The Kyoto Protocol became law in February 2005 – eight years after its conception as a framework for reducing emissions and a full four years after the United States abandoned it. But while President George W. Bush embarrassed much of the scientific community by challenging the veracity of the greenhouse effect, and thus the impetus for Kyoto, officials elsewhere expressed far different concerns. Reading the Kyoto Protocol explores their qualms and objections to everything from Kyoto's controversial policies on emissions trading to the question of a "post-Kyoto era." Contributors include internationally known philosophers, researchers, and environmentalists.
Etienne Vermeersch is emeritus professor in ethics at the University of Ghent in Belgium.