For the first time, the Protocol negotiated by the third Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto sets legally binding emission targets for the commitment period 2008-2012 for the industrial countries and countries in transition listed in Annex I....

A whole bundle of so-called "flexible mechanisms" has been foreseen by the Kyoto Protocol in order to help industrial countries to fulfil their agreed reduction targets in the most costeffective way. Emission permits will act as the backbone of all market-orientated mechanisms. Therefore, their...

Currently, international climate negotiations concentrate on design issues for the flexible instruments outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. As the 6th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in late 2000 or early 2001 has to take decisions on these matters, it is...