SYDNEY, Jan. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Big businesses have been urged to switch on clean technologies so as to cut greenhouse gas emissions during a meeting here of six Asia-Pacific countries on climate change.

    Senior officials from Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States opened a meeting of Asia Pacific Clean Development and Climate Partnership in Sydney, Australia's largest city, Wednesday.

    The six partners represent almost half of world GDP, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and population.

    Officials met about 80 business chiefs from the energy sector and discussed how to cut greenhouse emissions by using clean technologies.

    US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said the partners will expect to challenge the private sector to do more and challenge the private sector to take advantage of opportunities that are available to them.

    "It's really the private sector, the companies that own the assets, that make the financial allocations, that are ultimately going to be the solvers of the problems," Bodman told reporters.

    Australian Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said if businesses switched to cleaner technologies, the reduction in greenhouse gasses would be larger and three times less expensive than under the Kyoto Protocol.

    However, the big businesses will not be forced to meet specific targets, since the partners have said the partnership rests on the notion of a "non-binding compact" that would "complement, but not replace, the Kyoto Protocol," which would commit signers to legally binding targets for reducing emissions.

    The partnership was put together by Australia and the United States, the only developed countries to refuse to join 35 others to sign the Kyoto Protocol.

    Meanwhile, Australia is expected to announce a plan Thursday to commit 100 million Australian dollars (75 million US dollars) to an international fund to help businesses adopt clean technologies in China and India.

    Eight working groups will be formed with business and industry to develop clean-energy projects for the fund.

    Chinese delegates urged developed countries to provide developing countries with accessible and affordable clean energy technologies.

    Jiang Weixin, vice minister of the Chinese State Development and Reform Commission, also called on the partners to seize this opportunity to tackle global climate change by enhancing technological cooperation. Enditem