Developing countries must do more to reduce emissions: Costello.


Federal Treasurer Peter Costello says there is no point in Australia reducing its greenhouse gas emissions when China and India are such major global polluters.
Mr Costello is reacting to the UK's Stern report on global warming.
Its author, leading economist Sir Nicholas Stern, has described climate change as the biggest market failure the world has ever seen.
Mr Costello says the claims have to be kept in perspective and while Australia is on track reducing its emissions, developing countries need to do more.
He says Australia should try to get other nations to cut theirs.
"There's no point in Australia meeting its emissions target - and we are on track to do so, and I believe we ought to do so when we're less than 1 per cent of global emissions - if you're going to have major emitters such as China and India, which are increasing every year the emissions by more than the total of Australia," he said.
Labor's environment blueprint
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says the findings from the Stern report support Labor's environment blueprint.
Mr Beazley says if elected, Labor would sign the Kyoto protocol, engage in emissions trading and focus on renewable energy and the development of clean coal technologies.
He says the Government has failed to provide any long-term solutions to climate change.
Mr Beazley has accused Prime Minister John Howard of looking for a quick political fix to the problem.
"We are now into the period of an absolute requirement for action and already we are behind the clock, we are late," he said.
"That is why we don't have a moment to lose of the implementation of the sorts of propositions we put forward in our climate change document."
In other developments:
The Federal Opposition is stepping up its attack on the Government over climate change in the wake of the Sir Nicholas Stern report. (Full Story)