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The Nature Conservancy's Statement on the Enactment of the Kyoto ProtocolARLINGTON, VA — February 16, 2005 — Today will make history as the first time that nations around the world have joined forces to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases that cause global warming. 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. Science shows that global warming is not merely a real threat for the future, but that it is already having a destructive impact on the natural habitats and resources on which we all depend. Global warming is a result of human activities that left unchecked will have serious consequences for this and future generations. Action must be taken now. By enacting policies on a national and state level that reduce the emission of heat-trapping gases, the United States can become a leader in the fight against global warming. Such policies will spur innovation and pave the way for U.S. companies to benefit financially by selling clean technologies and reduced emission credits internationally. Even though companies here in the United States are not subject to Kyoto’s emission caps, U.S. companies that operate in nations complying with the Kyoto Protocol do have to meet those countries’ caps. Until the United States passes its own limits on global warming emissions, innovative companies based here will lose out on opportunities to sell reduced emission credits to companies complying with the Kyoto Protocol overseas. Additionally, without enacting our own emission limits, U.S. companies will lose ground to their competitors in Europe, Canada, Japan, and other countries participating in the Protocol who are developing clean technologies. The United States needs to take steps now to maintain its role as a world economic leader while also forging a path to stop global warming and protect the natural habitats and resources we all need to survive. Global warming emissions from energy production, manufacturing, transportation, and the destruction of forests must be curtailed to ensure the survival of the biodiversity we are working to protect. ### For more information about climate change and the Kyoto Protocol:
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