Welcome
to the
Sixth
Session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties, COP 6
The Hague, The Netherlands, 13 - 24 November, 2000
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UNEP
Executive Director Klaus Töpfer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary
Michael Zammit Cutajar, COP 6 President Jan Pronk and Secretary
of the COP, Richard Kinley on the podium.
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COP
6 President Jan Pronk addresses the meeting.
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President
of France, Jacques Chirac, H.M. Queen Beatrix, Wim Kok, Prime
Minister of the Netherlands and United Nations USG for Economic
and Social Affairs Nitin Desai, attend the opening of the
COP 6 High Level Segment. |
Photos
courtesy of Leila Mead and Andrei Henry/IISD
Welcome
message from the COP 6 President and UNFCCC Executive Secretary
Ever increasing human
activity is having a negative effect on our climate. The world acknowledged
this in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, when the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was opened
for signature.
In the Climate Change
Convention, the international community agreed to prevent the harmful
effects of climate change, such as those resulting in shifts of
agricultural zones, melting of polar ice caps and rising sea levels.
In 1997, Governments took a further step and agreed on the Kyoto
Protocol that establishes targets for reduction of greenhouse gases
emitted by industrialised countries.
The Convention and
its Protocol gave the world hope and direction, but now it is time
to decide how to implement the goals agreed by Parties. This is
the challenge facing participants in The Hague at the 6th Conference
of the Parties (COP 6).
It is time to "work
it out" for the sake of the credibility of the international
community and, more importantly, to protect our planet from developments
that could totally disrupt life on earth. In The Hague, the future
of our children and that of all living creatures must be safeguarded.
In order to allow
everyone around the world to learn more about climate change and
follow what is happening in the Convention process, the Climate
Change Secretariat and the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment of the Netherlands (VROM) have joined forces
to bring you this web site. You will be able to find out more about
climate change, follow what is happening at the Conference, access
documents, watch meetings live, and contribute your thoughts in
an online discussion. The official web site (cop6.unfccc.int) is
managed by the Climate Change Secretariat while the outreach web
site
is managed by the Ministry.
Jan Pronk ( President of COP 6 )
Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
Biography Mr. Pronk
Michael
Zammit Cutajar
Executive Secretary of Climate Change Secretariat