«The gap between the scale of global ambitions and the scale of national offerings has been clear to the research community for a long time, but the Kyoto Protocol's focus on
near - term emissions reductions... coupled with the scientific focus on long - term stabilization of climate at some
unspecified point in the
future has long given negotiators an out: they have been able to compare
near - term actions without having to square them with long - term goals, rather like guys
in a pub arguing about whose round it is while never actually having to settle up the bill,» Frame said
in an email.