1.   Not until then, assuming the Kyoto Protocol is ratified by the required countries including the United States, can the protocol truly take effect.

2.   A minimum number of signatories is required before the protocol takes effect.

3.   An SADC protocol can take effect only once two-thirds of its members have ratified it.

4.   Swedish Environment Minister Kjell Larsson said the EU countries would press for the protocol to take effect before the World Summit on Sustainable Development in August in Johannesburg.