The climate summit at The Hague ended without any agreement and thus disappointed hopes that it could give a clear start for international activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Originally it had been intended to finalise the deal struck at Kyoto in 1997. The Kyoto Protocol set legally binding emission targets for industrialised countries but allows them in principle to use carbon sinks (forests and possibly soils), to trade emission permits among themselves and to invest in emission reduction projects in other industrialised countries (Joint Implementation, Jl) and developing countries (Clean Development Mechanism, CDM). However, the rules had not been defined in detail and at the 1998 climate summit a decision had been taken to finalise the outstanding rules by the end of 2000. Thus no industrial country so far has ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
Full article available only as PDF