The 15th Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which had opened on September 3rd with the theme of "strengthening our community, building a sustainable future." closed in Sydney, Australia on Sunday or September 9.
The week-long meeting discussed with special emphases climate change and clean development, the integration of regional economy, a support to the Doha round negotiations, trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and the recruit of possible new APEC members. Consequently, the Sydney summit has been a meeting of success serving as a link between the past and the future in the history of APEC.
Of the numerous topics for discussion at the just-concluded APEC summit in Sydney, climate change and clean development constitute the most urgent and significant as there are three main ensuing reasons: First, the rapid climate warming and subsequent natural adversities and growing pressures that have been imposed upon energy resources are precisely menacing the sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific region and the entire globe. The "Kyoto Protocol" is due to expire in the year of 2012 and a set of new international rules or regulations are needed to be enacted for the "post-Kyoto" era.
Second, the Asia-Pacific region has two of the world's three most hazardous energy-consuming and polluting areas, which emit about 60 percent of the pernicious gases emitted around the globe. Hence, energy saving, greenhouse gas emission reduction and clean development are of a far-reaching importance to global sustainable development.
Third, in the concerted, full cooperation as required by 21 economies of the APEC, the political mutual trust of all APEC members and a sense of "Asia-Pacific identity" from all their social strata will be enhanced to reinforce the cohering or condensing power of APEC, which poses the fundamental guarantee for deepening the APEC regional integration and the eventual trade and investment liberalization.
Last Saturday, or on Sept. 8, the APEC summit issued the "Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration" on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development, underscoring that the participation of all international community members is needed to respond to challenges from climate change, while differences of these economies and diversities of their capabilities should be taken into account and, international arrangements would be made on this basis for the post-2012 period.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has set forth four proposals on behalf of his nation for tackling climate change, including ways of strengthening cooperation, pursuing sustainable development and promoting scientific and technological innovation.
First, cooperation is indispensable to global efforts to tackle climate change, Hu said. Second, efforts are needed to pursue sustainable development, as climate change is ultimately a development issue and it can only be addressed in the course of sustainable development. Third, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change should be upheld as the core mechanism for addressing climate change and, fourth, efforts should be made to promote scientific and technological innovation, since science and technology are important means for tackling climate change.
"We should step up research and development as well as the application of energy efficient technologies, environmental protection technologies and low carbon energy technologies, increase capital investment in these areas, and boost the technological cooperation and transfer of technologies," acknowledged Hu.
Among other measures to be enforced, Hu also invited APEC members to join the proposed network to promote forest rehabilitation and expansion, so as to increase carbon sink and mitigate climate change in the Asia Pacific region.
These views and propositions of Hu's have won an extensive welcome and endorsement form leaders of the APEC members at the summit, and some of his proposals have been accepted and some relevant expressions been incorporated into in the "Sydney Declaration".
China is a responsible big nation. Energy saving, greenhouse gas emission reduction and clean development constitute requirements for its own development need as well as an international obligation it should take. Under the framework of the UN Program on addressing Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, China is ready to assume an active part in the all-round cooperation for achieving APEC energy saving and clean development in strict compliance with the principle of "unanimity and differentiation" with their responsibilities.
For this, the Chinese government has adopted forceful, effective measures and set the targets of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by about 20 percent and discharge of main pollutants by 10 percent and raising forest coverage from 18.2 percent to 20 percent during the period of the 11th Five-Year Program (2006-2010).
People both at home and overseas are convinced that an APEC with an attainment of energy saving, reduced emission of pollutants and clean development is bound to be an APEC with a strong cohering power and an attainment of sustainable development; and such a healthy and harmonious APEC is sure to fulfill its Bogor goals for trade and investment liberalization.
APEC currently has 21 members and the chairmanship rotates among its members.
By Shen Jiru, a research fellow with the Institute of World Economics & Politics affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and translated by People's Daily Online.
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