Russia announces plan to ratify accord to curb emissions

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Russia said Tuesday it will ratify an accord directing governments to reduce smokestack emissions and other causes of global warming -- a step that would make the agreement, which the United States rejected, law in much of the world.

The announcement came as leaders at the World Summit wrapped up a long-term blueprint for tackling global woes of poverty and pollution. Attention at the summit shifted to immediate crises, including Iraq.

With the imminent arrival of Secretary of State Colin Powell, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz sought support from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former South African President Nelson Mandela for heading off a threatened U.S. attack.

Mandela has urged Washington to act within the U.N. framework and not attack Iraq unilaterally.

Powell was expected to hear more such advice Wednesday during his talks with Annan and other leaders, including Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

The United States continued to be hammered for its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, which many countries view as crucial for reversing a global warming trend blamed for cataclysmic storms, floods and droughts worldwide.

"All countries around the world need to address the questions of environmental protection ... under the same rules," said Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Christie Whitman said the United States supported other countries' ratification of the deal. But she said the agreement was not appropriate for the U.S., which is taking other action to limit climate change.

Russia's ratification of Kyoto would meet the last requirement for the accord to come into effect: that the countries on board account for at least 55 percent of carbon dioxide emissions based on 1990 output.

Once that happens, the 87 nations that have accepted it would be required to start reducing carbon dioxide and gases pumped out by factories, cars and other sources believed to trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the Earth.

The United States, which rejected the accord last year, would not face the requirements, which the Bush administration says would set back the U.S. economy.