Compliance with the Kyoto treaty would reduce greenhouse gas emissions

In this story:

• Every major industrial nation has now signed
• Sharp reaction on many fronts
• Signing applauded in Buenos Aires
• Related stories and sites

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The United States signed the Kyoto treaty to reduce greenhouse gases Thursday as 160 nations in Argentina looked for ways to meet the treaty's emission reduction goals.

But U.S. ratification of the treaty and action to implement it appeared some way off.

The administration has said it won't ask the Senate to ratify the treaty until developing countries agree to participate -- and that could take several years.

If ratified, the treaty requires the United States by 2008-2012 to reduce heat-trapping gases, principally carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, to below what they were in 1990. With economic growth, that would amount to cutting emissions by more than a third from what they otherwise would be.

The treaty, called the Kyoto Protocol to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, was signed by Deputy U.S. Ambassador in the Signature Room at the United Nations.

"We are guided by the firm belief that signing will serve our environmental, economic and national security goals," Burleigh said after the signing.

Every major industrial nation has now signed

The United States became the 60th country to sign the agreement reached in Kyoto, Japan, last December. Every major industrial nation has now signed, but only one country, Fiji, has ratified the treaty.

The White House said the signing "reaffirms America's commitment to work with the international community to turn the broad concepts of the Kyoto Protocol into working realities."

The signing took place while 160 nations were meeting in Buenos Aires to work out details of the agreement, including the role of developing countries and an international pollution trading system to reduce costs.

U.S. officials want to use the treaty signing to energize the negotiations at the climate conference, which ends Friday.

A poster chastises the U.S. for not signing the Kyoto accord more rapidly

They hope it will help convince delegates from developing nations and Europe, who have criticized the United States for failing to curb greenhouse gases, that Washington is taking climate change seriously.

Argentina announced Wednesday that it will take voluntary action to curb greenhouse gases in the same time frame as the United States and other developed countries.

"We applaud Argentina's leadership as the first developing nation to make such a pledge," Burleigh said.

China and India, two of the biggest contributors of heat-trapping carbon, have steadfastly refused to participate.

U.S. Vice President Al Gore conveyed patience with developing countries.

"We are confident that in time the nations of the world will arrive at a course that maintains strong and sustainable economic growth, respects the needs and aspirations of all nations, and protects future generations from the threat of global warming," Gore said in a statement.

Sharp reaction on many fronts

U.S. lawmakers opposed to the deal, along with a number of industry and mining groups, attacked the decision, saying that, by signing, the administration moved the country closer to binding commitments that would harm the economy.

"By the stroke of a pen, President Clinton is rejecting the clear advice of the U.S. Senate and research by his own Energy Department showing conclusively that the treaty would cost American families billions of dollars and millions of jobs," said Connie Holmes, chairman of the Global Climate Coalition, an industry group opposed to the Kyoto deal.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican who has been one of its fiercest critics, said the treaty "blatantly contradicts the will of the Senate."

But Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat and an observer at the climate conference, welcomed it.

"It validates and strengthens our leadership position," he said, noting that if the United States hadn't signed, "it would have had a totally destructive effect" on the talks.

Under the treaty, the United States had until March to sign.

Signing applauded in Buenos Aires

Delegates to the Buenos Aires conference applauded when U.S. Undersecretary of State Stuart E. Eizenstat announced that the United States would sign the Kyoto accord.

Eizenstat annouces the United States will sign the Kyoto accord

Eizenstat, heading the U.S. delegation, noted in his speech that since the agreement was forged, "new findings have reinforced the strong scientific consensus that human activities are affecting the Earth's climate."

"All but one month so far this year has set a record high for global temperatures, right on the heels of 1997, the warmest year on the books. And this year's El Nino -- with its raging fires, drought and life-threatening floods -- gave us a powerful preview of the kind of extreme weather that global warming may bring," he said.

As the big powers argued over who should do more, tiny Micronesia said that global warming will "bring total and permanent destruction to our homeland" from flooding caused by rising sea levels.

"Global warming will destroy us forever, and by the time that happens, the rest of the world will be on an irreversible track toward devastation. It is inconceivable that all the nations of the world ... could allow this to happen," Micronesian Vice President Leo Falcam told the summit.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.