The Australian government has established a $425-million fund to invest in new technologies to help prevent global warming, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced.

"We're all affected in some way by climate change," Howard said in his weekly radio address Monday. "We must respond on a number of fronts. There is no one single solution that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the years ahead."

Howard said Australia will invest in new technologies designed to use fossil fuels, such as coal, while producing lower emissions.

"Our country is the largest coal exporter in the world," Howard said. "It is therefore in our interests to find ways in which these fuels can be used with lower emissions."

Australia is one of only two industrialized nations worldwide, along with the United States, that have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

Howard's government has said the agreement would unfairly hamper Australia's economy, which is heavily dependent on exporting coal, a major source of carbon emissions.

Howard said the government will announce later this week the first projects to be funded.

Australia has already made significant investments in carbon dioxide storage techniques — known as carbon capture.

With files from the Associated Press