Howard Fishing For Votes, Calls For APEC Replacement For Kyoto - Reuters

CANBERRA - Australia's Prime Minister John Howard has called for an Asia-Pacific replacement to the Kyoto pact, naming an envoy to work with regional leaders on a new climate agreement ahead of a September summit in Sydney.

But critics said Howard, a vocal critic of the Kyoto Protocol and its European nation signatories, was trying to build a "polluters club" to deflect attention from Australia's position as one of the world's biggest per capita Greenhouse emitters. Howard said the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to be held in Sydney, would be an historic opportunity to build consensus on a post-Kyoto deal embracing developed economies and emerging heavyweights India and China.

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Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown said Howard was fishing for support in his Kyoto opposition and belief that ratifying the pact would cost jobs in Australia's energy-reliant economy. "John Howard is going for a polluters club here, with the rules being you set your own limits of pollution, and there'll be nobody else to point a finger at you," Brown told local radio.

Opposition Labor Party environment spokesman Peter Garrett said Howard was trying to paint himself as a leader on climate change ahead of an election expected around November. "A set of convoluted ideas it seems, but without any real commitments for the reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions which is so sorely needed at this point in time," Garrett said.

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