Opposition Leader - Howard Simply "Not Credible" At Summit w/o Kyoto

[hatrack]

Prime Minister John Howard will lack credibility with Asia-Pacific leaders unless he promises to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Opposition leader Kim Beazley says.

Mr Howard left on Thursday to join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. His deputy Mark Vaile announced on his departure that Mr Howard intended to promote biofuels as a key part of the global response to climate change.

But Mr Beazley said Australia's glaring failure to commit itself to mandatory targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would fatally undermine Mr Howard in any discussions on climate change.

"John Howard needs credibility and he's not got it," Mr Beazley said. "The only way he could get it would be to state to the people around that table (at APEC) that he intends to change, he intends to ratify Kyoto and take the issue seriously now."

EDIT

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/PM-not-credible-at-APEC-without-Kyoto/2006/11/16/1163266702319.html