Europe: A Commitment to Kyoto

A response to a Washington Post commentary arguing that European nations are not hypocrites for not yet ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, as they are waiting for the completion of the treaty's implementing rules.

• The author asserts that European nations are committed to starting the ratification process for the Kyoto Protocol once the framework for implementing rules is finalized. This follows a 1997 agreement among signatories, including the United States, Europe, and Japan, that key provisions regarding compliance and market-based flexibility required further elaboration before ratification could occur.
• Rule-making negotiations intended to conclude at a climate summit in The Hague in November 2000 were unsuccessful, leading to an agreement to resume these talks in Germany in July 2001.
• The author characterizes the Bush administration's claims of 'European hypocrisy' regarding the Kyoto Protocol as a 'half-truth' designed to distract from the administration's lack of a plausible policy on the issue.

APA

Wiser, G. (2001). Europe: A Commitment to Kyoto. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/news/europe-a-committment-to-kyoto-op-ed-article-in-the-washington-post/

Chicago

Wiser, Glenn. Europe: A Commitment to Kyoto. Center for International Environmental Law, 2001. https://www.ciel.org/news/europe-a-committment-to-kyoto-op-ed-article-in-the-washington-post/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Wiser |first1=Glenn |title=Europe: A Commitment to Kyoto |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=1 June 2001 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/europe-a-committment-to-kyoto-op-ed-article-in-the-washington-post/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{wiser2001europe, author = {Wiser, Glenn}, title = {{Europe: A Commitment to Kyoto}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2001}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/europe-a-committment-to-kyoto-op-ed-article-in-the-washington-post/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }