Australia ratifies Kyoto to leave US in the cold

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 US, 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,” Mr Rudd said in a statement.