Progress still slow at climate conference on day of protests.
Meanwhile, political ministers who took over negotiations on Monday failed to make substantial progress. Wednesday's protests came at a critical point in the two-week conference, which is supposed to set out the rules countries must follow to implement the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Technical negotiators finished the first week of talks with no breakthroughs. The protestors, who would not identify themselves, said the delegates were catering to corporate lobbyists rather than pushing for drastic cuts in greenhouse gases they said were needed to save the planet. The work taking place here is a farce.