The 21-nation leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit have endorsed the 'Sydney Declaration' on climate change, though no binding target has been set to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.
The Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard who is no doubt please with the agreement, had consistently pushed for the issue of global-warming to be the top priority in this year's APEC summit since the beginning of this month. He emphasised three points from the Declaration which would help reduce the emissions level.
The first point was the need to develop a long-term aspirational global emissions reduction goal that was enshrined in this statement.
The second point was the need for all nations to contribute, according to their own capacities and circumstances, to the reduction of greenhouse gases regardless of which stage of development they are in.
This point has proved contentious in the current debate because developing nations such as China have argued that developed nations should assume a greater burden of the cost given the 'legacy of environmental damage' due to the transformation of developed nations, reported the New York Times.
The third point mooted by Mr. Howard was the setting of specific goals for the Asia-Pacific group in the two areas of energy intensity and forestry. They also agreed to the important role of clean coal technologies in dealing with global-warming.
A draft statement has been circulating in the summit to commit the APEC members to the improvement of energy efficiency in their own country by at least 25 percent in 2030, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Mr. Howard described this Declaration as a very important milestone in formulating a 'sensible' international agreement on climate change since the concern of each country, signing up to the agreement, was addressed.
"It's a very important milestone in the march towards a sensible international agreement on climate change, which recognises the need to make progress, but also recognises that different economies bring different perspectives to addressing the challenge of climate change," he said.