Can Climate Progress Succeed Without U.S.?

BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 3, 2007— -- The United States stands alone as the last major industrialized country not to have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, after Australia's announcement Monday that it would now sign the pact.

Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol was the first official act of the new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. It was announced by Australia's representative, Howard Bamsey, at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which began Monday in Bali, Indonesia.

"Australia making that announcement was fantastic, and there was very long applause in the room," UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer told ABC News.

"The day as a whole got off to a good start with very enthusiastic introductory statements, people pointing to the scientific evidence that we now have and the need to move forward on that," he said.

Delegates from 187 countries flew to Bali for two weeks of talks on how to tackle global climate change issues.

At a press conference Sunday, de Boer said that "earlier spring, melting glaciers, longer droughts and changing rainfall patterns" are signals that have raised public awareness about climate change.

Some of the 10,000 people registered to attend the conference arrived today on bikes, an eco-friendly gesture encouraged by the Indonesian government. They met in the heavily secured Bali International Convention Center to discuss and debate climate change, its impact and what is to follow of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

The pact, ratified by more than 170 countries and made during a U.N. conference in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, went into force in 2005. It was a long-debated agreement and commitment by the developed nations to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Industrialized countries are required to reduce emissions to at least 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.

In a statement, the White House reacted coolly to Australia's announcement that it would sign the pact.

"The challenges of climate change are big, and serious. The next step is to reach agreement in Bali on a negotiating roadmap for a new post-2012 framework. We look forward to continuing to work together constructively with Australia, as we have in APEC, the Asia Pacific Partnership, and the Major Economies process," said Kristen Hellmer with the White House Council on Environmental Quality.