However, industrialized countries did not specify their future carbon emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol, which is the only treaty that imposes binding emission cuts on rich nations.Many countries were happy simply to avoid the controversy of the climate conference in Copenhagen last year, where a great deal of mistrust existed between developed and developing countries. “It is not what is ultimately required, but it is the essential foundation on which to build greater, collective ambition.” 
 
 The agreement sets up a new fund to help poor countries adapt to climate changes, creates new mechanisms for transfer of clean energy technology, provides compensation for the preservation of tropical forests and strengthens the emissions reductions pledges that came out of the last United Nations climate change meeting in Copenhagen last year.
– The climate talks in Cancun are over, and the assessments seem to fall into the modest-but-better-than-expected range, mainly because they set the stage for future talks. Monsters and Critics has highlights here, including a goal by the nearly 200 participating nations to limit the rise in world temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius and the creation of a "Green Climate Fund" to help developing nations adapt. Guardian: The deal restores "faith in the multilateral UN process but will not reduce temperatures as much as scientists say is needed, and it pushes many of the most important decisions to future negotiations." AOL News: It gives "both developing and developed countries a bit of what they wanted, covering issues ranging from greenhouse gas emission cuts to rules for reducing deforestation." New York Times: "The result was a major step forward for a process that has stumbled badly in recent years." It gives the nations "another year to decide whether to extend the frayed Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 agreement that requires most wealthy nations to trim their emissions while providing assistance to developing countries to pursue a cleaner energy future." Telegraph: "A comprehensive global deal is now back on track. ... After two weeks of negotiating, rich and poor countries agreed a compromise that will see all countries committed to cutting emissions for the first time." Click here to read about Bolivia's objection that the pact is not nearly strong enough.