Global Change , a database of articles on climate change. The final hours of the climate convention in Kyoto, Japan, were frenetic as negotiators went into overtime in their search for a deal. We ll recommend the adoption of this protocol to the conference by unanimity. The terms of the agreement. Under the agreement 38 industrialized nations will cap their emissions of greenhouse gases to an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012.
Additional measures give countries flexibility in how they meet their target.
The agreement fell short of a major U.S. goal, however, to get the fast-growing developing countries like China and India to participate. Negotiators also failed to win tough compliance measures to punish nations that don t meet their targets. Negotiators hailed the agreement but also sounded some caution. We would have liked to have the result better. It s quite clear the European Union came here with a higher target.