The history of climate change negotiations is a long history of
failed promises, and mandates that were not followed. It will
probably not be possible to keep track of all the failed
promises, but here a brief recount of the most important ones:
The mitigation promise: Developed countries committed themselves
to take the lead in mitigation, and return by the end of the
decade of the 90’s to earlier levels of GHG emissions. (cf art
4.2(a) of the Convention) The reality: up till today, most of
the developed countries that are not economies in transition not
only didn’t reduce their emissions, but they actually increased
them substantially1. The equity promise: recognizing that
developing countries had the major historical responsibility for
the climate problem, that they have a lot better possibilities
for attending the problem, and also that the first priority of
developing countries is poverty eradication, the principle of
‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities’ was establishe