Australian PM signs onto Kyoto

NUSA DUA, Indonesia -- Newly elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd handed the United Nations his ratification papers for the Kyoto Protocol on Wednesday morning, distancing his country's position on climate change from Canada and the United States.

Mr. Rudd called on the rich countries of the world to take the lead in the battle against climate change, insisting they must all accept legally binding targets to reduce their emissions, while developing nations should take on "specific commitments."

"There is no plan B," Mr. Rudd said in a speech to delegates gathered at the opening of the UN climate change summit's high-level session.

"There is no other planet that we can escape to. We only have this one, and none of us can do it alone, so let's get it right. The generations of the future will judge us harshly if we fail."

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has insisted it will hold out on any deal that excludes binding targets on large polluting countries such as the United States, China and India, the Bush administration has refused to consider a binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions altogether.

But Mr. Rudd, whose government is only 10 days old, said the world could succeed in stopping dangerous climate change with courage and commitment.

The United States is the only major polluting country in the world that has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Canada is the only Kyoto country that has said it would violate the legally binding treaty.