PM Howard appoints climate change special envoy ...

Excerpt from ABC News:

PM appoints climate change envoy

7 June 2007

Prime Minister John Howard has escalated his focus on climate change, appointing a special envoy to work with leaders in the Asia Pacific region to come up with a joint regional strategy.

Mr Howard has told regional leaders that clean development and climate change will be a focus of the September APEC meeting in Sydney.

The head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Michael L'Estrange, is the Prime Minister's new special envoy on the issue.

Mr Howard says the Kyoto Protocol does not suit the Asia Pacific region and that APEC should try to devise a new strategy.

"The Australian Government sees this as a historic opportunity to build consensus on a practical way forward for tackling climate change," he said. Mr Howard says one option is a "pledge and review" framework, allowing countries to come up with individual goals that suit their varying levels of development.