The UN Climate Conference, COP 18, gets underway this week in Doha, as the Kyoto Protocol winds down and is set to expire by the end of this year. COP 18 is unlikely to emerge with a suitable replacement for Kyoto, as yearly climate talks grind on and disagreements about emissions reductions continue to foil any meaningful agreement that would halt global warming.
Kyoto set binding targets for industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5% against 1990 levels, reports Voice of America. While the protocol has not been adhered to by industrialised nations and is, as a result, considered a failure, Green Peace activist Ruth Davis, argues that it is a vital tool because the principles embedded in it are essential to a new international treaty.
...