The Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development was adopted at

APEC Australia 2007 APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007. Various meetings were held across Australia from January to August 2007, with the ev ...

on 8 September 2007. The agreement indicates the wish of signatories to work towards aspirational goals on energy efficiency per unit of

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...

while encouraging

forest cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...

in the region. The APEC wide regional aspirational goal is to reduce

energy intensity Energy intensity is a measure of the energy inefficiency of an economy. It is calculated as units of energy per unit of GDP. * High energy intensities indicate a high price or cost of converting energy into GDP. * Low energy intensity indicate ...

by at least 25 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level, and set an APEC-wide regional goal of increasing forest cover in the region by 200,000 square kilometres by 2020.

Criticism

Environmental and climate organisations such as

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, the

Australian Conservation Foundation The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability. One high-profil ...

and the

Climate Action Network Climate Action Network - International (CAN) is a global network of over 1,300 environmental non-governmental organisations in over 130 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecolog ...

criticised the agreement for not setting binding targets on

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

for developed countries, and that the statement was little more than a political stunt.

pointed out that Foreign Minister

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...

told an APEC lecture in Melbourne in April 2007 that aspirational targets are a "political stunt" and "not a real target at all". One Greenpeace spokesperson said the declaration should be named the "Sydney Distraction" on climate change. The

called the declaration "very weak" and said the "declaration does not advance global discussions on climate change."Australian Conservation Foundation Meadia Release,
APEC’s Sydney Declaration is weak on climate
' Australian Conservation Foundation website, 8 September 2007. Accessed 12 September 2008

References

{{reflist Climate change mitigation Environmental treaties Climate change policy Treaties concluded in 2007 2007 in Australia 2007 in the environment