CANBERRA, Australia — Kevin Rudd, the new prime minister of Australia, said on Monday that he had signed the paperwork to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, making good on an election promise that overturns a decade of opposition to the international global warming pact.
SOURCE: cbsnews.com / AP [not reported by http://www.nytimes.com]
(He renewed his government's goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2050, switching Australia's coal-dominated power generation industry to 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, and creating a national emissions trading scheme by 2010.)
"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 issued hours after he and his Cabinet were officially sworn in after Nov. 24 elections.
Rudd said that he had signed the "instrument of ratification" of the Kyoto Protocol and that it would come into force 90 days after the paperwork was received by the United Nations.
"Australia will become a full member of the Kyoto Protocol before the end of March 2008," Rudd said.
"Australia's official declaration today that we will become a member of the Kyoto Protocol is a significant step forward in our country's efforts to fight climate change domestically and with the international community," he said.
Rudd, 50, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat, led the left-leaning Labor Party to a sweeping victory at the elections that ended more than 11 years of conservative rule under former Prime Minister John Howard.
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