The first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol is from 2008 to 2012. Japan, the host nation of the COP 3 at which the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, expressed at the beginning of the COP16 opposition to setting the second commitment period under any conditions. This has caused more confusion in the difficult negotiations than anything else.
The Chinese government refused to allow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo and his family members to go to Oslo to attend the Nobel Prize award ceremony held on December 10. Furthermore, it requested other nations to not send their delegates to the ceremony. As a result, how the Chinese government deals with human rights issues has again attracted international attention.
Pilots and cabin attendants of Japan Airlines (JAL) on December 10 requested the International Labor Organization (ILO) to urge the Japanese government to investigate JAL’s dismissal plan and instruct the company to redress the situation.
