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Australia?s new government ratifies Kyoto pact
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Australia?s new government ratifies Kyoto pact
Australia?s new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, took the oath of office yesterday and immediately signed documents to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, ending his country?s decade of opposition to the global climate agreement. The move isolates the United States, which will now be the only developed nation not to ratify the agreement which sets binding limits on developed countries to curb the carbon emissions blamed for global warming.
?This is the first official act of the new Australian government, demonstrating my government's commitment to tackling climate change,? Rudd said in a statement. Climate scientists said the development was a major step for Australia and sent a clear message to Washington.
?This has given America no excuse now. They are now the only country who won?t ratify Kyoto, they are the ones most responsible for the problem and they are not living up to their responsibility,? said Barry Brook, professor of climate studies at Adelaide University. Rudd, 50, led the centre-left Labor party to victory at the November 24 election, ending nearly 12 years of conservative rule, by promising a new generation of leadership and committing to sign the Kyoto pact.
The former conservative government refused to ratify Kyoto, saying it would unfairly hurt the Australian economy with its heavy reliance on coal for energy and export income, while countries like India and China were not bound by targets. But a new report from the environment think tank the Climate Institute, written by government and university scientists, found that Australia?s economy could easily cope with strong cuts in greenhouse emissions.
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