(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-08 20:11

SYDNEY -- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders managed to work out substantial goals on climate change, as they adopted a Sydney Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development on Saturday.

The goals, under the declaration, are to reduce energy intensity by at least 25 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level, and to increase forest cover in the region by at least 20 million hectares of all types of forests by 2020.

An Asia-Pacific Network for Energy Technology will be established to strengthen collaboration on energy research in the region, according to the declaration.

Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation, another regional network for sustainable forest management and rehabilitation, will be set up to enhance capacity building and strengthen information sharing in the forestry sector.

The measures also include low emissions technology and innovation, alternative and low carbon energy uses, trade in environmental goods and services, and policy analysis capability.

The declaration is in support to United Nations' global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, said Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

The substantial goals were achieved through gritting efforts made by APEC member economies.

APEC is a big player on the issue of climate change, as its members account for some 60 percent of global carbon emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol on emission cutting, which was established in 1997 and covers over 160 member countries and territories, has great exceptions of the United States and Australia and will expire in 2012.

Besides, Many of the APEC members are developing economies, with mushrooming emissions and, under Kyoto Protocol, no obligation to limit them.

"If we could get all 21 economies to agree to make some kind of a contribution to address the issue (of climate change), it would be a very big step forward," Alexander Downer, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs said prior to the APEC meetings.

Australia, host of this year's APEC meeting week, spared no effort in putting the climate change on top of the agenda.

China, the emerging economic power, added more confidence to the climate talks at the APEC meetings.

"We should build consensus and conduct cooperation on this basis. This will enable us not only to promote sustainable development in our region but also boost the global efforts to address climate change," Chinese President Hu Jintao told leaders of other APEC member economies in his speech delivered at the first-day retreat of the two-day Leader's Meeting Saturday

Six nations -- Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States -- launched the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate in 2006.

The six countries, five of which belong to APEC, called for a voluntary, and collaborative efforts to promote clean-energy technologies and efficient energy use.

The Partnership is widely believed to be a new momentum for the climate change issue.  

The ball of climate-change will hopefully get a stronger spin when the United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in December in Bali, Indonesia, which will kick off the process of drafting a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol.