The 11th Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change was held in Montreal from Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, more than a year after Russia ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, thus enabling it to take effect last Feb. 16.
Russian ratification was necessary because the United States, which accounts for 35 percent of the developed world's greenhouse-gas emissions, had withdrawn from the protocol. Although the landmark document was ratified by 158 of the 189 countries that attended the Kyoto climate-change conference, its implementation required ratification by "Annex-1" developed countries accounting for more than 55 percent of total emissions from all the countries.
On the final day of the Montreal meeting, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, speaking at the informal invitation of the Canadian government, sharply criticized U.S. President George W. Bush. Clinton's speech received broad applause.