WHEN THE GOVERNMENTS adopted the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), it was quite obvious that its commitments would not be sufficient to seriously tackle climate change. At Conference of the Parties (COP) 1 (Berlin, March/April 1995), in a decision known as the Berlin Mandate, parties therefore launched a new round of talks to decide on stronger and more detailed commitments for industrialized countries. After two and a half years of intense negotiations, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted at COP 3 in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997. The Kyoto Protocol was open for signatures on that day and took [Page 588]effect on February 16, 2005. As of June 2007, 172 countries have ratified the protocol and the treaty ...