http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/unclimate;_ylt=AjMAbvVZthSG9jr74VJf35phr7sF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUlUN conference breathes life into Kyoto Protocol
12 minutes ago
MONTREAL (AFP) - A UN conference has agreed to extend the life of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and launch a dialogue between Kyoto members and the United States on long-term action for tackling the greenhouse gases that drive dangerous climate change.
"We have completed our Montreal marathon, although the road before us remains so long. We are going to reconcile humanity with its planet," announced Canadian Environment Minister Stephane Dion Saturday, bringing down the gavel on a 13-day meeting high on drama and long on exhaustion.
The conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was tasked with charting the next steps in curbing emissions from fossil fuel gases that scientists say are trapping heat from the Sun and disrupting Earth's fragile climate system.
After often-bitter negotiations, members of the Kyoto Protocol agreed to start talks from next May on how to cut their emissions beyond 2012, when the treaty's present "commitment period" expires........