UN official says new climate change agreement beyond Kyoto will take years News
UN official says new climate change agreement beyond Kyoto will take years

[JURIST] Acting head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change [official website] Richard Kinley said Tuesday that parties to the Kyoto Protocol [text; JURIST news archive; BBC Q/A] mandating that industrialized nations cut greenhouse emissions in order to curb global warming will likely need up to 3-5 years to work out a successor to the pact, due to expire in 2012. Kinley's comments came at the UN Climate Change Conference [official website], currently underway [JURIST report] in Canada. The meeting to review the Kyoto Protocol [Deutsche Welle report] is the first climate change conference since the pact came into force [JURIST report] in February despite US refusal to back [JURIST report] the protocol. Many environmentalists want Kyoto's replacement in place by 2008 to help curb rising temperatures worldwide and businesses also are hoping for clear-cut rules to help guide investments. Earlier this month, representatives from Arctic nations met in Norway [JURIST report] to discuss global warming and the protocol. Kinley said that the conference will likely reaffirm Kyoto rules [press release] including penalties for non-compliance and reforms to the Clean Development Mechanism [official website; CDM watchdog website]. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Acts of Union creates Great Britain

On May 1, 1707, the two Acts of Union went into effect, implementing the Treaty of Union and thereby uniting the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The Union with Scotland Act was passed by the Parliament of England in 1706, and the Scottish Parliament promulgated the Union with England Act. Learn more about the Acts of Union from the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

First US trade union formed

On May 1, 1794, the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers) was organized in Philadelphia to negotiate wages for its members, becoming the first trade union in the United States.

Learn more about the history of the labor movement in the United States, and visit the website of the AFL-CIO, the federation of America's labor unions, representing more than 13 million workers.