The Kyoto Protocol:
fundamentals and
responses
By: Claire Burns
The Treaty
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Negotiated in 1997 in Kyoto Japan
Came into force February 16th, 2005
Definition: “A legally binding agreement under which
industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of
greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990”
* (left) staffwww.fullcoll.edu (right) media-2.web.britannica.com
Notes (Slide 1)
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Go over the dates (negotiated in 1997 and took action in 2005)
The treaty was defined in the text of the Kyoto Protocol according to
Kyotoprotocol.com as “A legally binding agreement under which industrialized
countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared
to the year 1990”–
National target ranges were scattered, with 8% reductions for the European Union, 7%
for the US, 6% for Japan, 0% for Russia AND permitted increases of 8% for Australia
and 10% for Iceland
The goal according to the treaty was to: lower overall emissions from six greenhouse
gases- carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs and PFCs.
Distinction: While the convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize their
GHG emissions, the protocol commits them
Sources:
*United Nations Environmental Programme, Text of the Kyoto Protocol—available at this web page:
http://www.kyotoprotocol.com/
*Fullerton College, Environmental Science Department, The Japan Times headline, 2009.
http://staffwww.fullcoll.edu/tmorris/an_inconvenient_truth/kyoto_protocol_newspaper.jpg
*Encyclopedia Britannica, Conference in Kyoto Japan, 1997.
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/35/91935-004-9B371887.jpg
* “Kyoto Protocol,” UNFCC
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
Kyoto Mechanisms
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The Kyoto Protocol
allows countries an
additional set of options
to meet their targets
through 3 mechanisms:
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Emissions Trading—
Article 17
Clean Development
Mechanism—Article 12
Joint Implementation—
Article 6
Comic referring to Emissions Trading
http://gmarkets.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/carb
on_credit1.gif
Notes (Slide 2)
Introduce the idea of the Kyoto Mechanisms
 Describe Emissions trading and point out comic—It allows countries who have
unused emission units, to sell the units to countries that are over their targets
 Describe Clean Development Mechanism—allows countries who are under a
limitation agreement with the Kyoto Protocol to set up what is called a “emissionreduction project” in developing countries, which would award that country certified
emissions reduction (CER) credits to go toward meeting Kyoto targets
 Describe Joint Implementation—allows countries who are under a limitation
agreement with the Kyoto Protocol to earn Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) from
an emission reduction or removal program in another country, which also can be
applied toward reaching that country’s Kyoto target
Sources:
* “The Mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol,” UNFCC
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/mechanisms/joint_implementation/items/1674.php
* Green Markets, Emissions Trading comic, 2007.
http://gmarkets.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/carbon_credit1.gif
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Country Involvement
•Note that the United States is
the only country that refused
ratification
http://www.safecoast.org/editor/databank/Image/800pxKyoto_Protocol_participation_map_2005.png
• But also that although big
emitters like China and India
have signed on, they do not have
to begin making cuts until 2012
Notes (Slide 3)
United States is only country that signed, yet neglected to ratify—I will go into more
detail why they did not find the Protocol suitable
 It is important to realize that the image can be slightly misleading, since certain
countries may have adopted the Kyoto Protocol but do not have to act until 2012. For
example India and China—although some of the World’s fastest growing emitters—
are considered developing countries with serious issues, and thus have a pass on the
first Kyoto round
 As of February, 2009, 181 states have signed and ratified
Sources:
* “List of Kyoto Protocol Signatories,” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kyoto_Protocol_signatories
* “Kyoto Protocol,” Safecoast.org.
http://www.safecoast.org/editor/databank/Image/800pxKyoto_Protocol_participation_map_2005.png
* “Kyoto and Beyond,” CBC News, 14 Feb. 2007.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kyoto/
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Why the US says no
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“The goals of the Kyoto Protocol were established not by science, but
by political negotiation, and are therefore arbitrary and ineffective in
nature. In addition, many countries of the world are completely
exempted from the Protocol, such as China and India, who are two of
the top five emitters of greenhouse gasses in the world. Further, the
Protocol could have potentially significant repercussions for the global
economy.” –United States Policy on the Kyoto Protocol (Fact Sheet)
Greenhouse gas emissions by country (2000)
Notes (Slide 4)
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Read quotation explaining US resistance in response to China and India’s exemption
On March 29, 2001, The Bush administration withdrew US from Kyoto Protocol
President Bush responded by establishing a working group to find “a more practical
method” to face the problem—Clear Skies and Global Climate Change Initiatives
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These methods commit America to cut greenhouse gas intensity by 18% in the next ten years
(as of 2002)
Intended to have same product of Kyoto Protocol but using “market-based approaches”
Focus of initiatives:
Ensuring continuing economic growth
 Finding “truly global” solutions
 Utilizing the most modern technology
 Focusing on bilateral relations to provide assistance, especially in the Western Hemisphere
Sources:
•
“Fact Sheet: United States Policy on the Kyoto Protocol,” Public Affairs Section. US embassy
http://vienna.usembassy.gov/en/download/pdf/kyoto.pdf
•
“List of Countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita,” Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions_per_capita
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Additional Responses to Kyoto
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“…as an instrument for achieving emissions reductions, it has
failed. It has produced no demonstrable reductions in emissions
or even in anticipated emissions growth.”
“But the rational thing to do in the face of a bad investment is to
cut your losses and try something different.”
– Gwyn Prins and Steve Rayner in “Time to ditch Kyoto”
“There were two fundamental problems: one inherent in the
negotiating model and the other in the issue structure that came
to dominate the process. The first overestimated the possibility
that science would counter the divergent interests of different
states sufficiently for them to act in the greater global good; the
second diminished the possibility that force of moral obligation
would enhance this prospect.”
--Aynsley Kellow “Kyoto: talks must include key aspects of science”
Notes (Slide 5)
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Go over quotations, rather self explanatory, just further
analysis of why Kyoto Protocol has not sufficiently
attacked the problem of global warming according to
Gwyn Prins and Steve Rayner in “Time to ditch
Kyoto” and Aynsley Kellow in response with “Kyoto:
talks must include key aspects of science”
Sources:
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Prins and Rayner, 2007, Time to ditch Kyoto, Nature, 449,
973-975
Kellow, Aynsley, 2007, Kyoto: talks must include key aspects
of science