A group of experts from International Policy Network (IPN), a London-based NGO, called upon ministers meeting in Milan last December for the 9th Conference of Parties to the UN's Framework Convention
According to the European Environment Agency, few EU countries will meet Kyoto targets. Estimates by many internationally respected economic forecasters show that Kyoto will cause serious economic damage and massive job losses in European countries by 2010. "By discouraging economic growth and disproportionately harming Europe's poor, Kyoto will harm Europe's ability to cope with any future effects of global warming," commented Kendra Okonski, director of IPN's sustainable development project. "Ironically, climate policy may expose us to unforeseen risks, and leave us less able to deal with them. Future mitigation schemes would cause even more harm to the poorest members of Europe and the world," she concluded.
