We have made many important advances, including agreements to phase out the remaining substances that damage the stratospheric ozone layer and to ban ocean dumping of low-level radioactive waste. We have many opportunities this year to make further progress. At the conference on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held in Kyoto, Japan this December, we will be pressing for a substantive agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations will hold a special session this year to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. There will also be an important meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.
Environmental diplomacy is a work in progress.
The depletion of our fisheries, the increase in the level of greenhouse gases, and the destruction of habitats and species did not occur overnight and cannot be reversed overnight. We must work with the Congress and the American people to obtain the resources we need to support our diplomacy in this area, as in all others. We have made a good beginning. Our nation and our friends and partners around the world have the tools, the commitment, and the know-how to get the job done. As Secretary of State, I am committed to this effort and optimistic that we will succeed.