This pledge, to be spent over the next five years, comes after the states and territories yesterday presented a joint statement to the Asia-Pacific Partnership meeting. It asked the Australian government to set firm greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by 2030 and provide incentives to businesses to slash their own emissions.

The extra funding to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is in addition to the A$1.8 billion the Federal government has already earmarked to address climate change issues.

Australia is hosting the two-day Asia Pacific Clean Development and Climate Partnership (AP6) in Sydney, which ends today. It has been attended by government and business leaders from the US, Japan, India, South Korea and China.

Howard also said a new report released today by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE), revealed that greenhouse gas emissions could drop by 20% by 2050 in the six nations if they adopted leaner technology.

Yesterday, NSW environmental minister Bob Debus and acting Victorian premier John Thwaites said while they supported the climate summit, Australia needed to do more to reduce its greenhouse emissions.

Debus said the states and territories were working to develop a national emissions target scheme with real targets for emissions cuts.

Emissions trading is a market-based scheme for environmental improvement, which lets parties buy and sell permits for emissions or credits for reductions in emissions for certain pollutants.

White House Council on Environmental Quality chairman Jim Connaughton told ABC Radio the US was committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 18% and it was working on cutting the air pollution from coal-fired power plants by 70%. He added that plans were also underway to cut 90% of air pollution from diesel engines.

In addition, the US energy secretary Sam Bodman has expressed his support for Australia’s plan to sell uranium to China for nuclear power, providing strict safeguards were implemented to prevent terrorist attacks.

Bodman told the conference that countries worldwide were facing a 50% demand increase for electricity and in response would need to consider developing nuclear power within 20 years.

Australia’s industry minister Ian MacFarlane said five other countries attending this week’s climate change summit in Sydney supported nuclear power.