Senator the Hon. Penny Wong
Minister for Climate Change and Water
Australia and China strengthen co-operation on climate change
Media release
18 November 2008
PW 236/08
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Australia and China held the first meeting of the Australia-China Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change at Parliament House in Canberra today.
Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, hosted the dialogue with the Vice-Chair of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Minister responsible for climate change, Mr Xie Zhenhua.
"This constructive dialogue is important to Australia, China and the effort to forge a global solution on climate change," Senator Wong said.
"In developing a post-2012 global agreement on climate change, it is essential that we continue to engage with China and strengthen our working relationship through joint initiatives.
"Australia and China have a lot in common in tackling the global challenge of climate change. As major energy producers and users, we both have an interest in developing cleaner energy sources and pursuing low-carbon development."
Today's meeting follows the April 2008 agreement between the governments of Australia and the People's Republic of China to establish annual policy dialogues at ministerial level.
During today's meeting, the Ministers agreed to build on their co-operation on clean energy and clean technologies. They endorsed the ongoing work of the Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology and the world-leading Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate in taking forward practical co-operation on these technologies.
China agreed to support efforts under Australia's proposed $100 million Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Institute and recognised that it was an important vehicle to accelerate global demonstration of CSS technology at a commercial scale.
The Ministers also shared perspectives on their respective climate change policies: China's White Paper on Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change and Australia's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and the associated Treasury modelling on the costs of mitigation.
Both countries agreed to build on this exchange by continuing to share policy approaches and analysis at the officials level, under the framework of the Bilateral Partnership on Climate Change.
Joint statement of Australia-China Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change
Australia and China held the first meeting of the Australia-China Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change at Parliament House, Canberra, Australia on 18 November 2008.
The meeting follows the April 2008 agreement between the Governments of Australia and China, reached during the visit to Beijing by Australia’s Prime Minister Mr Kevin Rudd, to establish annual policy dialogues at Ministerial level.
Australia’s Minister Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, hosted the Dialogue. China’s delegation was led by Mr Xie Zhenhua, Vice-Chair of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Minister responsible for climate change.
The Ministers stressed their commitment to meeting the challenge of climate change and to working closely to support the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol to reach positive outcomes at UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009.
The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the Bilateral Partnership on Climate Change and to continue to work on joint projects on such areas as renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, and emissions reporting and measurement.
The two sides agreed to continue and build on their cooperation on clean energy and clean technologies. They endorsed the work of the Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology and the world-leading Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) in taking forward practical cooperation on these technologies. The Ministers agreed to support efforts under the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Initiative as an important vehicle to enhance research and development and to accelerate global demonstration of CCS technology at a commercial scale.
The Ministers shared perspectives on their respective climate change polices with respect to China's White Paper on Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change and Australia’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and the associated Treasury modeling on the costs of mitigation. The two sides agreed to build on this exchange by continuing to share policy approaches and analysis at officials level, under the framework of the Bilateral Partnership on Climate Change.
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