The U.S. government listed polar bears as a threatened species Wednesday, AFP reports. The announcement was made by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne

“While the legal standards under the ESA compel me to list the polar bear as threatened, I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting,” Kempthorne told a news conference. “Any real solution requires action by all major economies for it to be effective,” he added, echoing U.S. President’s George W. Bush reasons for renouncing the Kyoto treaty on climate change.

The Interior Department also mentioned that under the ESA, a listing of “threatened” means that a species is at risk of becoming “endangered” within the future. It is listed as endangered when it faces imminent extinction.

Officials said the polar bear now comes under federal protection. Kempthorne depicted greater steps to monitor polar bear populations in Alaska and outlying islands in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, where the US government sold new leases for energy exploration.

Hunting of polar bears is already restricted under US law after their numbers fell as low as 12,000 in the 1960s. Kempthorne explained ice melting posed the greatest danger now, not energy production or indigenous peoples. He also said the iconic bears’ population is “likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future” without preventive action.

“Federal protection represents only the tip of the iceberg if Americans want to save the polar bear,” said Betsy Loyless, senior vice president of the National Audubon Society.

“Listing the bear as threatened is not going to save it if we continue to melt [ice] and drill its habitat,” she added.