World?s top polluters join climate fight

Six of the world?s top polluters meet in Sydney this week to promote clean energy technology as a way to tackle climate change without sacrificing economic growth.

Six of the world’s top polluters meet in Sydney this week to promote clean energy technology as a way to tackle climate change without sacrificing economic growth.

The United States, Japan, China, India, Australia and South Korea will hold the first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate a pact they say will complement, not rival, the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases.

But unlike Kyoto, the six members will not be backing fixed targets for cutting emissions from burning fossil fuels and some analysts expect any resolution to be vague. Government sources said the partnership plans to create a fund to help develop cleaner energy technologies, which Australia would kickstart with about A$100 million ($75 million).

The partnership will also be counting on private support to develop and deliver technologies such as clean coal and renewable energy and will meet some of the world’s top energy companies, including BHP Billiton and ExxonMobil, during the two-day talks.

Critics have branded the partnership, which meets from Wednesday, as simply serving the needs of industrialised nations. “As might be expected from a pact between six of the world’s biggest coal exporters and users, this appears to be a deal to do nothing,” Greenpeace spokeswoman Catherine Fitzpatrick said.

Analysts and green groups predict clean coal technology, which uses a variety of methods to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases harmful to the atmosphere, will be a key focus of the partnership.

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