Almost to everyone’s surprise, the Marrakesh Conference on climate change reached an agreement that confirms the commitment of the international community to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of the gases that produce the greenhouse effect. The negotiations, conducted especially by the Presidency of the European Union, ended with the adoption of a legally binding text that represents the will of over 160 countries, including the USA and Japan, to take forward the Kyoto process. The Marrakesh conclusions reflect in their entirety the Bonn accord of last July. The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, provides for a 5% reduction of greenhouse gases over the 1990 values by 2012; its entry into force is subject to ratification by at least 55 States representing 55% of the total emissions of CO2. The hope of the European Commission is that the Protocol may already begin to be implemented soon after the Johannesburg summit on sustainable development, scheduled for next year G.A.G.
