Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum

The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is meeting in Sydney, Australia to discuss, among other things, global warming. APEC will call for major emitters to make measurable and verifiable contributions to meeting shared global greenhouse gas reduction goals. APEC will call for voluntary measures that promote the use of energy efficiency, forest protection and increased spending on cleaner forms of energy like wind and nuclear power.

APEC member countries use about 60 percent of global energy and include six of the top 10 carbon emitters in the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and Canada. There are no emissions reduction targets such as the ones included in the Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto requires 35 industrial nations to cut their global-warming emissions 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The U.S. and Australia are the only industrialized nations not to sign Kyoto. President Bush is participating in the forum. (Associated Press)