U.S. Joins Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development

August 3, 2005

President Bush announced on July 27th that the United States has joined with Australia, China, India, Japan, and South Korea to create a new Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development. This new partnership will allow the six nations to develop and accelerate deployment of cleaner, more efficient energy technologies to address pollution reduction, energy security, and climate change concerns in ways that reduce poverty and promote economic development. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman will meet with their international counterparts this fall to carry the new partnership forward. See the White House announcement.

A White House fact sheet that accompanied the announcement noted that an increase in greenhouse gases caused by human activity is warming the surface of the Earth, and suggested the key to addressing this climate challenge is to develop and deploy cleaner, more efficient technologies. Among the energy technologies specifically mentioned in the fact sheet are energy efficiency, methane capture and use, biomass energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, wind power, solar power, and energy systems for villages and rural areas. See the White House fact sheet.