Asia and Pacific economies said on Friday that they favor an effective U.N.-guided framework on climate change.
"We considered the global architecture for addressing climate change and share the view that it is important to establish an effective framework beyond the Kyoto Protocol under the U.N. climate process," said finance ministers or senior officials from the region in a joint statement here.
The statement was issued at the end of a two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers' meeting which highlighted climate change and energy security among other issues.
Australian Treasurer Peter Costello explained to reporters after the meeting that that such a framework will not only bring in large energy-consuming countries like the United States and China, but also cover the rest of the world.
The ministers' meeting served to provide policy recommendations to the APEC summit scheduled in Sydney, Australia, next month.
The joint statement underlined new clean technology initiatives and greater efficiency and diversity in energy supply as a sustainable response to the challenges of climate change.
The ministers called for practical cooperation, including experience sharing between APEC economies, as a measure to meet the challenge of climate change.
On energy security, the ministers said rising energy demand and import dependence in the Asia Pacific can be met by expanded trade and investment to boost supply and greater efficiency in use.
The meeting also discussed a range of policy instruments that could be adopted to protect the poor from the effects of higher and more volatile energy prices.
China's role in meeting the challenges of climate change was one of the issues under spotlight at the meeting.
Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing said the developed economies should bear the responsibility for the climate problems and should assist developing economies with their technological advantage in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas.
He outlined China's measures on climate change at the conference. He told a press conference that "China is a responsible country and has made its due contributions."
The meeting noted the continued strong contribution to the APEC region, which grew by 4 percent last year, is making to global economic growth.
"This strong economic performance has raised living standards and reduced poverty throughout the region, and we remain committed to sound economic policies that will help to sustain this performance," the statement said.
The ministers also voiced their support to revive the Doha round of negotiations.
On the reduction of global imbalances, the meeting called for more efforts to increase national savings in the United States, strengthen consumption in China, continue structural reform efforts including fiscal consolidation in Japan, and encourage domestic investment in much of emerging Asia.
Costello hailed the meeting as a success, saying it is the first time that the linkage of the three key issues of economy, energy and environment has been brought to one meeting at the APEC Finance Ministers' meeting.
The next APEC Finance Ministers' meeting is scheduled for Trujillo, Peru, in October next year.
Source: Xinhua
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