APEC ministers vowed to tackle climate change through its sustainable growth agenda, according to a joint statement released Thursday after the two-day APEC Ministerial Meeting concluded here.

The agenda included "improved access for Environmental Goods and Services (EGS), development of EGS sectors of APEC economies, enhancing energy efficiency and sustainable forest management and rehabilitation," the statement said.

Noting human-induced climate change is "one of the biggest challenges facing the world," the statement said the EGS market has a key role to play in fostering sustainable growth and advancing efforts to combat climate change.

APEC economies called for the removal of barriers for trade in many climate-friendly technologies and goods, as the World Bank has estimated that the removal of barriers for trade in such clean energy technologies as wind, solar, clean coal, and efficient lighting alone could boost trade by as much as 13 percent, according to the statement.

The ministers thus agreed to "explore ways to reduce existing barriers to trade and investment, and refrain from introducing new barriers in EGS.., take steps to facilitate the diffusion of climate-friendly and other EGS technologies..., and advance work on sharing best practices in energy efficiency."