Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he's encouraged that Australia wants Canada to become a member of a multinational partnership aimed at providing an alternative to the Kyoto protocol.

Harper and Australian Prime Minister John Howard spoke to the press Friday in Gatineau, Que., after two days of meetings.

Harper said the two discussed Canadian participation in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

Developed as an alternative to the Kyoto protocol, the organization is a non-treaty partnership comprising Australia, the U.S., Japan, India, South Korea and China. 

Harper, who has long opposed the Kyoto protocol, called the organization "the kind of initiative the world needs."

"I believe this initiative, if it includes the United States, India and China, is certainly a very good development in terms of achieving results," said Harper.

He said he's encouraged Australia wants Canada to join.

"Australia can't make that decision unilaterally, but I'm encouraged by their support," he said.

Commenting on the means to tackle climate change successfully, Howard noted: "We need an international regime that includes the biggest emitters. We have to find ways to reduce greenhouse gases. The partnership is closer to doing that than Kyoto and that's why we support them." 

Environmentalists have criticized the partnership because it fails to set mandatory enforcement of targets.

Harper has long opposed the Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and campaigned on developing an alternative energy strategy tailored to the country.

In early April, the Conservatives cancelled the One-Tonne Challenge, a program aimed at encouraging individual Canadians to participate in greenhouse-gas reduction.

When the federal budget was brought down in May, the minority government shifted funding for climate change programs to funding for public transit.

They reserved $2 billion over five years to develop a new "made in Canada" climate change program, but didn't provide any details.

When asked Friday about Canada's position on nuclear energy, Harper said his three-and-a-half-month-old government hasn't yet established its policy on the subject.

He did say it would be an "important part of the mix as we deal with energy and environmental challenges in the next century."