¡¡¡¡WELLINGTON, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- New Zealand plans to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change by October, Energy Minister Pete Hodgson has said.

¡¡¡¡Energy Minister Pete Hodgson told the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development on Monday in Auckland, the biggest city in the country, that the Kyoto Protocol would come into force in New Zealand after Russia's ratification, which is expected late this year or early next year, the Dominion Post reported Tuesday.

¡¡¡¡The minister said New Zealand would now ratify by October.

¡¡¡¡As of mid-August, 79 countries had ratified the Kyoto Protocol including the European Union and Japan. The United States and Australia are not expected to ratify.

¡¡¡¡Under the Kyoto Protocol, Hodgson said, New Zealand would have to stabilize human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane at 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. Enditem

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