Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Information and Communications Technologies Protocol was adopted in 1997 by the member countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol commits the signatory countries to mandatory targets for emissions of greenhouse gases. Although there are six main green-house gases—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride—one is by far the most significant: carbon dioxide. Before the Protocol could be valid, it had to be ratified by at least fifty-five nations, and these nations had to be responsible for at least fifty-five percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. These conditions were met when Russia ratified the treaty. The Protocol thus came into force on February 16, 2005.

The Protocol includes an overall target for developed nations to reduce their 1990 emission levels by at least five percent by 2012. Actual emission targets vary from nation to nation. The fifteen European Union countries, Switzerland, and most central and eastern European states must make an eight percent reduction. Canada, Hungary, Japan, and Poland must make a six percent reduction. New Zealand, Russia, and the [Page 511]Ukraine are to maintain their current levels. Other countries can actually increase their emissions—Norway by one percent and Iceland by ten percent. And some developed countries have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, notably Australia and the United States.

The Marrakech Accords, adopted in 2001, are the rules for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. These rules allow the signatory nations some flexibility in how they meet their targets. A country can offset its target with “sinks,” areas of forest that absorb carbon dioxide. Countries that have spare emission units can sell them to other countries that have exceeded their emissions thus creating a “carbon market.” The Clean Development Mechanism allows countries to pay for projects that reduce emissions in developing countries; developed countries thereby can earn credits toward their own emission targets. Similarly, under Joint Implementation, a member country can implement a project in another member country and thereby earn credit. It is expected that these projects will be paid for by Western nations and built in transition economies, such as Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.