Asian leaders from 16 countries will pledge to increase the region's forest cover by 2020 and promote the use of nuclear energy during their annual summit here this week.
A draft statement obtained yesterday said the leaders due to meet on Wednesday will also throw their support behind a UN plan as the "core mechanism" to tackle global warming.
Leaders from 16 Asian countries will meet Wednesday for the East Asia summit.
The meeting will take place one day after the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
SAVING ORANGUTANS
In the draft statement, the leaders pledge to work towards an "aspirational goal of increasing cumulative forest cover in the region by at least 15 million hectares of all types of forests by 2020."
The UN warned earlier this year that illegal logging by foreign firms could lead to a 98 percent loss of Southeast Asia's tropical rain forests by 2022, threatening the habitat of tens of thousands of endangered orangutans.
The leaders will also agree to cooperate on the "development and the use of civilian nuclear power" amid concern that soaring oil prices could hurt regional economic growth.
But leaders will stress that the use of atomic energy will be controlled in a manner that insures "nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation" by following the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
CONCERNS
Environmental groups have voiced concerns over the disposal of nuclear wastes and the danger that plutonium -- a key ingredient for making atomic weapons -- could fall into the wrong hands.
The leaders affirmed their commitment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as the "core mechanism" to deal with global warming, according to the draft.
ASEAN member Indonesia is hosting a UN-backed climate change conference on the island of Bali next month. Delegates will attempt to thrash out a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force in 2005 and is set to expire in 2012.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
RSS