Climatic collapse at The Hague: what happened, why, and where do we go from here?

This article analyses the meeting of the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention that took place at The Hague in November 200 0. Billed as the summit that would put the final touches to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the meeting adjourned without reaching substantive conclusions. T he authors explain what happened, underlining salient features that have le d to the current impasse. They suggest that agreement is still possible if major players understand the need to work within the structures, institutio ns and processes created by the Convention and Protocol as a result of the ten years of hard negotiations. Intransigence, an overloaded agenda, abando nment of familiar procedures and, above all, an inability to consider creat ive ways of forging common positions from divergent national positions are some of the lessons that need to be learnt.