UNITED NATIONS: Canadian Prime Minister Harper aims to use Asia pact to press on climate

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he aims to use an Asia-Pacific partnership to try to bring the United States, China, India and other big greenhouse gas emitters into an eventual agreement on climate change. After participating in the U.N. high-level meeting on climate change, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday (September 24), where they discussed Harper's proposal for global warming, as well global issues including Darfur and Afghanistan. To date 70 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002. Canada has about 2,300 soldiers in the country, mainly operating in Kandahar province, the former Taliban stronghold. Canada's defense minister recently said the Canadian government is trying to decide whether they plan to extend their combat mission in southern Afghanistan. After meeting with Ban, Harper told reporters that Canada has been invited to join the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which also includes Australia, Japan and South Korea. He explained why Canadian participation in the Asia-Pacific partnership was important. "Some of the most important emitters - United States, China, India, Japan - are all part of that group and those are discussions we want to be involved in because these are the people we have to get involved in an effective international protocol, or we won't have such a protocol," Harper said. Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and other critics have panned the Asia-Pacific Partnership as a sham substitute for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change but advocates say it works for practical and realistic ways of fighting global warming. It is dedicated to tackling climate change through cleaner energy technologies without sacrificing economic progress. Ottawa remains a party to the Kyoto Protocol but Harper, whose Conservative government was elected last year, has said Canada would not be able to make the cuts of about 25 percent in emissions that would be required by next year without causing major economic dislocations. Like the United States, Canada under Harper has said there is little point of a climate change agreement if China and India are not participants.

ITN Source | September 25, 2007

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