Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister-elect, is placing the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as one of the top priority in his 100-day agenda which has been welcomed by world leaders.
The signing of the global treaty to reduce greenhouse gases was described by foreign officials as a 'symbolic' shift since the US will now be the only developed nation not to ratify it. The previous Australian government led by the Coalition had refused to sign it citing it would do harm to the nation's economy.
The urgency to be a signatory to the treaty was highlighted when Mr. Rudd made it clear one issue to be discussed with officials from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet would be the steps required to ratify the global protocol.
"One of the things I will be discussing with the department this afternoon is the administrative arrangements that underpin the instruments of ratification," Mr Rudd told the Daily Telegraph news publication.
The change in policy direction to deal with climate change by the new Federal government was welcomed by the Indonesians
who will hold a conference in Bail next week to discuss about it.
Dino Djalal, the presidential spokesman, told AAP that given the attendance of Mr. Rudd to the conference and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by Australia, both events would 'add greater momentum' to the work of the conference.
Throughout the Federal election campaign, Mr. Rudd had vowed to cut the country's carbon emissions level by 60 percent in the year 2050. By signing the treaty, Australia is required to maintain emissions at 108 percent of the 1990 levels in the 2008-2012.