The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the annual meeting of 21 leaders from throughout the Asia-Pacific, wound up in Sydney yesterday. My earlier post on APEC questioned how far leaders would go in making the focus on climate change more than a publicity gimmick.
During the meeting, reports suggest that Kyoto signatories such as Japan, Canada and New Zealand pushed for binding targets during discussions on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. China and the US seemed reluctant to formally accept the principle of goal setting, and there was resistance from developing nations in Asia. But by the end of the meeting, APEC leaders agreed to the content of the 'Sydney Declaration'. Here's a run-down of what came out of APEC, both from leaders and Australia's creative protestors.
In the 'Sydney Declaration' APEC leaders agreed:
- to the need "to slow, stop and then reverse" climate change
- that aspirational goals have to be set but that the APEC forum was not the place to sign up to a specific target for emissions reductions
- that climate change negotiations, including agreeing a target for emissions cuts, should take place under the United Nations' process
- to reduce energy intensity 25 percent and increase forests by 2030
- that "national circumstances and flexibility" need to be allowed for. This is intended to help developing country members such as China and Indonesia cut emissions without damaging their economies; a compromise between rich and developing nations
- to a reference on the use of nuclear power being a necessary part of the effort to fight greenhouse gas emissions
When you look beneath the hype, agreeing that one, something needs to be done about climate change and two, that targets should be set in the UN post-Kyoto negotiation process, it's very, very straight forward stuff. Improving energy efficiency 25 percent by 2030 is a worthwhile thing, but it's an easy move over a long time period when far bigger emissions reductions need to be made sooner. The language of 'victory' and 'embracing cuts' seems overstated and heavy with propaganda to say the least, particularly when you know that John Howard is due to announce the Australian federal election within weeks, keen to prove to concerned Australians that he's finally doing something about climate change.
But while APEC doesn't bring about the large-scale emissions cuts that are needed, it does represent a landmark in being the first time that China, the US and Australia have agreed that a global target for cutting emissions must be part of the world's response on climate change, and that they'll be part of it. Given the upcoming negotiation of a post-Kyoto agreement, having four of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases — the US, China, Russia and Japan – agree at APEC to the principle of emissions cuts is a good first step.
At the same time as agreeing that emissions cuts are necessary, APEC leaders talked trade deals and signed agreements for the supply of resources from Australian mineral giants. China's President signed the largest export deal in Australia's history, supplying China with huge quantities of LNG gas, as well as iron ore. Russian also signed a $1 billion-a-year deal to import Australian uranium for nuclear power.
The week was full of President tours at mining facilities, red carpet parades, managed photo moments and security hype. But on Thursday, ten Australians with a great sense of humor proved that the security at APEC was far from invincible. A popular comedy group with a weekly national TV show, The Chaser's created the comedy moment of the week when they succeeding in breaching the strict no-go security zone with their own motorcade of two black vans, two old motorbikes, a hired car posted with Canadian flags and men dressed as jogging security guards. After being waved through two police check points, the chaser team pulled up outside the InterContinental Hotel where George W Bush was staying, and one of The Chaser's emerged from the car dressed as Osama bin Laden. The stunt made something of a joke of the $250 billion security crackdown. If the police had looked closer at the 'APEC 2007 Official Vehicle' sticker, they would have seen that the fine print read "This vehicle belongs to a member of The Chaser's War on Everything. This dude likes trees and poetry and certain types of carnivorous plants excite him". You can check out a video of the spectacle at the bottom of this post, and some of their other antics in this previous Celsias post. The 10 men and one woman were charged under new APEC laws for breaching the APEC security zone. Despite the charges, they were back at it the next day, with three members of The Chaser's marching a black cardboard motorcade with Canadian flags down the street just a block from where police waved through their first mock motorcade.
Other protest action included GetUp laying out a 144-square meter floating canvas "target" at Sydney 's Bondi Beach , which was taken out to sea by surfers. On the Great Barrier Reef, which faces coral death from warming waters, swimmers also floated a banner out at sea. Great images of the action are here.
International expectation for political leaders to act decisively on climate change wasn't met by the outcomes of APEC. But the consensus of APEC's 21 leaders, particularly from the US, China and Australia, that they will agree to emissions reduction targets, sets the stage for the other international meetings that will culminate in Bali in December. There, the follow on from the Kyoto Protocol will start to be written and the actual emissions cuts targets negotiated. Let's hope that the APEC leaders' outcome, deciding to start talking later this year about what the targets for global greenhouse gas emission reductions will be in the future, will not be too little too late.
