Australia wants new Kyoto pact

Updated 13.09 Wed May 02 2007

Keywords: Malcolm Turnbull, climate change, Kyoto, Australia

Australia has demanded that the Kyoto climate pact be scrapped, saying "Old Kyoto" belonged in the "pages of climate change history".

Kyoto was signed but not ratified by Canberra, believing it should be replaced with a global agreement that includes emerging heavyweights India and China, as well as the world's biggest polluter the US.

"Whatever the accounting washup of Kyoto may be, the fact is that the protocol's first commitment period, beginning next year, is rapidly moving into the pages of climate change history" - Malcolm Turnbull

"In my view the United States will never ratify the protocol as it stands," Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.

"Whatever the accounting washup of Kyoto may be, the fact is that the protocol's first commitment period, beginning next year, is rapidly moving into the pages of climate change history."

The Kyoto Protocol, which sets emissions caps for many wealthy signatory countries while setting none for poorer ones such as China will expire in 2012.

Australia, the world's biggest exporter of coal and biggest polluter per capita, has refused to ratify the pact or set binding cuts on carbon emissions, saying the move would unfairly hurt the economy.

Along with China, the US, Japan, India and South Korea, Australia is a member of a rival Kyoto pact that rejects emissions caps saying they may hurt growth.

Mr Turnbull, who supports practical measures to fight climate change rather than symbolic pacts like Kyoto, said the protocol had also ignored the need to stop deforestation in developing countries like Indonesia and Brazil.

Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne said Mr Turnbull was trying to bury the bad news that energy and transport emissions had risen in the last two years amid the country's mining and commodity export boom.