AMMAN -- Jordan said it will sign the Kyoto Protocol, a UN pact on impeding global greenhouse gas emissions, following a recent Cabinet decision, according to Faris Juneidi, director general of the General Corporation for Environment Protection (GCEP). "Soon, the government will delegate Jordan's representative to the United Nations, HH Prince Zeid Ben Raad, to sign the protocol," Juneidi told The Jordan Times on Tuesday, adding that an exact date for signing of the environmental agreement had not been set. In 1997, at a UN conference in Kyoto, Japan, the Kyoto Protocol legally obliged developed countries to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent (below 1990 levels) between 2008 and 2012. Although developed countries are the world's main source of large-scale air pollution, Jordan's decision to sign the protocol is aimed at stressing its "commitment towards the different international conventions," Juneidi said. With the signing of the protocol, he said, GCEP hopes to attract more funding to contribute to the international community's efforts in reducing greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the earth's atmosphere thus causing climate change. GCEP, an agency operating under the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Environment, is the country's point of reference for environmental pacts. On Monday, the 15 European Union member states agreed to be formally bound to the Kyoto accord, and complete the ratification by June 1 this year. In March 2001, the US administration opposed the protocol by saying that it contravenes US economic interests, a decision slammed by European Union countries at the time. Instead the US government produced its own alternative climate change strategy aimed at encouraging industries to trim their emissions. Other developed countries like Canada have shown reluctance towards signing the Kyoto Protocol, saying it would cut the national GDP by up to 2.5 per cent in 2010 and cause economic damage worth 30 billion Canadian dollars ($19 billion).