BALI:Australia raised hopes of global action on climate change yesterday by formally agreeing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, isolating the US at UN-led talks in Bali.
Its decision won a standing ovation at the opening of what will be tough two-week negotiations on the Indonesian island. The talks aim to pull together rich and poor countries around a common agenda to agree a broader successor to Kyoto by 2009.
New Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd took the oath of office yesterday. His first official duty was signing documents to ratify Kyoto, ending his country's long-held opposition to the climate agreement that runs until 2012.