Canada becomes 7th member of Asia Pacific Partnership

Canada today formally joined Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) at the Second Ministerial Meeting of APP on Clean Development and Climate.

New Delhi, Oct 16 : Canada today formally joined Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) at the Second Ministerial Meeting of APP on Clean Development and Climate.

The proposal for Canada's membership as the member of APP was made on Monday at the Ministerial Preparatory Session, where all members endorsed the decision.

Canada has shared the vision of the partners and also worked through bilateral and multilateral mechanism hence is most welcome in this fold, said Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Namo Narayan Meena, while making a formal announcement to this effect.

In his inaugural address at the meeting today, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee welcomed Canada into the APP fold.

Mukherjee said that their request for membership underscores the credibility this partnership has attained.

The member countries congratulated Dr. R K Pachauri, who is heading the Inter- Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is the joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize along with former US Vice President Al Gore.

The members felt that with this award the world's awareness on Climate Change has reached its apex.

Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the United States are the founding partners of the APP. The six partner countries represent about half of the world's economy, population and energy use, and they produce about 65 percent of the world's coal, 48 percent of the world's steel, 37 percent of world's aluminium, and 61 percent of the world's cement.

ANI