APEC summit ends with agreement to curb global warming
The first day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) ended with a resounding success. The 21 Pacific Rim political leaders meeting in Sydney, Australia have reached an agreement to reduce global warming through a process of energy efficiency and expanding forests. US President George Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, China's Hu Jintao and leaders of the other APEC countries agreed to adopt the programme at the Sydney summit after officials hammered out a deal over voluntary targets. If Pres. Bush has agreed the deal, it is very unlikely to be effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Green campaigners have already spoken out against the agreement. Catherine Fitzpatrick of Greenpeace said of the agreement: 'The Sydney declaration is just a Sydney distraction from real action on climate change…If the statement is the platform for action on climate change, then the world is in trouble.'
Should we be worried? I think yes, we should be worried. In reality the agreement does very little to address the issue of global warming. Unlike the Kyoto protocol, there are no binding targets for any of the countries signing up to the agreement. All the agreement does is to promote more efficient use of energy, which is being happening anyway, and loosely protect forests, which should be happening anyway. Not much of a step forward.
