Australia has ratified its acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The new government elected last year made signing the emissions-limiting accord its first act.

澳大利亞批準了有關全球氣候變化的京都議定書。去年當選的澳大利亞新政府的第一項舉措就是批準這一限制廢氣排放的協定。

The Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions formally went into effect Tuesday in Australia. Environmentalists and other activists had long pushed the Canberra government to ratify the accord, which they say could help protect the continent from the effects of global warming.

有關減少溫室效應氣體排放量的京都議定書星期二在澳大利亞正式生效。環保人士長久以來一直敦促澳大利亞政府批準有關協定。他們說，這一協定有助于保護大洋洲免受全球氣候暖化的影響。

Iconic national natural treasures such as the Great Barrier Reef are considered vulnerable to warming temperatures. The government of former Prime Minister John Howard did not signed the accord because of concerns that it would harm the economy and because it does not require large developing nations with rapidly expanding economies, such as China and India, to cut emissions.

諸如大堡礁之類的澳大利亞天然國寶被認為可能會受氣候暖化的破壞。由于擔心這一協定會阻礙澳大利亞經濟發展，而且也由于有關協定沒有要求中國、印度等經濟迅猛成長的發展中大國減少廢氣排放量，前總理霍華德的政府沒有簽署京都議定書。

The government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd reversed that policy when it took office in November and is working internationally to develop a framework to replace Kyoto when it expires in 2012. Mr. Rudd wants to establish a domestic carbon emissions trading system and wants 20 percent of Australia's energy to come from renewable sources by 2020.

陸克文總理的澳大利亞政府去年11月上任后改變了原有政策，并且正與其它國家一起擬定取代將在2012年到期的京都議定書的協議框架。陸克文總理希望在國內建立碳排放貼換體系，要求到2020年，澳大利亞20%的能量來自可再生能源。

Mr. Rudd told parliament Tuesday that "confronting climate change is the challenge of our generation."

陸克文星期二對澳大利議會說：“制止氣候變化是我們這代人所面臨的考驗。”

Senator Bob Brown from the Greens party says Australians are demanding tough action to protect the environment.

綠黨成員鮑伯.布朗參議員說，澳大利亞人希望采取嚴格措施保護環境：

"The opinion polls [are] showing massive support for not just the Kyoto Protocol but for much greater measures to tackle climate change," he said. "It's a milestone that we've joined the community of nations and hopefully we'll move back to the front again in searching for a global compact which is going to address the biggest single human-made threat facing our global community into the future, and that's climate change."

“民意調查結果顯示，人們不僅大力支持京都議定書，而且更支持大刀闊斧地應對氣候變化的措施。我們如今站到京都議定書簽約國的一邊，這具有劃時代意義。希望我們能在擬定應對氣候變化的全球性協議中站到最前列，因為氣候變化是危及全球未來的最大人為威脅。”

Experts say Australia has a long way to go to bolster its green credentials. The country's reliance on cheap coal has made it one of the world's worst greenhouse gas polluters per capita.

專家說，澳大利亞要成為環保方面走在前面的國家道路還相當漫長。澳大利亞依賴廉價的煤為能源，使得澳大利亞成為人均溫室效應氣體排放量最高的國家之一。

Many scientists think greenhouse gases produced by burning coal, oil and other carbon fuels, have contributed to warming temperatures around the globe. Environmental groups have called on Australia to go beyond its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent from 2000 levels before 2050.

Australia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol leaves the United States as the only major developed country that has refused to sign the global accord.

澳大利亞批準了京都議定書之后，美國成為拒絕批準這一協定的唯一主要發達國家。