(CBS/AP) Asian and Pacific leaders signed an agreement Monday to help reduce their dependence on conventional sources of energy and promote the use of biofuels, while urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security was signed by leaders from Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, China and South Korea after a three-hour summit in the central Philippine city of Cebu.
The agreement lists a set of goals for "reliable, adequate and affordable" energy supplies essential for sustaining economic growth and competitiveness.
The East Asia conclave came two days after the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) completed its annual summit, vowing to strengthen political solidarity, fight terrorism and create a free trade zone by 2015.
ASEAN nations are working to establish a terrorism database that would include a list of the region's most-wanted terror suspects, an Indonesian official said Monday.
The project would be one of the first products of the landmark anti-terrorism accord signed by the leaders in Cebu over the weekend, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said.
The declaration calls for moves to improve energy efficiency and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, while urging countries to expand renewable energy systems and biofuel production and "for interested parties, civilian nuclear power."
The leaders also agreed to explore strategic fuel stockpiling to reduce their dependence on oil imports, according to the document.
The leaders expressed concern over North Korea's nuclear test and urged Pyongyang to desist from further tests and "take concrete and effective steps" to implement a 2005 agreement in which it pledged to disarm in exchange for security guarantees and aid, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said.
The leaders also vowed to work closer in addressing bird flu and natural disasters.