The Kyoto Protocol
Perhaps the single greatest challenge facing the international community is the need to cut greenhouse emissions urgently and deeply. Without timely actions, the global climate system is at risk to dangerous interference; future efforts to adapt the economies, infrastructure and society will also become increasingly difficult and costly. Recognizing the need for international cooperation on climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established in 1992, with the ultimate objective of international cooperation to prevent dangerous man-made interference with the climate system.
Named after the Japanese city where it was concluded in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding international agreement to address global warming and delay climate change. The goal is to reduce overall emissions of the six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbon (PFC) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) of developed countries to 5% below the level they were in 1990. Led by the United Nations, the Protocol sets targets for the greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries for the first commitment period of 2008 to 2012. National targets differs by country: 8% reductions for the European Union and its member states, 7% for the US, 6% for Japan, 0% for Russia, while Australia and Iceland were permitted an 8 and 10% increase, respectively.
Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms: clean development mechanism (CDM), joint implementation and emission trading. The first mechanism allows developing countries to receive investments for the construction of new facilities in order to replace old ones. Joint implementation, on the other hand, permits the industrialized countries which are unable to reach their reduction target by sole domestic means to invest in the economies of other transition countries, whereby the donors receive a share of the reduced emissions. Emission trading allows countries who fail to diminish their emissions to buy ‘carbon credits’ from countries which have reduced their greenhouse gases below the committed level; this final mechanism, however, is fought against by environmentalists as it does not contribute to alleviating climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol formally came into effect in February 15, 2005 after much controversy surrounding the participation and later, backing out of the United States and Australia. With the protocol in effect, key industrialized countries, including Canada, are formally committed to specific targets for reducing or limiting their greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2012. As of July 2006, 164 national governments had ratified the Kyoto Protocol, formally adopting the Protocol in their domestic political institutions. As such, these nations are formally committed to meeting their specific greenhouse gas emission targets and are open to external review and enforcement by United Nations-based bodies. There are, however, notable non-ratifying nations, in particular, the United States and until recently, Australia. To date, the U.S. is the only non-ratifying signatory country; Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the instrument of ratification immediately after assuming office on 3 December 2007.
