Asia signs 'green region' environment pact

SINGAPORE (AFP) — Leaders of 16 Asian nations including China and India signed an environmental pact on Wednesday, pledging action on climate change and forest cover, and promoting the use of nuclear energy.

The East Asia Summit members threw their support behind a UN plan as the "core mechanism" for tackling global warming.

They committed to work harder to develop alternative energy sources and cleaner fossil-fuel technologies, and to improve energy efficiency and conservation.

The East Asia Summit, which embraces the 10-nation ASEAN bloc plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, now sets the stage for next month's UN-backed global climate change talks in Bali.

After the United Nations warned that illegal logging is devastating Southeast Asia's tropical rain forests, the leaders set a goal to increase forest cover by at least 15 million hectares (37 million acres) by 2020.

They also ...