Russia Approves Kyoto Treaty

Russia's lower house, the State Duma, voted 334-73 to approve the treaty, meaning enough nations have signed up to bring it officially into force...However Washington said it still does not intend to adopt the pact, which calls for cuts in greenhouse gases...The US, world's biggest polluter, pulled out of the treaty in 2001.

BBC science analyst Tracey Logan notes that many experts believe that Kyoto will be largely ineffective as the world's two biggest emitters, the US and China, will not cut their outputs."