On February 22, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the UN, Liu Zhenmin, called for international cooperation to address the issue of climate change.

Liu, who served as the chief negotiator for China on the climate change issue in 1996-99, said that all countries should cooperate on the basis of equality, respective capabilities as well as social and economic conditions. He made the remarks at an event entitled Climate Change: Advancing Clean Development and Energy Through Partnerships which was organized by the NGO, World Growth.

Climate change is not a new issue and the adverse consequences that it has already caused and will cause are receiving more and more world attention.

According to Ambassador Joseph Reed, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the UN, climate change will have "particularly severe consequences for developing countries."

Currently, the most recognized mechanism for addressing global climate change is the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement reached under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The treaty came into effect in February 2005, but as many have pointed out, despite its intentions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Kyoto Protocol has yet to reach its goal.

"Given the divergence of views, there has been little progress in the climate change policy in the Kyoto Protocol," said Ambassador Reed, addressing the event.

"The problem is that the treaty calls for too much economic pain in exchange for too little environmental gain," said Alan Oxley, Founder of World Growth who was a career diplomat with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In his opinion, developing countries would not accept policies that will restrict economic growth.

Oxley believed that "It's now time for a new direction on climate change." A new framework for tackling global climate and greenhouse gas emissions that he's in favor of is the Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate (AP6).

The lack of key support for the Kyoto Protocol gave rise to the AP6 in late 2005 in response to calls for more action on climate change.

Effective from January 2006, the AP6 now includes six countries: the United States, China, India, South Korea, Japan, and Australia, which account for more than 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and half of the world's population.

Oxley is confident in the AP6 approach, which "acknowledges poor nations will insist on robust economic growth powered by cheap and reliable energy sources."

"The Chinese Government supports this partnership," Ambassador Liu stressed, while calling for "more creative thinking" to explore approaches to address the issue of climate change.

According to Oxley, the six countries have already agreed to over 100 projects that focus on technology transfer. "These projects will lead to increased energy efficiency and reduced emissions of all types, including CO2. Such steps are critical to ensuring green economic growth," said Oxley.

Technology transfer is thought by Oxley to be the "easiest and most efficient way" to reduce emission (of greenhouse gas). His idea was supported by Dr. Margo Thorning, Managing Director of the International Council for Capital Formation who is also an expert on environmental issues.

Data provided by Thorning show that currently China and India produce much more greenhouse gas per-billion dollar GDP. "Technology transfer will give China and India great potential to reduce greenhouse gas," Thorning said.

Launched in December 2005, World Growth is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established to harness globalization and free trade, to eradicate poverty, and improve living conditions for people in the developing world.

(Chen Wen, Beijing Review, reporting from New York)