By Carmel Crimmins CEBU, Philippines Jan 15 (Reuters) - A pledge by Asian countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of a regional energy security pact is a welcome first step, even without concrete targets, New Zealand's prime minister said on Monday. At a regional summit, Southeast Asian chiefs and the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand cited environmental problems, along with high prices and limited supply, as reasons to cut their dependency on crude oil. "I am just thrilled to see that as a serious topic of discussion at a forum like the East Asia summit," prime minister Helen Clark told Reuters in an interview at the 16 countries' second annual summit on the Philippine resort island of Cebu. The countries, which include some of the worst polluters on earth, agreed to work towards freer trade in biofuels and reduce the costs of renewable and alternative energy sources but did not produce targets to cut emissions or a timetable for results. The European Union, on the other hand, last week unveiled an ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gases by at least 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. But Clark said it was too soon to be talking about targets in an informal gathering such as the East Asia summit, which only started meeting last year and is aimed at building trade and security ties in a diverse, sprawling region. She pointed out that in the East Asia Summit, only a handful of countries such as New Zealand and Japan were part of the Kyoto Protocol, which mandates cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for about 40 developed nations. "It's getting the ball rolling," said the veteran politician, adding that the leaders did not discuss the EU proposals. Clark, 56, said New Zealand had worked to get the climate change reference into the declaration. "Up until then the motivation for discussing these issues had been more on the problems arising from the price of oil and the volatility and the security questions of the issues but we are coming at it also very much also from a sustainability issue." TRADE The head of the Asian Development Bank urged East Asian countries, which account for around a fifth of global trade, to create a massive free-trade bloc to pull 750 million of their citizens out of dire poverty. Japan had previously proposed such a union and will launch a study of the idea, an undertaking Clark supports. "We are happy to lend expertise to support it, and if the study got some traction, it could be the focus of the East Asia summit next year." "It's a big idea and I think the world needs big ideas in trade," she said, adding that Asia-Pacific countries were also studying a proposal for a free-trade area. But Clark said regional trade discussions should not be seen as a substitute for a successful conclusion to a stalled round of world trade talks, which officials are urgently trying to revive. "It (Doha round) is not dead, so while there's life there's hope." Clark also said she had reiterated her concerns about human rights in the Philippines to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who hosted the summit. There has been a surge in political killings in the archipelago and Amnesty International has said that members of the security forces could be involved, an allegation Arroyo has denied. "The rate of extrajudicial killings is much higher in the past six months than it was in the whole previous year. So, there is a set of issues that the Philippine government needs to be tackling very seriously."
