Russia's parliament has ratified the Kyoto climate control treaty, virtually guaranteeing it will enter into force.
The pact sets out national limits for emissions of greenhouse gases and had been considered to be all but dead after US President George W Bush announced the US wanted no further part of it.
The State Duma lower house of parliament in Russia approved the pact by a vote of 334 to 73.
Russia held the key to whether the landmark 1997 draft agreement made the jump to becoming a working international treaty.
