As Parties to the Climate Convention EU Member States have opted for a joint fulfilment of post-2000 greenhouse gas emission reduction obligations. No agreement could be reached on a joint EU target before the distribution of the burden of emission reductions among Member States had been agreed upon. This paper presents a sectoral approach to burden sharing, which incorporates important national circumstances. The three categories distinguished are the power sector, the internationally operating energy-intensive industry and the remaining domestically oriented sectors.

One would that if more than 1,000 scientists belonging to various countries and working for 10 years, pointed out the grave danger posed by increasing carbon emissions to the climate as well as the global economy, world leaders would take notice and initiate restorative action. Instead, they choose to either pass on the buck or worse,

Are the nations of the world serious in their much-touted efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions? Vinayak Rao examines the motives, moods and manifestoes in the run-up to the forthcoming climate change conference in Geneva.