VIENTIANE, Laos, July 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Six Asia-Pacific nations, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States, announced here Thursday to form the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

    A vision statement announced at a joint press conference said that the six nations will work together to create a new partnership to develop, deploy and transfer cleaner, more efficient technologies and to meet national pollution reduction, energy security and climate change concerns, consistent with the principles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

    The partnership brings together key developing and developed countries in the region to address the challenges of climate change, energy security and air pollution, in a way that strives to encourage economic development and reduce poverty.

    The statement emphasized that the partnership will be consistent with and contribute to efforts under the UNFCCC and will complement, but not replace, the Kyoto Protocol.

    It said the partnership will collaborate to promote and create an enabling environment for the development, diffusion, deploymentand transfer of existing and emerging cost-effective, cleaner technologies and practices, through concrete and substantial cooperation so as to achieve practical results.

    "Areas for collaboration may include, but not limited to: energy efficiency, clean coal, integrated gasification combined cycle, liquefied natural gas, carbon capture and storage, combinedheat and power, methane capture and use, civilian nuclear power, geothermal, rural/village energy systems, advanced transportation,building and home construction and operation, bioenergy, agriculture and forestry, hydropower, wind power, solar power, andother renewables," the statement elaborated.

    The partnership will also cooperate on the development, diffusion, deployment and transfer of longer-term transformationalenergy technologies that will promote economic growth while enabling significant reductions in greenhouse gas intensities.

    "The partnership will share experiences in developing and implementing our national sustainable development and energy strategies, and explore opportunities to reduce the greenhouse gasintensities of our economies," the statement said.

    It said the six countries will develop a non-binding compact inwhich the elements of this shared vision, as well as the ways and means to implement it, will be further defined. "In particular, wewill consider establishing a framework for the partnership, including institutional and financial arrangements and ways to include other interested and like-minded countries."

    The partnership will also help the partners build human and institutional capacity to strengthen cooperative efforts, and willseek opportunities to engage the private sector. "We will review the partnership on a regular basis to ensure its effectiveness," the statement added.

    The press conference was jointly held by representatives from the Governments of Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic ofKorea and the United States. Enditem