Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an attempt to deal with the global crisis of climate change by specifying commitments for the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The protocol that was adopted at the third Conference of Parties (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997, includes commitments to cut greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions by 5.2% below 1990 levels by the year 2012 for the countries listed in Annex I to the convention. They include industrialized states—Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Russia, and eastern and central European countries—that historically had contributed to the major share of GHGs in the atmosphere. The GHGs regulated by the protocol are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.

The scale of emission reductions by different countries compared to 1990 levels range from 8% for the 15 members-states of the European Union in 1997, 7% for the United States, 6% for Japan, 0% for Russia, and up to 8% increase for Australia and 10% for Iceland. Developing countries are not required to take on quantified emission reductions limitations in the Kyoto Protocol.

To achieve their commitments, countries agreed to either reduce emissions within their own borders or through the use of the flexibility mechanisms defined in the protocol. These include emissions trading, the clean development mechanism (CDM), and joint implementation. The CDM is intended to contribute to the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC by a two-tier solution. It is a project-based mechanism that assists developing countries in achieving sustainable development, through transfer of cleaner technology. The technology is made available by project investors in Annex I countries in exchange for certified credits of any emissions reduced by the project activity. Joint implementation has a similar approach for economies in transition. The intention of these was to provide opportunities for mitigation reductions where they cost the least.

The architects behind the UNFCCC (1992), decided to follow the framework model for treaty making, which had been successfully used for the UN negotiations on ozone-depleting substances. The convention outlined general normative principles and an institutional framework that would guide the continued negotiations and encourage countries to reduce emissions of GHGs. Specific [Page 1010]commitments for the different signatory states were to be spelled out in a protocol negotiated at yearly conferences of the parties (COPs) to the convention from 1995 and onward. The Kyoto Protocol establishes the first commitment period between 2008 and 2012.

The Kyoto Protocol also contained a series of other agreements, such as adaptation measures and an accounting, reporting, and review process to ensure the contributions toward the protocol have been made. It left many of the operational details to be worked out in future COPs and meetings of the subsidiary bodies to the convention.

In the lead-up to COP 3 in Kyoto, two major conflicts erupted. First, the European Union and the United States disagreed over emission reductions. Second, industrialized nations pushed for manifest targets also for developing countries, whereas the latter pointed to the historical responsibility of the industrialized countries. A few months before Kyoto, the U.S. Senate unanimously decided that the country should not accept a treaty that would not require all countries to commit to emission reduction (the Byrd-Hagel Resolution).

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