Global pact launches amid muted celebrations

A WORLD plan to fight global warming went into force yesterday, feted by its backers as a lifeline for the planet amid sniping at the US for staying out.

After years of delays, the UN Kyoto Protocol on curbing human emissions of gases blamed for disrupting the climate took effect at midnight, with muted celebrations of a deal Washington dismisses as an economic straitjacket.

Green groups marked Kyoto with protests outside US embassies and consulates, street parades in Japan and by carving fast-melting ice sculptures of kangaroos in Australia.