"It is the first time that this kind of meeting has been organized," Joke Waller-Hunter, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto's parent organisation, said in opening remarks.

Only the future will determine "if this is remembered as an historic event," she added, referring to widespread skepticism over the two-day gathering, which is billed as an informal "seminar."

Kyoto, which took effect in February after years-long wrangling and opposition by the United States, runs out in 2012.

It requires industrialized countries which have signed and ratified the protocol to trim their output of six carbon gases that linger in the air and trap solar heat instead of letting it radiate back into space.

Kyoto's champion, the European Union (EU), says that warming of the planet is accelerating and that, in future, major developing countries must do more to help reduce carbon emissions.

Poorer nations argue that the blame for global warming lies with rich countries, which were the first to extract the oil, coal and gas that helped create their wealth and remain the backbone of the world's energy supplies today.

These countries also say they should not be tied to stringent emissions targets, as this could hinder their emergence from poverty.

The United States and Australia are the only major industrialized nations not to have ratified the protocol, although both have signed it.

US President George W. Bush has said that meeting the Kyoto targets endorsed by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, would be too expensive for the oil-dependent US economy.

He has also argued that the deal is unfair as fast-growing, populous developing countries such as China and India are not required to make targeted emissions cuts.

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