Bonn - Industrial nations are undermining the effectiveness of the agreement to combat global climate change, environmental groups claimed yesterday. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF voiced their fears over provisions in the 1997 Kyoto treaty to reduce emissions of climate-changing pollution by 5 per cent in the coming decade.
The industrial nations are said to be looking for loopholes to allow greenhouse gases to increase by 15-20 per cent. The green groups single out the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand as the main culprits, as more than 120 nations convene in Bonn this week for 10 days of climate talks.