APEC leaders adopt Sydney declaration on climate change

By IANS
Saturday September 8, 01:22 PM

Sydney, Sep 8 (Xinhua) APEC leaders Saturday adopted a Sydney declaration on climate change in support of United Nation's global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, said Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

The declaration will be issued Sunday after the APEC leaders meeting, Howard said.

He said APEC has set a 'long-term global aspirational emission reduction goal'.

According to a draft of the declaration obtained by Xinhua, the APEC-wide regional aspirational goal is to reduce energy intensity by at least 25 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level.

It also set an APEC-wide regional goal of increasing forest cover in the region by 20 million hectares by 2020.

Founded in 1989 APEC, which has 21 member countries, has become a major regional forum acting as the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade, economic and technical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.