Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP)
The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) was established to advance the development and dissemination of clean technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Asia-Pacific region. Launched in January 2006, the partnership included Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, who together contributed to about half of the world’s GHG emissions. The APP emerged as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, particularly in response to concerns from the U.S. and developing countries about the fairness and effectiveness of international climate agreements.
The partnership emphasized voluntary commitments rather than binding targets or funding, with each nation setting its own goals. It initiated eight public-private task forces focusing on various sectors, such as renewable energy and cleaner fossil fuels, and promoted collaborative projects across member countries. However, the APP faced criticism for its lack of enforceable measures and failed to lead to significant reductions in emissions during its operation. Concluding in 2011, the APP's legacy is a mix of accomplishments and skepticism, illustrating the complexities of international cooperation in climate change mitigation.
Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP)
- DATE: Announced July 28, 2005; launched January 12, 2006; concluded 2011
- PARTICIPATING NATIONS: Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea, United States
The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate is a pact designed to increase the development and dispersal of new technologies in order to reduce the emission of GHGs.
Background
When the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted on December 11, 1997, several industrialized nations had reservations about its fairness and potential effectiveness. The United States, the only developed nation that did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, believed that complying with the treaty would put undue strain on the U.S. economy. President George W. Bush objected in 2001 to provisions that called for the United States to reduce its carbon emissions while exempting China and India, which with the United States were among the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). India and China, on the other hand, objected to the idea that they should deny technological advancement to their large and poor populations. Bush promised to develop an alternative plan that would address GHG emissions more effectively than the while at the same time eradicating poverty and protecting human health, American jobs, and American investments. The result was the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, announced in 2005, launched in 2006, and concluded in 2011.
The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) was announced on July 28, 2005, after months of closed-door negotiations. At the APP’s first ministerial meeting in Sydney, Australia, in January 2006, ministers created a formal charter to provide a structure for the partnership, as well as a work plan. According to the White House, the goals of the APP grew out of the work of earlier initiatives, including the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy, and Methane to Markets. With Canada, which joined the APP in 2007, member countries were responsible for about one-half of the world’s GHG emissions and contained about one-half of the world’s population. Australia, China, India, and the United States were the world’s four largest coal-consuming nations. This trend continued into 2021, when they remained in the top five, along with Indonesia. In April 2011, however, the APP formally concluded, with its end garnering little to no media attention. Some individual projects begun during the APP's tenure continued, though most faced cancellation.
Summary of Provisions
The formal documents of the APP did not include timetables, targets, or dedicated funding; these aspects of the partnership were voluntary and were set individually by each country. The stated goals of the APP were to develop new clean technologies, increase the use of existing clean technologies, address growing energy needs, reduce GHG emissions, protect economic development, enhance international collaboration, and find ways to make use of the private sector.
Eight public-private task forces were established at the Sydney meeting to focus on aluminum, buildings and appliances, cement, cleaner fossil energy, coal mining, power generation and transmission, renewable energy and distributed generation, and steel. In its discussions of the work plan, the Bush administration emphasized the potential of clean coal, coal gasification, and nuclear power, as well as the increased opportunity for investment that would drive private industry innovation.
The APP’s work plan described several specific tasks. Partners would identify possible storage sites for carbon sequestration, develop appropriate power solutions for rural areas, find cleaner ways to manufacture cement and steel and improve the of buildings. Other projects included creating renewable energy hubs in rural areas of India and China, granting scholarships for studying and solar energyengineering, and developing small wind turbines for remote areas.
Significance for Climate Change
Observers were divided about the possible impact of the Asia-Pacific Partnership. Supporters argued that the flexibility inherent in the partnership would lead to greater compliance and success while complementing the work of the Kyoto Protocol. Governments and businesses initially welcomed the APP as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, which some saw as too restrictive and not cost-effective. Opponents, including many environmental groups, contended that since the partnership’s targets were voluntary and since each nation was responsible for monitoring its own compliance, little would be achieved. They believed that the APP was created to supplant, not to complement, the Kyoto Protocol. Some opponents, however, acknowledged that the formation of APP was a sign of progress. Nonetheless, in the first two years after the formation of the Asia-Pacific Partnership, none of the member countries succeeded in lowering their GHG emissions. The APP dissolved in 2011, and the Partnership's criticisms and successes can now be evaluated. The APP was a landmark achievement in promoting collaboration between governments and the private sector in terms of energy initiatives. The Partnership was responsible for 175 collaborative projects throughout its duration and remains an example of the benefits of international cooperation in addressing climate change. Still, opponents like United States Senator John McCain and The Economist, who viewed the APP as a public relations ploy to distract from the United States' refusal to ratify Kyoto, may have seen their viewpoints validated with the dissolution of the Partnership.
Bibliography
Eichengreen, Barry, Yung Chul Park, and Charles Wyplosz, eds. China, Asia, and the New World Economy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Flannery, Tim. “The Ominous New Pact.” The New York Review of Books 53, no. 3 (February 23, 2006): 24.
Gerrard, Michael B., ed. Global Climate Change and U.S. Law. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2007.
"Top Five Coal Producing Countries (Million Tonnes, 2021)." GlobalData, www.globaldata.com/data-insights/mining/the-top-five-coal-producing-countries-million-tonnes-2021/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
"Why Asia-Pacific Must Accelerate Action Against Climate Change, Poverty, and Hunger." World Economic Forum, 8 Aug. 2024, www.weforum.org/stories/2024/08/asia-pacific-sdgs-climate-poverty-hunger-action/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.