Kyoto Protocol - Encyclopedia of Earth

Kyoto Protocol - Encyclopedia of Earth: "Kyoto Protocol
Lead Author: Michael Grubb (other articles)
Article Topics: Environmental policy, Climate change and International environmental issues
This article has been reviewed and approved by the following Topic Editor: Kristen Hite (other articles)
Last Updated: May 12, 2008

The Kyoto Protocol, named after the city where it was agreed to by negotiators in December 1997, is a treaty intended to implement the objectives and principles agreed in the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The core idea is that stabilizing the atmosphere (the UNFCCC's 'ultimate objective') will require governments to agree to quantified limits on their greenhouse gas emissions, through sequential rounds of negotiations for successive 'commitment periods.'

The Protocol establishes the general architecture of sequential negotiations and defines specific first-period (2008-2012) commitments for certain industrialized countries (almost synonymous with those in Annex I to the UNFCCC), intended to fulfill the UNFCCC requirement for 'leadership' by industrialized nations. These national 'assigned amounts' limit emissions of the six main anthropogenic greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), of which CO2 accounts for about 80%) to reduce these emissions by a certain percentage of 1990 levels by the end of the first commitment period in 2012. To reach these emissions reductions targets, the Protocol offers mechanisms to increase the flexibility, reach, and efficiency of the commitments. Emissions trading allows countries to exchange emission allowances, while Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allow commitments to be offset against investments in emission-reducing projects worldwide.

The Protocol contains a range of other, more limited, provisions including national emissions reporting, a supplementarity principle, technology standards, and means for their development and transfer. It also stipulates that negotiations on future commitments should start by 2005. While the UNFCCC includes broad global participation and signatories, the Kyoto Protocol has been more politically charged and has fewer participating parties. As of June 2007, 175 nations were parties to the Kyoto Protocol, representing approximately 60 percent of the global emissions for Annex I countries. Although the US government, under then-President William J. Clinton, signed (and designed significant portions of) the Treaty, it was never submitted to the Senate for ratification. U.S. President George W. Bush later repudiated the Protocol. Consequently, although the U.S. is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in Annex I, it is not a party to the Kyoto Protocol.

Following a long drawn-out ratification decision by Russia, Kyoto entered into force on 16 February 2005, with about 130 countries having ratified. Australia has also refused to ratify but says it intends to fulfill its emissions target and will participate in negotiations on subsequent commitments.

Further Reading

* UNFCCC. Kyoto Protocol: Full Text.

* U.S. Energy Information Administration. Summary of the Kyoto Report.

Citation
Grubb, Michael (Lead Author); Kristen Hite (Topic Editor). 2008. 'Kyoto Protocol.' In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 7, 2007; Last revised May 12, 2008; Retrieved July 17, 2009]. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Kyoto_Protocol>"