APEC seeks to slash emissions by 2050

SINGAPORE (AFP) - – Asia-Pacific powers including the United States, China and Russia are expected to call next week for sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a crunch climate meeting in Copenhagen.

US President Barack Obama and 20 other regional leaders will also say it is too early to wean their economies off stimulus spending, according to a draft summit communique obtained by AFP on Friday.

At their November 14-15 summit in Singapore, the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will call man-made climate change "one of the biggest challenges facing the world", the draft declaration said. Related article: APEC to maintain stimulus

"We believe that global emissions will need to peak over the next few years, and be reduced to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, recognising that the time frame for peaking will be longer in developing countries," it said.

The leaders, also including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, will stress their commitment to reaching a "good agreement in Copenhagen", it added.

The December gathering in the Danish capital will try to thrash out a new treaty to tackle global warming, but preparatory talks have become deadlocked and officials warn that the process could drag on into next year.

Obama, who will attend APEC as part of his first presidential tour of Asia, faces a recalcitrant US Congress and his administration wants more action from developing nations such as China.

The developing powers in turn are demanding more money from the industrialized world to combat what they say is a Western-produced problem.

The draft APEC text said global action to cut emissions should "be accompanied by measures to support the most vulnerable countries to assist them to adapt to the adverse impact of climate change".

On Thursday, US Senate Democrats pushed a climate change bill through a key committee, shrugging off a Republican boycott. But it could still be a long way before it can clear the full Congress.

The Senate bill calls for a 20-percent emissions cut by 2020, more ambitious than a House of Representatives version passed in June calling for a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels.

In September, Hu told the United Nations that China would reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by a "notable margin" by 2020, but did not provide a figure.

Carbon intensity is the measure of greenhouse gas that is emitted for each dollar of gross domestic product (GDP).

APEC executive director Michael Tay said the discussions on climate change were part of efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth.

"One way is to look at energy efficiency, the sharing of best practices, the sharing of technology," he told AFP. "We are also looking at how to give better access for trade in environmental goods and services."

Addressing the worst global downturn in decades, the draft APEC communique said: "We will maintain our economic stimulus policies until a durable economic recovery is secured."

It stressed that "economic recovery is not yet on a solid footing".

The United States implemented a 787-billion-dollar Recovery Act in February which the White House says has saved or created nearly 650,000 jobs, and likely more than a million.

In Asia, analysts say the more than one trillion US dollars in stimulus packages rolled out by governments played an important role in helping the region weather the downturn better than the United States or Europe.

The APEC leaders are also expected to "firmly reject all forms of protectionism" and work for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round of global trade talks by 2010, the draft said.

They will instruct their officials to draw up by the end of next year ways to achieve a free-trade zone stretching from Chile to China, it said.

That is a longstanding goal of the 20-year-old group, which accounts for about 40 percent of the world's population and just over half of its total GDP. Other major members include Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico.