Kyoto Protocol
Australia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol
On December 3, 2007 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed into Law the Kyoto Protocol in the first official act of the newly elected Australian Government.
To date 177 countries have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
The United States and Kazakhstan now remain the only signatory countries not to have ratified the treaty.
The Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which was adopted in 1992 to encourage the stabilization of GHG emissions in developed countries.
The Kyoto Protocol which formally commits developed countries to a program of GHG stabilization was adopted by the UNFCCC signatory countries in Kyoto, Japan on December 11, 1997.
Developing countries who comprise more than 75% of the countries who have ratified the Protocol have no current obligations other than monitoring and reporting of their emission levels.