Introduction

The mood worldwide was changing at the start of the new century. There was a definite movement towards supporting the neo-liberal agenda and the role of private actors while there was a growing push for lean states. Countries all over the globe began to accelerate the liberalization of their economies, and sustainable development appeared to take a back seat in this period. Furthermore, security issues became globally more important with the attack on the twin towers in New York in 2001, and high politics issues such as energy security and terrorism once more began to dominate the foreign policy agenda of countries.

However, the slow and steady administrative advances made in the Conference of the Parties (COPs) leading up to the Marrakesh Agreements breathed some life into the follow-up process to the Kyoto Protocol. The Climate Convention continued to demand policy implementation and reporting from governments. It took another five years before the first meeting of the Kyoto Protocol (CMP1) was able to adopt decisions to move the Kyoto Protocol further.