The Kyoto Protocol: An Attempt to Manage Global Warming Essay

The UNFCCC was established in 1994 to address climate change at an international level. Since then, the parties to the convention (including the EU) meet annually in Conferences of the Parties. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) set an obligation for developed countries to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, through setting national targets, using 1990 as a base level. The UK has been one of only a few countries to comply with the international obligation and has reduced GHG emissions since 1990.

The Kyoto protocol is an agreement that originated in Japan. It's an agreement that the government settled on to stop pollution caused by greenhouse gas. It had to be developed by an agreement with stricter policies and demands for reducing greenhouse gas. All of this started in the year of 1994 and by 1995, the government discussed on a protocol.

That way, as “the imminent problems of greenhouse warming have been created by the Annex B (developed) countries the burdens of adjustment should be put on them”[2].

Its adoption in 1997 and ratification in 2002 furthered the fight against anthropogenic interference with earth’s climate system. Canada’s commitment began with a goal to reduce GHGs by 6% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012, or 461 megatons (Canada and the Kyoto Protocol 2016). In order to achieve these goals, legal requirements expected policies and measures prepared by the participating countries to reduce GHGs, by utilizing all available mechanisms, including joint implementation to earn emissions reduction units (ERU) to be counted towards the target, the clean development mechanism and emissions trading (Kyoto Protocol 1997). Every year, on the date set forth, every participating country was expected to keep track of emissions limits and performance standards, develop spending or fiscal measures, as well their expectation for the next year and results from the previous (E. Canada 2013). When the first reduction timeline was up in 2008, instead of a decrease in emissions, Canada recorded an increase 24.1 percent higher than 1990 levels. The lack of commitment was superseded by the new government’s ‘Made in Canada” effort to push country-unified laws, though no significant changes were

In 1997, The Kyoto Protocol was adopted to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (EPA, n.d.). In spite of the international treaty, half of participating nations, including Canada failed to reducing its Co2 emissions (Clark, D., 2012, November 26).

This goes beyond the limit agreed in the Kyoto Protocol, and hence appropriate measures need to be taken. Several possible solutions present itself in this scenario:

On December 15, 2011, the Government of Canada authoritatively told the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that Canada would practice its legitimate right to formally pull back from the Kyoto Protocol. The Environment Minister, Peter Kent, was the one who announced this. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement connected to the UNFCCC that sets internationally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for each country that is in the agreement. There are a lot of benefits as to why Canada should stay in the agreement, but at the same time there are a few complications and setbacks that we will have to face as well. Canada will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, save money and create jobs, and reduce drastic

Addressing this issue, there has been a few things done in result of eliminating this problem. One solution being The Kyoto Protocol, "...was the first agreement between nations to mandate country-by-country reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions ( 'Extract ', 2011)." During this process, countries agreed to cut their yearly emissions of greenhouse gases. "Some countries and regions, including the European Union, were on track by 2011 to meet or

The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty, which enforces the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The treaty does not account for ozone depleting substances since they are covered under the Montreal Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and took effect on 16 February 2005.

The climate change impacts of greenhouse gases threaten the economic development and environmental quality. These threats indicate that all nations regardless their economic growth should work collaboratively to reduce the emission to a certain level. Hare et al. (2011) argued that “climate change is a collective action problem” thus requires a global coordination from all countries. This indicates that actions from several countries would never be sufficient to address the climate change problem. If a global target to limit warming to 2°C or below is about to achieve (UNFCCC 2010, p.4) a broad range of participation is required (Hare et al., 2011). However, the increasing complexity of negotiation processes is inevitable. Each country will pursue its own interests during the

“The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the premise that (a)

Countries classified as annex 1, consisting mainly of industrial countries, are required to meet emission reduction commitments in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and take cognisance of their historical contribution to climate change. Both the Convention and Protocol are still subject to negotiation. 3. The climate change negotiations held in Copenhagen in December 2009 debated a number of issues under the Kyoto Protocol and the UNFCCC, which culminated in the Copenhagen Accord. The main issues under discussion were the allocation of emissions reductions responsibilities among the

The agreement aims at keeping global temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius — or around 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit — above pre-industry levels. Countries are expected to report emissions regularly, and developed countries would support developing countries in their efforts to produce energy with fewer emissions. The U.S. and 194 countries signed the agreement.

Prior to the Paris Agreement, participating countries have submitted national plans that addressed their intentions for combatting the climate change after 2020 (Dimitrov 2016). These nationally determined contributions outlined a number of issues – all being relevant to adapting and coping with climate change challenge. Although these contributions are not final, they are representative of the intended climate actions that countries will pursue after 2020.

Annex I countries are industrialized nations with large carbon emissions, such as the US, Australia, EU, and Russia. The agreement has four implementation mechanisms designed to achieve the desired reductions in emissions, but only asks that countries comply with the reductions rather than suggesting a methodology. The primary method for countries to reduce emissions is through domestic policies, traditionally taking the form of governmental controls, which each nation would be responsible for creating and enforcing. Domestic policy is “…likely to become a ‘hook’ to ensure that the industrialized countries implement the policies necessary to spur real changes towards less carbon-intensive production and consumption patterns (Depledge 11).” The domestic policy article in the Kyoto Protocol is intended to provide governments, not an international body, with direct control over domestic emissions.