At Last… Australia Ratifies Kyoto
10 December 2007
Immediately after the ceremony, Kevin Rudd signed documents to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, reversing the previous administration's policy.
"This is the first official act of the new Australian government," he said.
Australia
's new stance on
Kyoto
will isolate the
US
as the only developed nation not to have ratified the treaty.
Mr Rudd is due to attend the UN climate change conference in
Bali
next week with four of his ministers.
When they heard of Mr Rudd's decision, delegates at the conference erupted in applause.
Mr Rudd's appointment as prime minister ends more than 11 years of conservative government under his predecessor John Howard.
As well as signing up to the
Kyoto
Protocol, the new government is committed to withdrawing
Australia
's combat troops from
Iraq
.
Mr Rudd and 29 other ministers took the oath of office at a ceremony in
Canberra
on Monday morning.
The new line-up has many differences from Mr Howard's administration.
Mr Rudd, a 50-year-old former diplomat, is the first Australian born after the end of World War II to hold the office.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard is the first woman to hold the post, and the new government also includes a former rock star, Peter Garrett, as the environment minister.
The minister with responsibility for climate change, Penny Wong, is not only the country's first openly gay minister but the first to be born in
Asia
.
The new approach to the environment is one of the main ways in which Mr Rudd is signalling a definitive break with the past.
He made the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol one of his key election pledges, and has lost no time in signing the paperwork to bring it into force.
Australia
will be an official signatory of the
Kyoto
treaty in 90 days time.
Signing the Kyoto Protocol is "a significant step forward in our country's efforts to fight climate change domestically - and with the international community," Mr Rudd said on Monday.
He said his government would do "everything in its power" to help
Australia
meet its
Kyoto
obligations - and has set a long-term target of cutting carbon emissions by 60% of 2000 levels by 2050.
Mr Howard steadfastly refused to sign the
Kyoto
agreement, arguing that there was no point unless big polluters among developing countries such as
China
and
India
were also subject to similar targets.
The Carbon Managers Ltd - The Green Building - Beckington - Bath - BA11 6TE
Copyright @ 2019