No change on climate at APEC: envoy

Katharine Murphy, August 8, The Age

PRIME Minister John Howard's hand-picked climate change envoy says APEC is unlikely to deliver big breakthroughs on global warming.

And he says the United States will not accept emissions trading until there is a new president.

Former Macquarie Bank deputy chairman Mark Johnson says APEC economies were "not at a level yet where there is a common aspiration" about how to reduce the risks of global warming.

"There will certainly be no targets (agreed in September). There's not that degree of commonality," Mr Johnson said in an interview in Canberra on Tuesday.

He said national environmental reforms now being considered by the US Congress were unlikely to yield change "until the next president".

"I think it will take a long time to get to emissions trading in the United States," he said.

But Mr Johnson said next month's meeting of APEC leaders in Sydney could deliver business some much-needed priorities in areas such as improving energy efficiency and support for new emissions reduction technology.

Mr Johnson met Mr Howard privately in Canberra late yesterday to outline business priorities for the APEC meeting.

Achieving progress on climate change and energy security is number one on the business wish list.

Mr Johnson was appointed by Mr Howard in June in a special outreach role to encourage regional economies to come up with a co-operative approach to climate change.

He is also chairman of APEC's high-powered business advisory council. In a new report to APEC leaders handed to Mr Howard yesterday, the business delegation calls for September to deliver transparent rules and incentives to deal with the challenges of global warming and energy security, and a bolder approach to free trade and investment liberalisation.

The wish list also flags business support for significant changes to allow the free movements of labour across APEC members.

Business is preparing a push to allow skilled labour and guest workers from countries such as Mexico and the Philippines freer movement into developed economies within APEC, to tackle looming changes in the labour market, including the retirement of the baby boomers.

Mr Howard has previously played up the importance of the APEC meeting for breakthroughs on climate change, but the focus of key international players, particularly the US, has shifted to a United Nations gathering in December, and a separate meeting of polluters being spearheaded by US President George Bush.

Mr Johnson said business did not expect APEC to "change its nature", but corporations in the member economies were looking for action from their political leaders across a range of fronts.

He said business would view the September gathering as a success if issues such as climate change were "elevated as a discussion item" and if economies could deliver principles on issues such as transparency of rules and regulations, and government incentives.

Trade is also a significant agenda item. Yesterday's brief to Mr Howard calls for APEC leaders to consider a free trade area for the Asia-Pacific region.