SOUTH Africa will ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global climate change, a government representative said on Wednesday. The government will also ratify the amendments to the Montreal Protocol on ozone depletion, Joel Netshitenze said after a cabinet meeting. Last month, the SA government called President George W. Bush’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Kyoto protocol “a major setback.” The protocol calls on industrialised nations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and five other gases by 5.2% of 1990 levels by 2010. Bush announced his withdrawal in March, calling the treaty “unfair” and saying its implementation would be too costly. The United States alone accounts for about a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. – AFP