Asia-Pacific leaders, over a two-day meeting here, have set an "aspirational" goal of improving the region's energy efficiency by at least 25 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level to address the global warming issues.

This was inscribed in the Sydney Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development, issued yesterday during the 15th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting hosted by the Australian government.

The declaration, the centerpiece of this year's APEC outcomes and a consensus of the leaders of the 21 member economies, also set a goal of increasing forest cover in the region by at least 20 million hectares by 2020 -- which, if achieved, would store approximately 1.4 billion tons of carbon, equivalent to around 11 percent of annual global emissions in 2004.

It also decides to establish an Asia-Pacific Network for Energy Technology (APNet) to strengthen collaboration on energy research in the region, particularly in areas such as clean fossil energy and renewable energy sources.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard described the declaration as "a very important milestone in the march toward a sensible international agreement on climate change," saying the commitments "reflect the depth of our concern and the seriousness of our endeavor to address global warming whist providing for economic growth and development" in the region.

The Pacific-rim leaders meeting, an annual event, is a forum of the highest level in the Asia-Pacific region, this year drawing the presence of such prominent figures as Chinese President Hu Jintao, US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Under the theme of "Strengthening our community, building a sustainable future," the leaders discussed during their gathering a range of issues concerning the region's long-term prosperity and human security.

They agreed to strengthen regional economic integration by further reducing barriers to trade and investment and improving the regional business environment, so as to build "a strong and sustainable future for the Asia-Pacific community."

Recognizing human security as essential to economic growth and prosperity, they agreed to enhance cooperation in areas including anti-terror, pandemic, disaster and emergency preparedness.

Underlining the importance of trade to APEC, whose member economies account for nearly 50 percent of the world's total trade, the leaders issued a separate statement reaffirming their support to the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and their determination to bring the Doha Round of WTO negotiations "to an early and successful conclusion."

They pledged in the statement "the political will, flexibility and ambition to ensure the Doha Round negotiations enter their final phase this year."

The economic leaders meeting is the culmination of the APEC 2007 leaders week, which also includes the ministerial meeting and senior officials' meeting held earlier this week.

Founded in 1989, APEC is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

APEC represents the most economically dynamic region in the world, with its 21 member economies spanning four continents and accounting for approximately 40 percent of the world's population, 56 percent of world GDP and 48 percent of world trade.

The 21 member economies are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

Peru will be the host of next year's APEC meetings.