Russia OKs Global Warming Treaty

President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill confirming Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, giving the final stamp of approval that would bring the global climate pact into force early next year, the Kremlin said Friday.

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 go into effect. It needed endorsement by 55 industrialized nations accounting for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 1990.

After years of hesitation, Putin pledged in May to speed up approval in return for the European Union's support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization. The 1997 pact would take effect 90 days after Russia notified the United Nations of its ratification.

The pact's approval followed fierce debates among Russian officials. Opponents of the pact, led by Putin's economic adviser Andrei Illarionov, warned that it would stymie the nation's economic growth, but Kyoto backers rejected the claim, saying that even after a five-year recovery, the post-Soviet economic meltdown has left emissions some 30 percent below the baseline.