Turkish Parliament Approves Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto protocol binds industrialised countries to limit their greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels.

Turkey's parliament on Thursday approved its membership in the Kyoto protocol, the U.N.-led pact to combat global warming, the Anatolian news agency said.

Turkey had announced in June its intention to sign the accord, which was first agreed by world governments in 1997 at a conference in Kyoto, Japan, after years of delays because of concerns about the cost on its economy.

The Kyoto protocol binds industrialised countries to limit their greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels. More than 170 nations have ratified the pact, which came into force in 2005.

"Being a party to the protocol is given importance as global warming becomes the world's biggest priority and most urgent problem in order to show our country's determination to fight climate change and that it's a country that can be trusted by the international community," according to a draft of the law carried by Anatolian, the state news agency.

Three lawmakers voted against the law, while 243 approved it, Anatolian also said.

Countries are now in U.N. talks to agree on an expanded deal to rein global warming from 2013. Developing countries want rich countries to prove they can meet their targets by 2012.