And in Australia, six of the world’s leading polluting countries announced a multi-million dollar fund to develop clean-energy — but insisted they will continue to rely on polluting fossil-fuels to run their industries and economies. The United States, China, Japan, India, South Korea and Australia — which together account for nearly half the world’s emissions of dangerous greenhouse gases — were holding the inaugural Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

They’ve formed the group as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, which has set firm emissions targets. Representatives of the world’s biggest mining and energy firms attended the talks. The final declaration said private corporations will be encouraged, but not required, to cut gas emissions. It also said fossil fuels QUOTE: “will be an enduring reality for our lifetimes and beyond.”

• US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman: “I don’t count this a change in policy. What this is is a, if you will, a harnessing of the private sector. It is recognizing the fact that it is the private sector that makes the investment decisions–in all of these countries–not just the U.S. and all of the countries–it is the private sector that develops the technology. It is the private sector that gains the benefits from those investments and is in a position to share.”

Environmental groups slammed the talks as a sham.

• Greenpeace energy spokesperson Catherine Fitzpatrick : “Currently the global business community and governments spend 250-300 billion US dollars in subsidies to the fossil fuel sector. If we want to deal with climate change we need to shift that finance to clean energy.”