Helen Clark is claiming credit for a move that is expected to result in Apec countries reporting on efforts in their countries to tackle climate change.
As a first step, New Zealand has successfully pushed to have climate change concerns written into the leaders' communique which will be
issued today at the summit in Hanoi - on the back of energy issues.
It means Energy Ministers in the 21 Apec economies will likely report through their leaders on progress on the issue, and which will be given further weight at next year's Apec summit in Sydney under the chairmanship of Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
Mr Howard, stung for holding out against the Kyoto Protocol, along with the United States, has also been trying to lead the issue but from a stance of developing advanced technologies.
Helen Clark told New Zealand reporters in Hanoi last night she also planned to initiate discussion on it at the leaders' retreat today.
She said she had also sat at the same lunch table as United States President George Bush for an hour yesterday with the Apec Business Advisory Council where it had come up in discussion.
He had said that within the next six years or so the United States hoped to have up and running the first coal-fired station which would be entirely able to capture and store all its carbon emissions.
"From what he said the US is looking to technology solutions and pretty actively investing a lot of money in those solutions."
She said Apec could start getting working groups together examining technologies "and starting to get some collaboration on best practice on environmental clean-up."
She rejected a suggestion that climate change was adding layer of complication to the agenda of a grouping that was originally trade-focused.
"I've never felt it was realistic for Apec just to talk at economic matters without looking at what else impacted on it."
For that reason New Zealand welcomed terrorism, corruption, and pandemics getting on to the Apec agenda because of the devastating effects they had on economies and similarly with climate change.
"So it is unthinkable that at some point Apec wouldn't take the issue on."
