(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-10 06:53

The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) economic leaders yesterday solemnly pledged in a declaration to commit themselves "to ensuring the energy needs of the economies of the region while addressing the issues of environmental quality and contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions".

Going beyond the rhetoric, "Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development" outlined specific targets that the economies have vowed to achieve in the region as a joint effort to slow down the climate change and mitigate its effects.

These include reducing energy intensity by at least 25 percent by 2030; increasing forest cover by at least 20 million hectares by 2020 so as to store about 1.4 billion tons of carbon; and establishing two networks to enhance cooperation in clean and renewable energy research and forestry management and rehabilitation.

Although it will take time to see the promises turned into concrete actions and achieve desired results, the declaration at least shows that the region's economic leaders realize how imperative it is to join hands and tackle the issues of energy security, environmental degradation and climate change together.

Those are the three hot issues of international concern ever since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its first installment of the report on climate change in February, which for the first time confirmed scientifically that human activities are the main culprit in causing global warming and the dramatic fluctuations in the weather.

Since then, most corners of the earth have sustained different types of natural disasters in severity relatively higher than ever before, whether it is flood, drought, typhoon or hurricane.

There has also been a lot of finger-pointing, especially in the media. But yesterday's declaration, while emphasizing the respect for different domestic circumstances and capacities and flexibility, recognizes that the APEC region has a major stake in global responses to the challenges of climate change, energy security and clean development.

It is encouraging to see the economies have committed to working through bilateral, regional and global partnerships and exploring innovative forms of international cooperation.

As President Hu Jintao said on Saturday, helping others is helping oneself and only cooperation can bring about win-win progress.

(China Daily 09/10/2007 page4)