The United States, China and other APEC members should turn the fight against climate change into an opportunity to boost clean-energy trade and development, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
She also said clinching a broader U.N. climate pact next month during a major climate meeting in Copenhagen would be tough.
Speaking to ministers from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore, Clinton said curbing emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases was a major challenge for the grouping.
“The only real solution is a collective, global solution. APEC economies today account for nearly 60 percent of CO2 emissions — and so our efforts here can have a transformative impact,” she said.
China and the United States are the world’s two top carbon dioxide emitters from burning fossil fuels, comprising about 40 percent of mankind’s total carbon emissions.
Fellow APEC members Russia and Japan are also among the world’s top emitters. All four are responsible for about half of mankind’s carbon pollution.
“We must cooperate to turn the threat of climate change into an opportunity for clean-energy growth,” she said.
“We have done more to invest in clean energy and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the last year than ever before in our history, and our efforts are just beginning.”
She said most new emissions would come from developing countries. APEC member Indonesia is also a large emitter, mostly from deforestation. Emissions from India and Brazil are also rising quickly.
No trade off
“There need be no tradeoff between rising global living standards and strong action on climate change.
“But to avert such a tradeoff, we must meet the challenge head-on, with a plan for clean-energy growth that will spark an explosion of new investment, generate millions of new jobs, and build new paths to sustainable development.
“The United States will also lead other developed nations in supporting a global climate fund and technical assistance to help developing countries bring green growth to their peoples — making the fight against climate change one with the fight against poverty.”
Liberalising trade to support “green growth” was another important part of this effort, she said, and pointed to APEC’s initiative to try to ease trade barriers for environmental goods and services as a step in that direction.
She said it was crucial for nations’ resolve to fight climate change to remain strong ahead of the Copenhagen meeting.
“But we also need to remind ourselves that a final deal will not necessarily come quickly or easily.
“We will need to agree on immediate steps as well as larger steps toward a binding climate agreement that includes strong and clear commitments on all the major issues. The United States is prepared to provide, and intends to seek, these commitments.”
