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.

澳大利亚批准了有关全球气候变化的京都议定书。去年当选的澳大利亚新政府的第一项举措就是批准这一限制废气排放的协定。

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.

有关减少温室效应气体排放量的京都议定书星期二在澳大利亚正式生效。环保人士长久以来一直敦促澳大利亚政府批准有关协定。他们说，这一协定有助于保护大洋洲免受全球气候暖化的影响。

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.

诸如大堡礁之类的澳大利亚天然国宝被认为可能会受气候暖化的破坏。由于担心这一协定会阻碍澳大利亚经济发展，而且也由于有关协定没有要求中国、印度等经济迅猛成长的发展中大国减少废气排放量，前总理霍华德的政府没有签署京都议定书。

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.

陆克文总理的澳大利亚政府去年11月上任后改变了原有政策，并且正与其它国家一起拟定取代将在2012年到期的京都议定书的协议框架。陆克文总理希望在国内建立碳排放贴换体系，要求到2020年，澳大利亚20%的能量来自可再生能源。

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

陆克文星期二对澳大利议会说：“制止气候变化是我们这代人所面临的考验。”

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

绿党成员鲍伯.布朗参议员说，澳大利亚人希望采取严格措施保护环境：

"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."

“民意调查结果显示，人们不仅大力支持京都议定书，而且更支持大刀阔斧地应对气候变化的措施。我们如今站到京都议定书签约国的一边，这具有划时代意义。希望我们能在拟定应对气候变化的全球性协议中站到最前列，因为气候变化是危及全球未来的最大人为威胁。”

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.

专家说，澳大利亚要成为环保方面走在前面的国家道路还相当漫长。澳大利亚依赖廉价的煤为能源，使得澳大利亚成为人均温室效应气体排放量最高的国家之一。

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.

澳大利亚批准了京都议定书之后，美国成为拒绝批准这一协定的唯一主要发达国家。