Nature:  "Newly Elected Prime Minister Intent on Changing Australia's Climate Stance". (November 27, 2007)

NatureNews reported today: "Australia’s new prime minister Kevin Rudd has wasted little time getting to work on an election pledge to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse-gas emissions."

It went on to analyse Rudd's victory from its perspective. Some excerpts:

Rudd, a 50-year-old former diplomat, led the Labor party to an emphatic victory in Saturday’s election.

The following day, Rudd reiterated his promise to ratify the climate protocol by Christmas. Ousted leader John Howard had steadfastly refused to back the pact throughout his 11-year tenure.

Rudd held meetings with government officials on Sunday to discuss the administrative details of exactly how to go about ratifying the treaty.

"Ratifying Kyoto we can do without the parliament sitting," [deputy PM Julia Gillard said]. Rudd will be moving forward with it "very soon" she added.

Rudd also confirmed that he plans to lead Australia's delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali next week. This meeting will see the United States as the sole developed nation that still shuns the Kyoto process.

Climate change has been a defining issue in the election campaign, which was conducted during what government officials have said is the worst drought in Australia's recorded history.

On the domestic front, Rudd has vowed to establish interim targets for an emissions-trading regime by mid-2008, and to set a uniform mandatory renewable energy target by the end of next year. But no details have yet been released...

Australia had originally negotiated a generous allowance of an 8% increase over 1990 greenhouse emissions by 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol, despite not ratifying the agreement.

John Connor, chief executive of the Climate Institute of Australia says Rudd’s government should aim to have greenhouse emissions actually declining within five years, and ensure that all new electricity coming into the 'baseload' grid is from clean sources.

NatureNews also posted the following comment it had received: