Hopes of Asia-Pac carbon trade scheme dashed - AFP

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Hopes of Asia-Pac carbon trade scheme dashed

Tue May 29, 1:34 AM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Hopes of launching an Asia Pacific-wide carbon
emissions trading scheme were dashed Tuesday when a senior
US official rejected the scheme while Australia said it was too
early to set targets.

But Australia could introduce its own emissions trading system
to tackle global warming by 2011, if Prime Minister John Howard
adopts a blueprint to be handed to him later this week, a report
revealed.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) energy ministers
meeting Tuesday in the Australian city of Darwin on Tuesday are
unlikely to discuss an international scheme, Australia's Industry
Minister Ian Macfarlane said.

He and US Energy Department representative Clay Sell agreed
before the meeting, aimed at seeking a delicate balance between
energy supply and climate change, that more research was needed
before emissions targets can be set.

"The challenge at the moment is not to set targets, it is to actually
have the technology to achieve targets," Macfarlane told reporters.

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Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070529/sc_afp/apecaustraliaclimateenvironmenttrading_070529053443