March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's ratification of the emissions-limiting Kyoto Protocol came into force today, leaving the U.S. as the only major developed country rejecting the accord.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who won office in November with a pledge to ratify the treaty, said Australia now had a ``seat at the table'' on global efforts to tackle climate change.

``Confronting climate change is the challenge of our generation,'' Rudd told Parliament today in Canberra.

Rudd has asked Ross Garnaut of the Australian National University to report on targets that would lower Australian emissions without harming economic growth. Garnaut said in February the government should ``go beyond'' its target of reducing emissions by 60 percent from 2000 levels by 2050.

Opposition leader Brendan Nelson said the Liberal-National coalition supported the ratification. That reversed the stance of former prime minister John Howard, who argued it would cut economic growth and cost jobs.

Australia's target under the Kyoto accord is to limit growth in greenhouse-gas emissions to an 8 percent increase above 1990 levels over the 2008-2012 period.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=au5.y97d3Gk4