What is Kyoto Protocol?
In December 1997, the international treaty was signed in the name of the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The primary agenda of the Kyoto protocol is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for controlling global warming. From 2005, the protocol was actively involved in the reduction of emission of six greenhouse gases. About 41 countries from the European Union have participated in the Kyoto protocol and are involved in maintaining the emission range below 5.2 percent for the commitment period 2008 - 12. This article explains the Kyoto protocol objectives, challenges, facts and a Kyoto protocol summary of the Kyoto protocol in detail.
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Kyoto Protocol Summary
The Kyoto protocol is associated with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Kyoto protocol was endorsed at Japan in December 1997. The main objectives behind signing the international treaty are to develop national programs and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. The list of greenhouse gases includes perfluorocarbons (PFCs), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), methane (CH4), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Because all these greenhouse gases affect the energy balance of the global atmosphere, which will directly increase the global average temperature. So, the rise of global temperature may lead to global warming.
In 1988, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization have established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They mainly discussed the long term effects of global warming, which includes the general rise in sea level around the world, melting of glaciers, sea ice, the disappearance of island stats, Arctic permafrost, flood in low-lying coastal areas and extreme climate change events like droughts and floods. All these climate changes have created impacts on the livelihood of about 20 to 30 percent of plants and animals around the world.
UNFCCC contains the members of the organisation from Economic Co-operation and Development and several countries with “economies in transition. The Annex I signatories of the UNFCCC contains most of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto protocol objectives are to reduce mandatory emissions of greenhouse gases, this will vary depending on the circumstances of each country. Many developing countries around the world also took part in the UNFCCC and Kyoto protocol, but it was not imposed any restrictions on emission. The Kyoto protocol year is 1997, but it came to force in February 2005. They ratified it after considering atleast 55 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions of the 1990s after 90 days of Annex I signatories.
The Kyoto Protocol has created different targets for many countries. One of the important approaches is to make use of natural processes in an effective way is called sinks, the main objective is to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. To remove carbon dioxide from the air, they advised planting trees.
Another important approach of this protocol is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Through this approach, they mainly encouraged the developed countries to fund for technology and infrastructure of the less developed countries. This indirectly reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. Because the investing country will claim the effective reduction of emission of greenhouse gases to meet the obligations under the Clean Development Mechanism protocol. For example, the investing countries will prefer to install a clean-burning natural gas power plant in developing countries or underdeveloped countries instead of the coal-fired power plants.
Another important approach of UNFCCC was emission trading. This provided rights for the countries to buy and sell the emissions rights, based on the economic value of greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Kyoto protocol, the emission trading market was first initiated by the European countries to work towards commitments and meet the targets. If the countries failed to meet the emission targets, they would set the different targets based on the actual emissions. From 2012, the countries started to implement penalty amounts of 30 percent for the subsequent commitment period. They would also take necessary steps to prevent emissions till it reaches the required level.
Challenges Faced Through Kyoto Protocol
Even though the target of the Kyoto Protocol was very difficult to achieve, many countries have assured to reach the target. After two years of signing the treaty, many countries failed to meet their emission targets. Some countries have reached their emission target, but those countries could not receive any benefits from reaching the protocol. Other challenges faced by many countries are that they could not find any considerable amount of difference in global temperature even after maintaining the protocol with the participation of the United Nation. Many other countries also argued the adoption of climate variability and changes are more important than reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Extension and Replacement of Treaty
In 2012, the COP 18 (18th Conference of the Parties) was held at Doha. The members of COP 18 agreed to extend the term of the Kyoto Protocol till 2020. In 2011, Member countries gathered for COP 17 in Durban, South Africa were reaffirmed their pledge from 2017. In 2015, they created a new, comprehensive and legally binding climate treaty and removed the highest greenhouse gas-producing countries from the Kyoto Protocol to limit and reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In 2020, they created a new treaty and implemented the fully replaced Kyoto protocol.
In 2015, COP 21 was held in Paris, France. Here, member countries are involved in a series of conferences and disagreements regarding the Kyoto protocol objectives. They gathered and tagged a global but nonbinding agreement to reduce the increase of global average temperature to not more than 2 °C (3.6 °F) above preindustrial levels. Also, they tried to maintain the increased level at 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above preindustrial levels. About 196 signatories have accepted the landmark accord of UNFCCC and effectively replaced the Kyoto protocol. They also determined that it is mandatory to review the progress for every five years and increase the fund by about $100 billion by 2020. They decided to replenish the fund annually and to help the developing countries to adopt non-greenhouse-gas-producing technologies.
This article described the Kyoto protocol summary, Kyoto protocol objective and challenges faced in the Kyoto protocol and the reason behind the extension of the Kyoto protocol in detail.
FAQs on Kyoto Protocol
1. What is the Kyoto Protocol in simple terms?
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Its primary objective was to commit industrialised countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. It operated on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.”
2. When and where was the Kyoto Protocol adopted?
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997, during the third Conference of the Parties (COP 3) to the UNFCCC. However, it only came into force on February 16, 2005, after a complex ratification process was completed.
3. Which greenhouse gases did the Kyoto Protocol aim to reduce?
The Kyoto Protocol originally targeted a basket of six major greenhouse gases. These are:
- Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
- Methane (CH₄)
- Nitrous oxide (N₂O)
- Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
- Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
- Sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆)
A seventh gas, Nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃), was added during the second commitment period.
4. What was India's role and stance on the Kyoto Protocol?
India ratified the Kyoto Protocol in August 2002. As a developing country (a Non-Annex I Party), India was not required to adhere to legally binding emission reduction targets. India's stance was to support the treaty's principles, particularly that of common but differentiated responsibilities, which places the primary burden of emission reduction on developed nations that have historically contributed the most to climate change.
5. What is the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' in the context of the Kyoto Protocol?
This is a core principle of international environmental law that acknowledges two key ideas. First, the responsibility for addressing climate change is 'common' to all nations. Second, this responsibility is 'differentiated,' meaning that developed countries should bear a greater burden because of their historical and current contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and their greater financial and technological capacity. This is why the Kyoto Protocol set binding targets only for developed (Annex I) countries.
6. How did the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms work?
The protocol introduced three market-based mechanisms to help countries meet their emission targets cost-effectively:
- Emissions Trading: Allowed countries that had surplus emission units (emissions permitted but not used) to sell this excess capacity to countries that were over their targets.
- Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): Allowed a developed country to fund an emission-reduction project in a developing country and earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO₂.
- Joint Implementation (JI): Enabled a developed country to earn emission reduction units (ERUs) from an emission-reduction or removal project in another developed country.
7. Why did some major industrialised nations, like the USA, not ratify the Kyoto Protocol?
The United States, despite being a signatory, never ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The primary objections raised by the U.S. government were twofold. First, there was a significant concern that the binding targets would harm the U.S. economy. Second, the protocol did not impose any binding emission targets on major developing countries like China and India, which the U.S. argued was an unfair framework that would be ineffective in the long run.
8. What is the main difference between the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement?
The fundamental difference lies in their approach. The Kyoto Protocol used a top-down approach, setting legally binding emission targets for developed countries only. In contrast, the Paris Agreement uses a bottom-up approach where all participating countries—both developed and developing—set their own emission reduction targets known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These NDCs are not legally binding in the same way Kyoto's targets were.
9. Is the Kyoto Protocol still active today?
The Kyoto Protocol's second commitment period concluded in 2020. While its legal obligations have ended, it has been functionally superseded by the Paris Agreement, which now serves as the world's primary international climate accord. However, the architectural elements of the Kyoto Protocol, such as carbon markets and the principle of differentiated responsibilities, heavily influenced the structure of the Paris Agreement.
