EU ratifies Kyoto Protocol
The European Union ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change on 31 May. The EU was represented at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where the ratification papers were deposited, by Jaume Matas, the Spanish President of the Environment Council, and Environment Commissioner, Margot Wallström. The agreement brings the protocol's entry into force, which requires ratification by countries responsible for 55 per cent of industrialised countries' emissions in 1990, a step closer. It also means the EU has fulfilled its goal of enabling the protocol to come into force before the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which begins in August this year. Mr Matas, who is Spanish Minister for the environment, said ratification by the EU 'is the expression of the conviction of the millions of citizens of the European Union that the Kyoto Protocol is the best instrument available for working together to achieve our common goal, and their commitment to it.' Ms Wallström urged the EU's partners in the developed and developing world to ratify the protocol as soon as possible. 'The scientific evidence on climate change is stronger than ever,' she said. 'We all know that even the targets in the Kyoto Protocol are only a first step if we want to prevent the severe consequences that climate change could have.' Ms Wallström also stressed the need for further action to cut EU emissions of greenhouse gases. She said the European Commission has proposed measures to reduce emissions at the lowest possible cost, including an EU-wide emissions trading scheme to begin in 2005. But she warned that all Member States must take responsibility for meeting their burden-sharing targets. The EU is continuing to urge the USA to participate in global action to fight climate change. The BBC reports that the USA has refused to change its position of opting out of the Kyoto Protocol, despite acknowledgement by the US government for the first time that man-made pollution is a key cause of climate change. In a report submitted to the United Nations, the US Environmental Protection Agency endorses the widely held scientific belief that man-made greenhouse gas emissions from industry and transport are largely to blame for global warming. The White House had maintained there was not enough evidence that industrial emissions are to blame for climate change. Philip Clapp, President of environmental group National Environmental Trust, said the new report 'undercuts everything [President Bush] has said about global warming since he took office.' The Japanese cabinet approved ratification of the protocol on 4 June after the upper house of parliament voted 229-0 in favour of it last week. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called for the USA to change its position on the protocol, saying: 'The government of Japan will do its utmost to establish a common rule, in which all countries including the United States and the developing countries participate.'