From the 13th-24th November the world's governments have an opportunity that may not come again. The chance to negotiate a climate treaty that will result in real reductions in polluting greenhouse gases, a crucial step towards protecting the global climate.
Greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning oil, coal and gas for energy, are altering the composition of the Earth's atmosphere and causing global temperatures to rise resulting in floods, storms and droughts wreaking havoc around the world.
In 1997 the rich industrialised countries of the world agreed to cut their greenhouse gases as a first step towards stabilising the World's climate. In the intervening three years many of those countries have tied themselves in knots trying to find ways to weaken the agreement and avoid delivering on that promise.
