Kyoto Protocol

We explain what the Kyoto protocol was and what its objectives and strategies were. In addition, its characteristics and the countries that signed it.

What was the Kyoto protocol?

Kyoto’s protocol was an international treaty adopted in 1997 with the aim of reducing gase emissions from Greenhouse effect that contribute to global warming. It entered into force only in 2005 and became ratified by 192 parties (191 countries and a regional economic entity).

The Kyoto protocol was agreed within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (CMNUCC) and had two stages:

• The first commitment period began in 2008 and ended in 2012. Established the commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to an average of 5 % below the levels of the year 1990.
• The second commitment period should begin in 2013 and end in 2020as agreed in a meeting in Doha (Qatar) in December 2012. It established a reduction of greenhouse gases of 18 % below the 1990 levels. However, this commitment (known as Doha’s amendment) took to be ratified and, finally, the Kioto protocol was replaced by the Paris Agreement that entered into force in 2016.

The Kyoto protocol countries promised to implement national programs to achieve the objectives set. In addition, the protocol ordered other means to achieve them, such as the clean development mechanism (MDL) and the trade rights trade, and a rigorous monitoring system.

However, this agreement received various criticisms. On the one hand, because The United States signed the protocol but did not ratify it, and therefore did not reduce its greenhouse gas emissionsdespite being one of the main emitters. On the other hand, Because the protocol only forced the most industrialized or developed countries to act (Thirty -seven countries plus the European Union), considered the main responsible for the emission of greenhouse gases, while excluding the rest of the world, including some developing countries with important levels of emission, such as India and China.

Finally, although countries committed to the protocol achieved a decrease in greenhouse gases, world emissions increased.

See also: global warming

Kyoto protocol objectives

The general objective of the Kyoto protocol was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warmingmore specifically the anthropogenic emission (that is, due to human activity) of the six main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC) and hexafluoruro of sulfur (SF6).

The anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases is mainly due to activities such as burning fossil fuels (such as coal, oil and natural gas), deforestation and agricultural and livestock activities. This broadcast grew from the industrial revolution initiated in the mid -18th century.

The mandatory objectives of the Kyoto protocol consisted of achieving a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of thirty -seven countries and the European Union. The mission was achieve, between 2008 and 2012, an average gas emissions by 5 % at the levels recorded in 1990.

Kyoto protocol strategies

To achieve its objectives, the Kyoto protocol established that:

• The most developed countries would contribute their assistance to other countries in technology and financial resources to achieve sustainable development.
• The most developed countries would offer incentives to limit deforestation and forest degradation.

To this was added the 2009 Copenhagen agreement, which established a green climate fund as a financial mechanism to help developing countries to counteract climate change. This fund came into force in 2010.

Flexibility mechanisms

Since the Kyoto protocol was a joint effort to reduce world emissions of greenhouse gases, it established Three flexibility mechanisms to facilitate industrialized countries to comply with the objectives.

• Trade of issuance rights. Gas emissions allowed committed countries were calculated in emission units. Article 17 established that the countries that issued below the limits imposed by the protocol could sell their leftover units to other countries that exceeded them.
• Joint implementation. Article 6 determined that a developed country could invest in gase emission reduction projects in another developed country if this was less expensive than doing it in its own.
• Clean Development Mechanism (MDL). Unlike the joint implementation, the clean development mechanism defined in article 12 established that a developed country could invest in clean energy technologies in a developing country.

Participating countries of the Kyoto protocol

Before the adoption of the Kyoto protocol, at a summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change defined two groups of participants ordered in two annexes:

• ANNEX I.. It included 43 parts, both countries with developed economies (including European Union) and 14 countries with transition economies (former countries of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe that abandoned their economies planned by market economies).
• Annex II. It included a subgroup of 24 parts of Annex I, which consisted of the countries that formed the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (plus the European Union). Annex II had to take care of financial and technical support to weaker economies (countries with transition economies and developing countries).

From this grouping, the Kyoto protocol established another list of parts:

• Annex b. It exclusively included those countries of Annex I who had pledged to modify their greenhouse gas emissions, both in the first period of protocol commitment (2008-2012) and in the second period (2013-2020). The parts of the first period were 33 European countries (plus the European Union as a regional economic organization) and five other countries (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United States and Canada).

Although the United States and Canada signed the Kyoto protocol, subsequently retired. In 2001, the United States government refused to ratify its participation for considering it inefficient and for opposing the exemption of countries such as China and India of the obligation to reduce emissions.

Canada initially ratified its participation but left the protocol in 2012, since it had not complied with the reduction of planned emissions and thus avoided paying the corresponding fines.

Commitments according to countries

The Kyoto protocol was based on the premise that there is a “common but differentiated responsibility.” Since not all countries issue the same amount of greenhouse gases, the agreement established specific objectives for each.

The decrease in emissions from each industrialized country compared to the levels registered in 1990 should be:

• European Union: 8 % together, divided into different proportions. For example:
  • Luxembourg 28 %
  • Denmark 21 %
  • Germany 21 %
  • France 0 % (commitment not to increase its emissions)
  • Finland 0 % (commitment not to increase their emissions)
  • United Kingdom 12.5 %
  • Italy 6.5 %
  • Belgium 7.5 %
  • Austria 13 %
• Switzerland and Central European countries 8 %
• United States 7 %
• Canada 6 %
• Hungary 6 %
• Japan 6 %
• Poland 6 %

The Doha amendment

The decisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are taken by the Conference of Parties (COP). In the COP 18 held in Doha (Qatar) in 2012, a second period of eight years was established for the Kyoto protocol (from 2013 to 2020).

The so -called Doha amendment introduced new goals for the year 2020such as reducing the issuance of European Union gases by 20 % compared to 1990 levels. In addition, it included financing to developing countries to adapt their economies to respect for the environment and education on climate change.

However, some of the most industrialized countries (United States, Canada and Russia) did not support the amendment and this did not reach the ratification of the necessary amount of participants until its application period ended in 2020. Anyway, anyway, anyway, The Kyoto protocol was replaced by the Paris Agreement adopted in COP 21 of 2015.

The Paris agreement entered into force in 2016 and established a new commitment, consisting of Limit the increase in world temperature to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre -industrial levels. Unlike the Kyoto protocol, the Paris Agreement He committed all participating countries (and not only to the most developed) to meet emission reduction goals.

What is the greenhouse effect?

The main objective of the Kyoto protocol was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that is, the gases that increase the so -called greenhouse effect on the planet. In a greenhouse, the heat of the sun enters but does not come out, and that makes the temperature increase.

The Earth’s atmosphere naturally performs a similar process: the gases that form it keep the heat mainly in areas near the surface, where air density is greater. This particularity is what allows the existence of life on our planet. However, the gases created by the Atmospheric pollution They cause excess heat retention.

Greenhouse gases (GHG) retain caloric energy and prevent it from dissipating outside the earth’s atmosphere. The increase in planetary temperatures affects millions of organisms and causes serious ecological imbalances.

The main greenhouse gases affected by human activities are:

• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Methane (CH4)
• Nitrous oxide (N2O)
• Hydrofluorocarbones (HFC)
• Perfluorocarbons (PFC)
• Sulfur hexafluoruro (SF6)

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References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Kyoto Protocol. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• United Nations (2022). Marking The Kyoto Protocol’s 25th Anniversary. United Nations Official Portal. https://www.un.org/
• United Nations (SF). What is the Kyoto protocol? United Nations Climate Change. https://unfcc.int/