Kyoto; AP6; ASEM6 - The marginalisation of Australia and the U.S.

ASEM6 adopts declaration on climate change

HELSINKI, Finland (Via PLDT) (12 September) -- Thirty-nine Asian and European leaders, including President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ended Monday their two-day 6th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) at the Helsinki Fair Center with the adoption of the ASEM6 Declaration on Climate Change.

The Declaration is ASEM's way of expressing its full support and commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol to which the ASEM member-nations are signatories.

In adopting the Declaration, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Japan, China and South Korea, together with the 25-nation European Union, including the President of the European Commission, noted that the adverse effects of climate change pose a "serious threat to sustainable development to the future of the planet," thus the need for international action in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

ASEAN groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEM expresses its commitment "to act with resolve and urgency to meet interrelated multiple goals of addressing climate change, reducing air pollution and improving the global environment while contributing to sustainable development and synergies with energy policy goals."

The Declaration states that the ASEM members are "determined to respond to climate change through international cooperation, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention."

The document acknowledges the need for the widest possible cooperation and participation in appropriate international response in addressing the global nature of climate change.

The Declaration also reaffirms the ASEM leaders' adherence to the Convention and Protocol as the "appropriate international framework to develop further actions against climate change."

The ASEM Declaration vows to harness technology and investments for climate-friendly solutions to climate change as they recognize that climate change and energy supply are interrelated.

The Declaration notes that ASEM countries, by 2030, would have invested some US$6.3 trillion in the energy sector.

"We will cooperate to promote development, transfer and deployment of low carbon technology and access by developing ASEM countries to cleaner and climate friendly technologies," it says.

The Asia-Europe leaders also signified their commitment to enhance their energy efficiency, promote renewable energy use and initiate broad international collaboration in research, transfer and deployment of climate-friendly technologies.

The Declaration also adopted the "Manila Vision and Action Plan" on ASEM Oceans Initiative as it noted that climate change policies must be complemented with actions to abate deforestation and stop illegal logging while promoting sustainable management of forests and oceans and marine resources. (PIA-MMIO) [top]