UNITED NATIONS, May 31: The 15 European Union members simultaneously ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on Friday, bringing the most ambitious international attempt to fight global warming a big step closer to reality.

Speaking for the European Commission, which ratified as a separate legal entity, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem urged the United States to reconsider its opposition to the protocol.

More and more scientific evidence showed that “greenhouse” gas pollution was a major cause of climate change, she told a news conference, adding: “This is a problem that does not respect any national borders.”

Kyoto requires industrialised countries to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide from 1990 levels by an average of five percent during the period 2008-2012.

In order to meet that target, EU countries as a whole must cut emissions by eight percent, the biggest percentage reductions being made by Austria, Britain, Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg.—AFP