Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
KYOTO PROTOCOL
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialised countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
TARGETED GASES
Carbon dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) These gases are considered at least partly responsible for global warming - the rise in global temperature which may have catastrophic consequences for life on Earth. The protocol was agreed in 1997, based on principles set out in a framework convention signed in 1992.
HISTORY
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are called the Marrakesh Accords.
A compliance system ensures that Parties are meeting their commitments and helps them to meet their commitments if they have problems doing so. Adaptation The Kyoto Protocol, like the Convention, is also designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It facilitates the development and deployment of techniques that can help increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Fund is financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities.
This has led to criticisms that the agreement is toothless, as well as being virtually obsolete without US support. But others say its failure would be a disaster as, despite its flaws, it sets out a framework for future negotiations which could take another decade to rebuild. Kyoto commitments have been signed into law in some countries, US states and in the EU, and will stay in place regardless of the fate of the protocol itself.
EMISSIONS TRADING?
Emissions trading works by allowing countries to buy and sell their agreed allowances of greenhouse gas emissions. Highly polluting countries can buy unused "credits" from those which are allowed to emit more than they actually do. Countries are also able to gain credits for activities which boost the environment's capacity to absorb carbon. These include tree planting and soil conservation, and can be carried out in the country itself, or by that country working in a developing country.
Mr Bush says he backs emissions reductions through voluntary action and new energy technologies. China and India fall into this category, although they are two of the world's biggest producers of greenhouse gases. Mr Bush says he backs emissions reductions through voluntary action and new energy technologies.