The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change took place in December 1997. The author, representing Tanzania, was the Chair of the group of seventy seven. He here gives the background information on the negotiations and his own insights on the issues, with the objective of providing a personal but very much southern perspective on the current global climate change debate. There is a focus on the unity of the group and the importance of linking climate change negotiations with the development agenda.