Under Kyoto, industrialised nations pledged to cut their yearly emissions of carbon, as measured in six greenhouse gases, by varying amounts, averaging 5. However, the protocol didn't become international law until more than halfway through the — period.
By that point, global emissions had risen substantially. Some countries and regions, including the European Union, were on track by to meet or exceed their Kyoto goals, but other large nations were falling woefully short.
The Doha Amendment added new targets for the second commitment period, The Paris Agreement was adopted by nearly every nation- states and the EU- in to address the negative effects of the climate crisis. Commitments were made from all major GHG-emitting countries to cut their emissions and strengthen these commitments over time.
It was arguably the first time that most of the world agreed to pursue a common cause. A major directive of the agreement is to cut GHG emissions so as to limit global temperature rise in this century to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while taking steps to limit this to 1. In , many countries, including those in the EU, planned to meet or exceed their targets under the agreement by The US dropped out of the agreement in , calling the treaty unfair because it mandated only developed countries to reduce emissions, and felt that doing so would hinder the US economy.
Talks have been marred by politics, money, lack of leadership and lack of consensus. GHG emissions are still rising, and countries are not addressing them quickly enough. Nearly nations attend and adopt the first international treaty on managing and reducing greenhouse gases. July 23, — Negotiators from countries meet in Germany and agree to adopt the protocol, without the participation of the US.
These are designed to help Annex I Parties cut the cost of meeting their emissions targets by taking advantage of opportunities to reduce emissions, or increase greenhouse gas removals, that cost less in other countries than at home. Any Annex I Party that has ratified the Protocol may use the mechanisms to help meet its emissions target, provided that it is complying with its methodological and reporting obligations under the Protocol.
Under joint implementation, an Annex I Party may implement a project that reduces emissions e. In practice, joint implementation projects are most likely to take place in EITs, where there tends to be more scope for cutting emissions at low cost. The CDM also aims to help non-Annex I Parties achieve sustainable development and contribute to the ultimate objective of the Convention.
The rulebook for the CDM set forth in the Marrakesh Accords focuses on projects that reduce emissions. Accredited independent organizations, known as operational entities, will play an important role in the CDM project cycle, including in the validation of proposed projects and certification of emission reductions and removals. Under emissions trading, an Annex I Party may transfer some of the emissions under its assigned amount, known as assigned amount units AAUs , to another Annex I Party that finds it relatively more difficult to meet its emissions target.
The Protocol mirrors the Convention in recognizing the specific needs and concerns of developing countries, especially the most vulnerable among them. Annex I Parties must provide information on how they are striving to meet their emissions targets while minimizing adverse impacts on developing countries.
The Marrakesh Accords list a series of measures that industrialized countries should prioritize in order to reduce such impacts, such as removing subsidies associated with environmentally-unfriendly technologies, and technological development of nonenergy uses of fossil fuels. The goal of the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce overall emissions of six GHGs - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, and perfluorocarbons - by an aggregate 5.
National emissions reductions obligations range from 8 per cent for the European Union and some others to 7 per cent for the US, 6 per cent for Japan, 0 per cent for Russia, and permitted increases of 8 per cent for Australia and 10 per cent for Iceland.
Emission figures exclude international aviation and shipping. One of the most heavily contested issues in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations was the legally binding nature of the emissions reductions, and the compliance regime. As the detailed architecture of the Protocol emerged in the period from , it became clear that for carbon markets to function effectively, the private sector needed to be able to 'bank' on the efficacy of the regime and the legality of the carbon credits.
What was agreed in the end was a compliance mechanism which held national governments accountable for their emissions reductions obligations, imposing a penalty of 30 per cent on countries for failing to meet their obligations by the end of the first commitment period Their obligation in the second commitment period, in addition to what was negotiated, would be increased by 1.
Furthermore, if they were judged by the Protocol's Compliance Committee to be out compliance, then their right to use the flexible mechanisms would be suspended until they were brought back into compliance. Thus far, these legal arrangements have been sufficient to allow the functioning of the carbon markets, although the true test is yet to come. As of May , parties have ratified the protocol.
Out of these, 38 developed countries plus the EU as a party in its own right are required to reduce GHG emissions to the levels specified for each of them in the treaty.
The protocol has bee ratified by developing countries, including Brazil, China and India. Their obligations focus on monitoring and reporting emissions, which also enable them to participate in the Clean Development Mechanism CDM. For combating climate change, it does not matter where emissions are reduced, as it is the overall global reduction that counts.
As a result, the Kyoto Protocol has taken a strong market approach, recognising that it may be more cost-effective for industrialised Annex I parties to reduce emissions in other countries, either also Annex I or developing countries. In order to achieve their targets set under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialised countries thus have the ability to apply three different mechanisms in which they can collaborate with other parties and thereby achieve an overall reduction in GHG emissions.
These are:. This stipulates that an Annex I country can invest in emissions reduction projects in any other Annex I country as an alternative to reducing emissions domestically. This allows countries to reduce emissions in the most economical way, and to apply the credit for those reductions towards their commitment goal. The JI development in Russia and Ukraine was relatively slow due to delays in developing the nations' domestic JI rules and procedures, although activity is now picking up.
These ERUs come out of the host country's pool of assigned emissions credits, which ensures that the total amount of emissions credits among Annex I parties remains stable for the duration of the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period. ERUs will only be awarded for JI projects that produce emissions reductions that are 'additional to any that would otherwise occur' the so-called 'additionality' requirement , which means that a project must prove that it would only be financially viable with the extra revenue of ERU credits.
Moreover, Annex I parties may only rely on JI credits to meet their targets to the extent that they are 'supplemental to domestic actions'. The rationale behind these principles is to formally limit the use of the mechanism. However, since it is very hard to define which actions are 'supplemental' to what would have occurred domestically in any event, this clause is, sadly, largely meaningless in practice. The Kyoto Protocol's Article 12 established the Clean Development Mechanism, whereby Annex I parties have the option to generate or purchase emissions reduction credits from projects undertaken by them in non-Annex I countries.
In exchange, developing countries will have access to resources and technology to assist in development of their economies in a sustainable manner. Like JI projects, CDM projects must meet the requirement of 'additionality', which means that only projects producing emissions reductions that are additional to any that would have occurred in the absence of the project will qualify for CERs.
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