A former Argentine diplomat who presided over arduous negotiations during December's global warming conference in Kyoto said Monday that many countries have since taken steps to curb their greenhouse gas emissions.

Raul Estrada-Oyuela, a former Argentine ambassador to China, was in Tokyo on a three-day visit to be awarded a decoration for his remarkable contribution in bringing success to the conference.

At the U.N. conference, signatories adopted the Kyoto Protocol, which imposes legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets on industrialized nations.

After attending an award ceremony at the Foreign Ministry on Monday morning, Estrada told reporters the world should follow Japan's "good example" in curbing greenhouse emissions. "Japan has already been doing many things to put the Kyoto Protocol into force," he said. "Two government ministries have proposed their bills to the Diet -- one concerning energy conservation and the other concerning global warming."

Estrada said conservation efforts by the Japanese private sector should be highly valued as well, citing the development of hybrid automobile engines that reduce the use of gasoline.

More than 40 nations signed the Kyoto Protocol during the two months after the conference, and Estrada said this indicates that many countries are committed to emission reduction.