First Phase of Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate

I am pleased to announce that the United States, along with Australia, China, India, Japan and the Republic of Korea, endorsed nearly 100 individual projects as part of the first phase of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

U.S. experts from government agencies and the private sector have been working since April with their counterparts from other Partners to develop a Work Plan focused on action-oriented, practical approaches to meet energy and environmental goals in an integrated way.  These 98 projects span the most energy-intensive sectors of every Partner's economy - power generation, steel, cement, aluminum, mining, and buildings and appliances.  

The projects focus on sharing best practices, identifying legal, regulatory and market barriers, research and development and demonstration programs. 

Through these projects, we will promote ways to make power plants run more efficiently; identify opportunities to reduce powerful non-CO₂ gas emissions in aluminum processes; advance deployment of solar power, hydro and other renewable technologies; work to reduce air emissions from coal mining and cement production; and construct greener buildings and appliances.

There are several aspects that make this Partnership distinctive.  First, the Partner countries have unique national circumstances and are at different stages of development.  All six countries, which account for about half of the world's population and more than half of the world's economy and energy use, have a critical role in ensuring that global development in the coming decades is clean and sustainable. For the United States, the Asia-Pacific Partnership represents a new level of engagement with key countries on the fundamentally important issues of energy and environment.  All Partner nations also share a common goal of realizing sustainable development.

Secondly, the Partnership is working with the private sector to identify solutions.  The United States has a long history of successful public-private partnerships that have addressed many complex domestic issues.  The Asia-Pacific Partnership is the most significant public-private initiative  we have established at the international level.  Today, in Columbus, Ohio, we are meeting with American Electric Power and close to 100 power plant executives and engineers from the six Partner countries to address methods to improve efficiency of coal-fired generation plants and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and air pollution.  This international gathering exemplifies the leadership role that businesses can play in identifying innovative opportunities for cleaner and more efficient economic growth. 

Finally, our actions are results-oriented.  In the span of a few months, our Partnership is moving on specific implementation.  Endorsement of the Work Plan, including Actions Plans for the Partnership's Eight task Forces, signals the start of an ongoing series of projects and activities designed to implement cleaner, cost-effective energy technologies and practices among the Partner nations.