[JURIST] Acting head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change [official website] Richard Kinley said Tuesday that parties to the Kyoto Protocol [text; JURIST news archive; BBC Q/A] mandating that industrialized nations cut greenhouse emissions in order to curb global warming will likely need up to 3-5 years to work out a successor to the pact, due to expire in 2012. Kinley's comments came at the UN Climate Change Conference [official website], currently underway [JURIST report] in Canada. The meeting to review the Kyoto Protocol [Deutsche Welle report] is the first climate change conference since the pact came into force [JURIST report] in February despite US refusal to back [JURIST report] the protocol. Many environmentalists want Kyoto's replacement in place by 2008 to help curb rising temperatures worldwide and businesses also are hoping for clear-cut rules to help guide investments. Earlier this month, representatives from Arctic nations met in Norway [JURIST report] to discuss global warming and the protocol. Kinley said that the conference will likely reaffirm Kyoto rules [press release] including penalties for non-compliance and reforms to the Clean Development Mechanism [official website; CDM watchdog website]. Reuters has more.