Kyoto protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at
fighting global warming. The UNFCCC is an
international environmental treaty with the goal of
achieving the "stabilization ofgreenhouse
gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level
that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system."[5]
 Kyoto protocol

The Protocol was initially adopted on 11 December

1997 in Kyoto, Japan, and entered into force on 16
February 2005. As of September 2011, 191 states
have signed and ratified the protocol.[6] The only
remaining signatory not to have ratified the protocol
is the United States. Other states yet to ratify Kyoto
include Afghanistan, Andorra and South Sudan, after
Somalia ratified the protocol on 26 July 2010
 Kyoto protocol

Under the Protocol, 37 countries ("Annex I countries") commit

themselves to a reduction of four greenhouse gases (GHG)
(carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride) and
two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons)
produced by them, and all member countries give general
commitments. Annex I countries agreed to reduce their collective
greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% from the 1990 level. Emission
limits do not include emissions by international aviation and
shipping, but are in addition to the industrial
gases, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are dealt with under
the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer
 Kyoto protocol

The benchmark 1990 emission levels accepted by the

Conference of the Parties of UNFCCC (decision 2/CP.3)
were the values of "global warming potential" calculated
for the IPCC Second Assessment Report.[7] These
figures are used for converting the various greenhouse
gas emissions into comparable CO2 equivalents (CO2-
eq) when computing overall sources and sinks
 Kyoto protocol
Under the Protocol, 37 countries ("Annex I countries") commit
themselves to a reduction of four greenhouse gases (GHG)
(carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride) and
two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons)
produced by them, and all member countries give general
commitments. Annex I countries agreed to reduce their collective
greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% from the 1990 level. Emission
limits do not include emissions by international aviation and
shipping, but are in addition to the industrial
gases, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are dealt with under
the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer.
 Kyoto protocol

Each Annex I country is required to submit an annual

report of inventories of all anthropogenic greenhouse
gas emissions from sources and removals from sinks
under UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. These countries
nominate a person (called a "designated national
authority") to create and manage its greenhouse gas
inventory. Virtually all of the non-Annex I countries have
also established a designated national authority to
manage its Kyoto obligations, specifically the "CDM
process" that determines which GHG projects they wish
to propose for accreditation by the CDM Executive
 Kyoto protocol

The objective of the Kyoto climate change conference was to

establish a legally binding international agreement, whereby all
the participating nations commit themselves to tackling the issue
of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. The target
agreed upon was an average reduction of 5.2% from 1990 levels
by the year 2012. According to the treaty, in 2012, Annex I
countries must have fulfilled their obligations of reduction of
greenhouse gases emissions established for the first commitment
period (2008–2012) (listed in Annex B of the Protocol
 Kyoto protocol

The design of the European Union Emissions Trading

Scheme (EU ETS) implicitly allows for trade of national
Kyoto obligations to occur between participating
countries (Carbon Trust, 2009, p. 24).[18] Carbon Trust
(2009, pp. 24–25) found that other than the trading that
occurs as part of the EU ETS, no intergovernmental
emissions trading had taken place.[18] One of the
environmental problems with IET is the large surplus of
allowances that are available
 Kyoto protocol

Green Investment Scheme

A Green Investment Scheme (GIS) refers to a plan for achieving environmental
benefits from trading ‘hot air’ under the Kyoto Protocol. The Green Investment
Scheme (GIS), a mechanism in the framework of International Emission Trade
(IET), is designed to achieve greater flexibility in reaching the targets of the Kyoto
Protocol while preserving environmental integrity of IET. Under the GIS a Party to
the Protocol expecting that the development of its economy will not exhaust its
Kyoto quota, can sell the excess of its Kyoto quota units (AAUs) to another Party.
The proceeds from the AAU sales should be “greened”, i.e. channeled to the
development and implementation of the projects either acquiring the greenhouse
gases emission reductions (hard greening) or building up the necessary
framework for this process (soft greening). [18]:25
 Kyoto protocol

Clean Development Mechanism

Between 2001, which was the first year Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) projects could be registered, and 2012, the end
of the Kyoto commitment period, the CDM is expected to produce
some 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in
emission reductions.[20] Most of these reductions are through
renewable energy, energy efficiency, and fuel switching (World
Bank, 2010, p. 262). By 2012, the largest potential for production of
CERs are estimated in China (52% of total CERs) and India (16%).
CERs produced in Latin America and the Caribbean make up 15%
of the potential total, with Brazil as the largest producer in the
region (7%).
 Kyoto protocol

Top-ten emitters
What follows is a ranking of the world's top ten emitters of GHGs for 2005 (MNP,
2007).[29] The first figure is the country's or region's emissions as a percentage of the
global total. The second figure is the country's/region's per-capita emissions, in units of
tons of GHG per-capita:
1. China1 – 17%, 5.8
2. United States3 – 16%, 24.1
3. European Union-273 – 11%, 10.6
4. Indonesia2 – 6%, 12.9
5. India – 5%, 2.1
6. Russia3 – 5%, 14.9
7. Brazil – 4%, 10.0
8. Japan3 – 3%, 10.6
9. Canada3 – 2%, 23.2
10. Mexico – 2%, 6.4
 Kyoto protocol

Intergovernmental Emissions Trading

The design of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) implicitly allows
for trade of national Kyoto obligations to occur between participating countries (Carbon
Trust, 2009, p. 24).[18] Carbon Trust (2009, pp. 24–25) found that other than the trading
that occurs as part of the EU ETS, no intergovernmental emissions trading had taken
place.[18] One of the environmental problems with IET is the large surplus of allowances
that are available. Russia, Ukraine, and the new EU-12 member states (the Kyoto Parties
Annex I Economies-in-Transition, abbreviated "EIT": Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation,
Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine)[19]:59 have a surplus of allowances, while
many OECD countries have a deficit (Carbon Trust, 2009, p. 24). Some of the EITs with a
surplus regard it as potential compensation for the trauma of their economic restructuring.
OECD countries with a deficit could meet their Kyoto commitments by buying allowances
from transition countries with a surplus. Unless other commitments were made to reduce
the total surplus in allowances, such trade would not actually result in emissions being
reduced (Carbon Trust, 2009, p. 25).
 Kyoto protocol

The formal crediting period for Joint Implementation (JI) was

aligned with the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol,
and did not start until January 2008 (Carbon Trust, 2009,
p. 20).[18] In November 2008, only 22 JI projects had been officially
approved and registered. The total projected emission savings
from JI by 2012 are about one tenth that of the CDM. Russia
accounts for about two-thirds of these savings, with the remainder
divided up roughly equally between the Ukraine and the EU's New
Member States. Emission savings include cuts in methane, HFC,
and N2O emissions.
 Kyoto protocol

National limitations range from 8% reductions for the European

Union and others, to 7% for the US, 6% for Japan, 0% for Russia,
and permitted increases of 8% for Australia and 10% for
Iceland.[14]
 Kyoto protocol

UNFCCC adopts a principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities." The

parties agreed that:
• 1. the largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse
gases originated in developed countries;
• 2. per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low;
• 3. the share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow
to meet social and development needs. [24]
 Kyoto protocol

Financial commitments
The Protocol also reaffirms the principle that developed countries have to pay
billions of dollars, and supply technology to other countries for climate-related
studies and projects. The principle was originally agreed in UNFCCC. One of
them is called The Adaptation Fund"[30]", that has been established by the Parties
to the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to
finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries
that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.