Kyoto successor in the pipeline

A summit is being held in Bangkok this week at which climate change experts are planning a follow-on agreement to Kyoto, which will end in 2012.

The summit, which is being hosted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), hopes to come to an agreement that will be both effective in combating climate change whilst at the same time being acceptable to governments across the world.

Those attending the summit believe that the worst effects of climate change can still be avoided as long as governments act immediately in putting appropriate policies in place.

If governments choose to ignore the current window of opportunity, then the focus of climate change legislation will be adapting to, rather than avoiding, climate change.