Global business chiefs will be asked to share the huge cost of cutting greenhouse gases when government ministers and officials meet executives from energy and resources companies at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (AP6) conference.
But the chairman of White House Council on Environmental Quality, Jim Connaughton, defended the meeting, saying each nation would bring its own portfolio of targets to the table.
"In the US we are committed to reducing our greenhouse gas intensity by 18 per cent and we're working on cutting the air pollution from coal-fired power plants by 70 per cent and cutting the air pollution from diesel engines by more than 90 per cent," Mr Connaughton told ABC radio.
"China will be coming to the table with portfolios similar to that as well.
"Out of that we're going to get our business sectors together and that's the key piece here. We have business leaders who are the folks who actually make the management decisions ... in making a cleaner energy future possible."
Mr Connaughton denied that governments were lagging behind the actions of big business in cutting emissions.
"The efforts by global big business are the direct result of very significant government incentives and partnerships that we're going to build this effort on," he said.
"The goal here, though, is to move beyond individual company projects, the construction of one facility, and trying to mass produce results such as the capture of dangerous methane from coal mining."
Industries that would come under the spotlight at the meeting included cement manufacturing, power generation and aluminium, Mr Connaughton said.
But the summit would not push for a reduction in coal use, instead focusing on making coal-fired operations cleaner.
"The task ahead of us ... is the task of cleaning up coal and find the technology path that will produce zero-emission coal," Mr Connaughton said.
"We need to continue coal as part of the diverse energy supply because coal is affordable.
"If you look at China, people are coming out of poverty by using coal."
Business asked to share costs
Multinational businesses will be asked to share the multi-billion-dollar cost of cutting greenhouse gases during the summit.
Australia’s Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane will jointly chair the dialogue with US Secretary for Energy Samuel Bodman, urging businesses to invest in technology to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard is expected to use the second day of the conference to announce a A$100 million fund to promote the adoption of clean technology in China and India.
Mr Macfarlane said partnerships with industry, particularly in developing emission technology, were more important than penalties.
"The dialogue will help establish work plans for public-private projects to develop a range of exciting new emission controlled technologies, from clean coal and carbon capture through to solar and photovoltaic potential," Mr Macfarlane said.
"It's pleasing that business has dealt itself into this dialogue in such a major way, without the threat of carbon taxes or other penalties."
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in Washington after talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that a series of working groups would be set up and backed by funding from the US and Australia.
"The United States and Australia very strongly agree that this partnership is going to be a great way of starting to take forward plans to address climate change which are practical and are going to achieve real results," Mr Downer said.
The companies include Nippon Steel, Tokyo Electric Power Company, China's Energy Conservation Investment Corp, India's Steel Authority and National Thermal Power Corp, Hyosung Corp from South Korea and Exxon Mobil and Rio Tinto from the US.
Chiefs of 12 major Australian energy companies, including Origin Energy, BP Solar, Woodside, Westpac and Alcoa, also will take part.
Green groups cautious
But green groups and state governments say targets are needed to reduce greenhouse gases.
They say that without targets the world can expect to see greater pollution, record temperatures, harsher droughts and worse bushfire and hurricane seasons.
Australian Conservation Foundation executive director Don Henry said voluntary arrangements were not enough, especially in Australia and the US where energy emissions were expected to rise by about 40 per cent of the 1990 levels by 2010.
Labor environment spokesman Anthony Albanese said the Australian government had no credibility on the climate change.
"The Howard government said no to the Kyoto Protocol, it's said no to greenhouse emissions trading, it's said no to increasing the mandatory renewable energy target, it's said no to helping our drowning Pacific neighbours," he said.
"The Howard government is frozen in time while the world warms around it."
US officials attending the summit have raised the prospect of other countries joining in the future if it proves successful.