Australia, the US, China, India and South Korea are getting together to develop technologies that would help curb greenhouse-gas emissions, officials in Canberra said yesterday.
The countries linked in an as-yet unannounced initiative that is called the Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate account for more than 40 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, Environment Minister Ian Campbell told reporters.
"By moving more and more towards renewable energy such as solar and wind and a whole range of technologies that we can develop here in Australia and ultimately export to places like China and India, building partnerships with these countries is going to be the solution," Campbell said.
Australia and the US are the only two rich countries that have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that sets binding targets for reducing the emissions of carbon monoxide and other gases that are blamed for global warming and climate change.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard agreed to join the US initiative when he met President George W. Bush in Washington last week. Howard also held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also visiting the US capital last week.
Australia -- on a per-capita basis the world's worst polluter -- won't sign the Kyoto Protocol because it wants to continue to rely on its large coal reserves for most of its electricity generation.
Canberra also has argued that poor countries like China and India that are big polluters as well should also participate in international efforts to slow climate change. Instead, they have won reprieves because their economies are still developing.
Campbell conceded that climate change is a reality but argued that Australians must not be asked to make any lifestyle sacrifices to keep it in check.
The price of petrol in Australia is one-third the price in Europe, and one in five new passenger vehicles registered in Australia is a fuel-guzzling four-wheel-drive with a government subsidy.
In addition, the Australian government has set no targets for shifting away from its reliance on coal for power generation.
The Labor Party's Anthony Albanese, the opposition environmental spokesmen in parliament, said the government would sign on to the Kyoto Protocol if it were serious about fighting climate change.
"A secret regional pact? It sounds like government spin," Albanese said.
The international environmental organization Greenpeace also denounced what would be a voluntary program, arguing that Canberra should embrace Kyoto along with other rich countries.
To make its point, Greenpeace used its ship to blockade Newcastle Harbor and pause activity at the world's biggest coal port.
The five-hour protest ended when police boarded the ship, arrested the captain, Derek Nicholls, and detained the crew.
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