising that rapid economic development, while contributing to sustainable development and poverty eradication in the region, poses new challenges in dealing with greater energy consumption, regional and global energy security concerns; and that growing urbanisation increases the need for environmental management, given the projected doubling of Asia's 1.7 billion urban population between 2000 and 2030;

EAS countries declare to:

"Stress that all countries should play a role in addressing the common challenge of climate change, based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities; and that developed countries should continue to play a leading role in this regard;

"Commit to the common goal of stabilising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations in the long run, at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system;

"Support the work to achieve a common understanding on a long-term aspirational global emissions reduction goal to pave the way for a more effective post-2012 international arrangement;

"Acknowledge that adaption is a critical issue for the region.

"Intensify ongoing cooperation to improve energy efficiency, and the use of cleaner energy ... by:

- Enhancing regional cooperation to develop cost-effective carbon mitigation; cleaner fossil fuel technologies including clean use of coal; and to produce environmentally friendly and sustainable biofuels;

- Cooperating for the development and use of civilian nuclear power;

"Promote cooperation on afforestation and reforestation, and to reduce deforestation, forest degradation and forest fires, including by promoting sustainable forest management, combating illegal logging, protecting biodiversity, and addressing the underlying economic and social drivers, through, among others:

- Work to achieve an EAS-wide aspirational goal of increasing cumulative forest cover in the region by at least 15 million hectares of all types of forests by 2020."

16 Asia-Pacific countries sign environment pact
Channel NewsAsia 21 Nov 07

SINGAPORE: Leaders of 16 Asia-Pacific countries, including China, India, Australia and New Zealand, have pledged to reduce the harmful effects of climate change.

They signed a declaration at the East Asia Summit in Singapore on Wednesday, ahead of an UN-backed meeting on global warming in Bali next month.

The East Asia Summit declaration called for signatories to develop a more effective blueprint to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

"We had contributions both from developed countries like Australia and New Zealand and developing countries like Indonesia, China and India, who made eloquent presentations of why for them, economic development is a priority... Climate change has to be addressed, but they cannot afford to leave people in absolute poverty," said Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The countries also pledged to work together to enhance regional cooperation in promoting the use of clean energy, and to encourage research to enhance energy efficiency.

The declaration also stipulated an undertaking to increase the region's forest cover by at least 15 million hectares by 2020.

Mr Lee said that as the number and scope of activities within the East Asia Summit framework expand, the grouping will need better coordination and stronger structures to support the summit process. - CNA/ac