Pete Hodgson has welcomed confirmation that the international climate change talks suspended last year at The Hague will
resume in June or July.
Jan Pronk, Environment Minister of the Netherlands and chairman of the 2000 conference, has announced the resumption of
talks for two weeks within mid-June to late July. The exact dates are yet to be determined.
"I share Jan Pronk's belief that members of the United Nations Climate Change Convention remain committed to making the
1997 Kyoto Protocol operational," said Mr Hodgson, Energy Minister and Convenor of the New Zealand Government
Ministerial Group on Climate Change.
"New Zealand ministers will continue to be fully involved in the international efforts to reach agreement."
New Zealand aims to ratify the Kyoto Protocol by mid-2002, around the tenth anniversary of the Rio Conference on
Environment and Development.