Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty that aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the parties in agreement in an effort to combat global warming. It was an extension of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Kyoto Protocol aimed to reduce emissions of the seven biggest greenhouse gases generated by members of the agreement: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).

Originally signed on December 11, 1997, in Kyoto, Japan, the treaty underwent several ratifications before coming into force on February 16, 2005. The first period of the treaty began in 2008 and lasted through 2012. The goal of the first period was for the parties in agreement to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 5 percent below their levels in 1990. The second period began in 2013 with the passing of the Doha Amendment, which extended the Kyoto Protocol until the end of 2020. The second period raised the reduction goal to at least 18 percent of emissions from their 1990 levels. By 2013, 192 parties had signed the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol was the first implementation of measures under the UNFCCC, which was another agreement committed to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The UNFCCC was adopted in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. It came into force in 1994. Signatories of the UNFCCC attend regular meetings called Conference of the Parties, or COPs, in which they discuss ongoing international climate protection efforts. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the 1997 COP meeting in Kyoto, Japan. It introduced legal obligations to the parties involved in the UNFCCC agreement. Eighty-four countries signed the Kyoto Protocol that year, and forty-six ratified it. By 2001, over 180 had signed. The treaty required the approval and ratification of a minimum of fifty-five countries that were responsible for at least 55 percent of all carbon emissions. After a long series of ratifications, the Kyoto Protocol took effect on February 16, 2005.

The Kyoto Protocol put the onus on the parties that produced the highest level of emissions, which included thirty-seven developed nations and the European Union (EU). Developing nations were asked for voluntary compliance; more than one hundred of them were exempted from the mandates of the treaty. Developed nations were classified as Annex I, and developing nations as Non-Annex I. Annex I nations had emission limits imposed upon them, while Non-Annex I nations were able to invest in projects to lower their emissions and earn carbon credits. Carbon credits can be traded or sold to developed countries. This effectively raised the maximum level of carbon emissions allowed by the agreeing parties. Several nations with high levels of emissions were either exempt from the treaty or never joined. China and India, two major contributors of carbon emissions, were considered developing nations and therefore were not required to take action. The United States, another big contributor, signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 but later withdrew without ratification.

The goal of the treaty's first period, which ran from 2008 to 2012, was for Annex I countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent compared to the levels in 1990. Switzerland and the EU set a higher goal of 8 percent. The Kyoto Protocol's second period began in 2013 with the passing of the Doha Amendment. It extended the treaty to the end of 2020 and raised the reduction goal to 18 percent of emission levels in 1990. Signatories of the treaty were subject to rigorous reviews of their emissions, as well as all carbon trades, to maintain transparency and accountability throughout the life of the treaty. Under its terms, parties regularly self-reported by submitting annual emission inventories and national reports.

In addition to facilitating the reduction of emissions, the Kyoto Protocol helped developing nations adapt to global warming through the Adaptation Fund, which was established to finance new technology for those nations to deal with the impact of rising temperatures. The Adaptation Fund was financed through part of the proceeds of the Kyoto Protocol's three market-based mechanisms: International Emissions Trading, Clean Development Mechanism, and Joint Implementation.

The Paris Agreement was adopted as the successor to the Kyoto Protocol at COP21 in Paris in 2015. It was the first UNFCCC measure to include a goal to limit the global temperature increase to 2°C or lower. The Paris Agreement differs from the Kyoto Protocol in that all of its signatories are required to make equal efforts to reduce carbon emissions and aim towards a net-zero future. The Paris Agreement has been signed by 197 countries, nearly every nation in the world.

While the Kyoto Protocol was successful in reducing some emissions of its signatories, global emissions rose between 29 and 40 percent from 1990 to 2010, enough to mitigate any progress achieved by the treaty. The EU's goal of 8 percent reduction in the first period was surpassed at 11.7 percent, though the drop may be partially explained by the fall of the Soviet Union. By 2012, carbon emissions from parties of the Kyoto Protocol had reduced by 12.5 percent from their levels in 1990.

Carbon emissions of all Kyoto Protocol parties with reduction targets from 1990–2012.