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Kyoto Protocol
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This article is about the international treaty. For the rock band, see Kyoto Protocol (band).
Kyoto Protocol
Long name:[show]
Kyoto Protocol parties.svg
Annex B parties with binding targets in the second period
Annex B parties with binding targets in the first period but not the second
Non-Annex B parties without binding targets
Annex B parties with binding targets in the first period but which withdrew from the Protocol
Signatories to the Protocol that have not ratified
Other UN member states and observers that are not party to the Protocol
Signed 11 December 1997[1]
Location Kyoto, Japan
Effective 16 February 2005[1]
Condition Ratification by at least 55 states to the Convention
Expiration In force (first commitment period expired 31 December 2012)[2]
Signatories 84[1]
Parties 192[3][4] (European Union, Cook Islands, Niue, and all UN member states except Andorra, Canada, South Sudan, and the United States)
Depositary Secretary-General of the United Nations
Languages Arabic, Mandarin, English, French, Russian, and Spanish
Kyoto Protocol at Wikisource
Kyoto Protocol Extension (2012–2020)
Long name:[show]
Doha Amendment of Kyoto.svg
Acceptance of the Doha Amendment
States that ratified
Kyoto protocol parties that did not ratify
Non-parties to the Kyoto Protocol
Type International
Drafted 8 December 2012
Location Doha, Qatar
Effective Not in force
Condition Ratification by 144 state parties required
(three-fourths of 192)
Ratifiers 137[5]
Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol at Wikisource
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 scientific consensus that (part one) global warming is occurring and (part two) it is extremely likely that human-made CO2 emissions have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There are currently 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012)[4] to the Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to reduce the onset of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to "a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" (Article 2). The Kyoto Protocol applies to the six greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).[6]
The Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it acknowledges that individual countries have different capabilities in combating climate change, owing to economic development, and therefore puts the obligation to reduce current emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible for the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The Protocol's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. All 36 countries that fully participated in the first commitment period complied with the Protocol. However, nine countries had to resort to the flexibility mechanisms by funding emission reductions in other countries because their national emissions were slightly greater than their targets. The financial crisis of 2007–08 helped reduce the emissions. The greatest emission reductions were seen in the former Eastern Bloc countries because the dissolution of the Soviet Union reduced their emissions in the early 1990s.[7] Even though the 36 developed countries reduced their emissions, the global emissions increased by 32% from 1990 to 2010.[8]
A second commitment period was agreed in 2012, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, in which 37 countries have binding targets: Australia, the European Union (and its 28 member states), Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets.[9] Japan, New Zealand, and Russia have participated in Kyoto's first-round but have not taken on new targets in the second commitment period. Other developed countries without second-round targets are Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and the United States (which has not ratified). As of February 2020, 137[10] states have accepted the Doha Amendment, while entry into force requires the acceptances of 144 states. Of the 37 countries with binding commitments, 7 have ratified.
Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ends in 2020. This resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement, which is a separate instrument under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto Protocol. |