In a lightning fast completion of a major election promise Australia’s new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has signed Australia to the Kyoto protocol within hours of being sworn in as our 26th Prime Minister. This was quickly reported around the globe and was the lead story in the Wall street Journals morning briefing email.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has signed the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Rudd says it is the first official act of the new Government and demonstrates the commitment to tackling climate change.
The ratification document will be sent to the United Nations and it comes into effect 90 days after that.
ABC News
In a recent report Australia was identified as having the highest per capita CO2 emissions in the world – no longer are we among the leaders we are the leader. This is one winning position we should not be proud of and rather be taking every measure possible to reduce our global impact.
Having joined the rest of the world in Kyoto we are now able to develop respect in this important world challenge and pursue leadership in solving the problem. At the UN Bali Climate change conference the announcement was met with applause and relief. The signing will be effective 90 days after the documents are delivered to the UN, so we should be a full partner in this important step toward global action on climate change.
Kevin Rudd and senior ministers are due to arrive in Bali soon to take part in development of a new global agreement on climate change and carbon emissions.
The Stern review identified Australia as having one of the most vulnerable economies in any climate change scenario. This is due to our high reliance on agriculture exports and our extensive coastline. This is evidenced in the increasing impact of the current drought on exports and local commodity prices.
