After discussions with the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, and Environment Minister, Mr David Kemp, Mr Prescott counselled against support for a renegotiation of the project. The Howard Government has signalled it will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol if the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, the US, does not participate.

The Bush Administration, much to the consternation of environmentalists and the European Union, rejected ratification of the protocol because it did not include many developing countries.