Kyoto Protocol Hangs On

摘要

A 15-year-old global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions emerged weakened but still alive from the 18th United Nations conference on climate change, which ended on 8 December. The nearly 200 nations that attended agreed to extend the 1997 Kyoto Protocol by 7 years, to 2020. But several major emitters, including the United States, have never embraced the protocol, and others-including Japan, Russia, and Canada-dropped out in recent years. As a result, the renewed protocol covers industrialized nations responsible for just about 15% of global emissions-but delegates hope that more nations will endorse a new agreement on emissions targets by 2015.