Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill confirming his country's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, clearing the way for the global climate pact to take effect early next year, the Kremlin said this week.
Both houses of parliament last month ratified the protocol, which aims to stem global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Putin signed the bill on Thursday, the Kremlin said.
Without Russia's support, the pact which has been rejected by the United States and Australia could not have come into effect. It needed endorsement by 55 industrialized nations accounting for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 1990.