From Kyoto to Buenos Aires – the new climate regime produces a lot of hot air.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the Climate Convention sets legally binding targets for the industrialized countries. But some countries, especially Russia and Ukraine, adopted very weak targets, thus creating a large gap between their likely future emissions and their target level. This difference has been termed ‘hot air’. Through emissions trading those countries with excess emissions could buy ‘hot air’ and avoid taking action at home. This article reviews the potential size of and actors in such a market, and argues that any payment for traded emissions should be re-invested in further mitigation projects. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]