Beyond Kyoto?

The US together with Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea have announced a new pact to combat global warming which is, inevitably, already being hailed as the "Beyond Kyoto" pact - however the non-binding deal includes no Kyoto-style limits on emissions and no timeframes.
Since the world is consuming more energy, as economies expand, and consequently producing more greenhouse gas emissions (particularly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels such as coal in power plants and petrol in cars) such pacts are emphasising the importance of strategic technology development in addressing climate change.

Phil Goff, New Zealand's foreign minister, summed up my feelings on this new pact when he said mandatory standards were still key to dealing with global warming and he urged the United States and Australia to sign up to Kyoto. The six-nation deal would have some impact, but a bigger effort was needed to find solutions to some environmental problems; like "How to deal with the problem of flatulent sheep." :o)