More than 17 years ago, beginning with the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit and the Kyoto Summit 13 years later, representatives from both industrialized countries and those with emerging economies began a dialogue centered around the reduction of carbon emissions that are believed to be responsible for the rise in average global temperatures. Economic concerns associated with costs versus benefits dominated the summit conversations. And in the plans to address the reduction in carbon emission, what became known as the Kyoto Protocol was never fully realized.