Background

• The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the UN international treaty on climate change with a stated purpose of "[stabilizing] greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner." (Source: UNFCCC). It opened for signature on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and later entered into force on February 16, 2005.
• Countries are divided into two categories: developed (Annex I) and developing (Non-Annex I) the prior being subject to enforcement such as emission allowances for every ton of greenhouse gas emissions they exceed. The latter group is not subject to greenhouse gas emission reduction due to their development needs.
• Clinton signed the protocol in Dec. 1996. President Bush pulled out because of two reasons. First, developing countries that release a lot of emissions like China and India are not bound to the terms of the protocol. Second, the requirement that nations must reduce their emissions 7% from 1990 levels was perceived as an insurmountable challenge.
• Los Angeles and a number of other cities have pledged to comply with the terms of the Protocol.

Debate

• • Critics include those skeptical of global warming in general, many of whom see it as a scheme to slow the growth of the world's industrial democracies or to transfer wealth to underdeveloped countries. Some environmental economists argue that the costs associated with the Kyoto Protocol outweighing the benefits and some believe the standards are highly inequitable or inefficient.
• • Proponents believe that the only solution for a global problem is global participation. The world severely needs a global commitment to combat the potential environmental disaster.

Country Comparison

• • As of 2007, 169 governments have signed and ratified the Protocol. Kazakhstan signed without ratification; Australia and the United States signed without intention to ratify; and numerous other states have not taken a position.

Recent Developments

• In the non-binding 'Washington Declaration' agreed on February 16, 2007, the heads of state from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, U.K., U.S., Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa agreed in principle on the outline of a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. They envisage a global cap-and-trade system that would apply to both industrialized nations and developing countries, and hoped that this would be in place by 2009.
• On June 7, 2007, leaders at the 33rd G8 Summit agreed that the G8 nations would aim to at least halve global CO2 emissions by 2050. Many on the left believe, the Kyoto Protocol shows the potential for cooperative, progressive movements in the climate crisis, as well as the inevitability of nations' independent interests.

Additional Information