Prime Minister John Howard will be a hypocrite if he calls on other countries to avoid deforestation while allowing further logging in Tasmanian and Victorian native forests, the Australian Greens say.
A leaked declaration on climate change, energy security and clean development, prepared for the 21 leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month, calls on the world's major polluters to set goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
It also calls for agreement on the importance of preserving and managing forests.
But Greens leader Bob Brown said the authorised destruction of Tasmanian and Victorian forests is one of the world's worst examples of deliberate deforestation.