The new non-binding compact to reduce emissions was announced last Thursday at a regional forum in Laos after months of secret negotiations by the United States, Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

"In principle we'd be very happy for ASEAN countries to become involved because they're economies that are significant, though not on the scale of China, India and the US," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told ABC TV's Insiders program.

"ASEAN governments were asking me whether it would be possible for them to become involved in this partnership in time and I made it clear that once we've worked out how we'd like it all to come together, we'd in principle be very happy for ASEAN countries to become involved."

The new initiative does not have enforcement standards or a specific timeframe for signatories to cut greenhouse gas emissions, unlike the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which the United States and Australia have refused to ratify.

The pact aims to use new technologies to cut back on emissions and member countries say it will complement the Kyoto protocol rather than undermine it.

Scientists predict global warming, caused mainly by increasing carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal, gas and oil, will increase the frequency and severity of droughts, flooding and storms, threatening global agricultural production.

Some environmentalists have criticised the new agreement, saying it is designed to serve the interests of the countries involved, which include some of the world's biggest polluters.

"The pact, rather than saving the climate, is nothing more than a trade agreement in energy technologies between the countries in question," said the environmental group Greenpeace.

The United Nations' expert body on climate change welcomed the pact, however.

"The partnership addresses the crucial relationship between development, energy needs and their related investments, energy security and a decrease in greenhouse gas intensity," said the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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