Background
After two weeks of negotiations, the UN Climate Summit in The Hague ended without an agreement. The final compromise text put forward by Dutch Conference Chairman Pronk was rejected by the EU and the US.
The European Union and the United States were unable to overcome their differences over the use of domestic measures and "carbon sinks" to lower emissions. There will probably be a COP6-II in Bonn in May or June 2001.
Environmental groups reacted with anger and frustration to the Summit's failure. "This meeting will be remembered as the moment when governments abandoned the promise of global co-operation to protect planet Earth", said Greenpeace.
