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About the Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect on Feb. 16, 2005, and legally binds participating industrialized nations to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels over the next decade.
The Kyoto Protocol was created in 1997 as an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), an international treaty on global warming that was adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol commit to reducing their emissions for six heat-trapping gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, HFCs and PCFs which have been linked to global warming.
The Kyoto Protocol sets specific targets for reducing heat-trapping gas emissions for industrialized nations. Targets vary from country to country and must be met between 2008 and 2012.
So far, 141 countries have ratified the protocol, representing 61 percent of global emissions. These countries include the 25 countries of the European Union, the People’s Republic of China, India, Japan, Canada, Russia and New Zealand.
Fourteen countries have signed the Kyoto Protocol but have not ratified it, meaning they do not have to comply. Of those 14 countries, six are among the biggest producers of heat-trapping gas emissions including the United States and Australia.
To become legally binding, the Kyoto Protocol had to be ratified by at least 55 countries, accounting for at least 55 percent of the total 1990 heat-trapping gas emissions of developed countries. In November 2004, Russia’s ratification enabled the later requirement to be achieved.
The Kyoto Protocol allows “emissions trading” to assist industrialized nations to find the most economic way to meet their emissions reductions targets. The Protocol’s market-based approach allows industrialized nations to buy and sell “emission allowances” with other industrialized nations. In addition, industrialized nations can meet a portion of their targets by purchasing “certified emissions reductions” or CERs from forest restoration, energy efficiency or renewable energy projects in developing nations.
Informal discussions on emission reduction commitments after 2012 are scheduled to begin in May of 2005.
For More Information About the Kyoto Protocol
Statement from The Nature Conservancy on the Enactment of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is a key first step to help slow the onslaught of global warming and benefit conservation efforts. But the Protocol alone is not the final answer.
