HANOI - Prime Minister Helen Clark arrives at Apec tomorrow where she will attempt to take some leadership on climate change, an issue on which she says "the moons" are moving into alignment.
She has instructed New Zealand officials working ahead of the leaders' summit at the weekend
to try to include climate change in the leaders' final statement this year.
She will be joining United States President George W. Bush, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Hu Jintao at the 21-leader summit of Asia Pacific countries.
Helen Clark made it clear in her visit to Britain and Europe this week that she believes Apec needs to start dealing with the issue of climate change.
She told the Herald from Europe she wanted Apec to see if it could explore the issue, particularly following Sir Nicholas Stern's report which canvassed the potentially devastating economic effects.
"It seems to me that in the wake of the Stern Review which has put the economic cost of climate change well and truly on the agenda there is scope for saying that this is something that should be in place at a leaders' summit," Helen Clark said.
The move at Apec coincides with an annual meeting in Nairobi of the International Convention on Climate Change, which energy minister David Parker is attending.
And it follows a milestone decision by Australian Prime Minister John Howard this week to consider a marketplace global trading system that would provide financial incentives to cut carbon use.
"What is happening in Australia as in the US is that the business community is actually aware that climate change is being treated extremely seriously by sharemarkets," she said.
