Crystal ball gazing and new year’s resolutions are a fool’s game. So too is trying to negotiate international climate change policy. The complexity and heartache reduced a senior United Nations official almost to tears at this month’s summit in Bali. A simpler prescription for saving the planet is needed. When talks begin on a successor to the Kyoto protocol, world leaders should unite around a single priority. They should aim to create a functioning market that puts a price on carbon.

The route map to a deal that emerged from Bali creates a framework for negotiations on a post-2012 treaty. It disappointed environmentalists who wanted to see specific targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The talks, though, did achieve more than expected. There was agreement on the need for “deep cuts” in emissions and on a 2009 deadline for a deal. The 187 nations present said more money would be needed for poor countries to develop green technologies and adapt to the effects of climate change. But there was no decision on how nations should share the burden of curbing emissions. Nobody is on the hook for emission cuts. Nobody has been let off either.