Pros And Cons Of The Kyoto Protocol

“The Kyoto Protocol – Success, Challenges and Failures”

Kyoto - international agreement

Global warming is the phenomenon where excess carbon dioxide acts as a blanket to trap heat and warm the planet. Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, are major causes of global warming (UCSUSA). Since the 1950s, there has been an observed steady increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration that is primarily caused by human activity (Holland 2015).

As part of the international community’s attempts to address the universal problem of global warming, governments agreed on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was a major outcome of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Article 2 of the

The Protocol was adopted on December 11, 1997 and entered into force on February 16, 2005 (UNFCCC). It took into consideration the amount of gas each country emits over a period of time (Schiermeier 2012). Kyoto based nations under two separate classifications: developed (Annex I of UNFCCC) and developing (UNFCCC). Despite some exceptions, developed nations contributed to higher levels of gas emissions than developing countries. A major concern for developing nations is that despite having much lower levels of emission, they fall victim to the emissions of developed nations as a result of technological challenges and weaknesses (Holland 2015). Because of this lack of balance, the Kyoto Protocol states that each nation has “common but differentiated responsibilities” of gas emissions based on its classification as Annex 1 vs. non-Annex I nation (UNFCCC). The Kyoto Protocol calls for a reduction of 5% of the total gas emissions by 2012 compared to the 1990 levels, consequently limiting the rise in global temperature to less than 2°C. Those quantifiable targets rely on scientific methods to measure nation’s annual emissions, annual emissions per capita and cumulative emissions (Holland

The Protocol is a successful international gathering since it was able to obtain the ratification of the required number of 55 countries that contribute to 55% of global emissions since 1990 (Carbonify). However, entry into force dragged for over seven years due to the refusal of the US to ratify the Protocol, thus blocking the 55% condition.

Furthermore, the Protocol was effective in setting quantifiable targets that are based on scientific evidence, by measuring global and national greenhouse gas concentrations and corresponding temperature changes. However, the Protocol has faced challenges with ratifying nations to commit to their reduction goals. While some nations were successful at meeting their targets and even surpassing them, such as the UK, Czech Republic and Lithuania, others including Canada (withdrew), Austria and Switzerland, did not meet the same achievements (Schiermeier