Joining Kyoto, Australia Is Star of U.N. Climate Conference

BANGKOK, Thailand — Australia stole the show at the first day of a major U.N. climate conference in Bali, winning a prolonged ovation when officials announced that the country would finally sign up to the Kyoto treaty.

Shortly afterward, Prime Minister Rudd of Australia was sworn into office in Canberra and promptly ratified the 10-year-old protocol, which commits industrialized nations to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to more than 5% below their 1990 level.

The move leaves President Bush isolated as the only major Western leader to refuse to sign the treaty.

"This is the first official act of the new Australian government," Mr. Rudd said.

"I think I can speak for all present here by expressing a sigh of relief," the Indonesian environment minister and conference host, Rachmat Witoelar, said as he addressed the summit's opening session.

Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and has among the highest per capita rates of carbon emissions in the world.

The move put America on the defensive at Bali, where delegates from 190 countries are trying to design a successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012.

"We're not here to be a roadblock," the senior American climate negotiator, Harlan Watson, said. "We're committed to a successful conclusion, and we're going to work very constructively to make that happen."

The issues confronting the delegates in Bali are formidable, including the issue of mandatory cuts and how the economic burden of reducing emissions is to be shared between the rich and developing worlds.

Mechanisms to reduce deforestation and the destruction of peatlands, which together contribute 20% to annual global emissions, are high on the agenda.

Heads of state and luminaries such as Vice President Gore will descend on the luxury beach resort of Nusa Due next week.