Kyoto Protocol

Adopted on 11 December 1997, the Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that extends the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a 1992 agreement in which countries acknowledged the problem of human-caused climate change and committed in broad terms to address it. While the UNFCCC established general principles, it did not set binding emission reduction targets. The Kyoto Protocol fills that gap by imposing specific, legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized nations. It was opened for signature in March 1998 and entered into force on the 90th day after ratification by at least 55 countries, including enough industrialized nations to account for at least 55 percent of 1990 carbon dioxide emissions from those nations.

The Protocol's preamble identifies its Parties as those already party to the UNFCCC (referred to throughout as "the Convention") and cites the Berlin Mandate, a 1995 decision from the first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP), the Convention's supreme decision-making body, as the immediate impetus for negotiating binding targets. Article 1 defines key terms, drawing on existing Convention definitions and adding Protocol-specific ones. Among the defined terms are the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 treaty addressing ozone-depleting substances excluded from the Kyoto Protocol's scope.

Article 2 outlines the policies and measures that Annex I Parties, a designation referring to developed countries and economies in transition listed in an annex to the Convention, must pursue. These span eight areas: improving energy efficiency, protecting carbon sinks through sustainable forestry and reforestation, promoting sustainable agriculture, developing renewable energy and carbon sequestration technologies, phasing out emission-encouraging subsidies, encouraging emission-limiting reforms, reducing transport-sector emissions, and limiting methane from waste management and energy production. Annex I Parties are also directed to address emissions from aviation and marine bunker fuels (fuels used by international shipping) through the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization, sectors not covered by country-level targets. These Parties must implement their measures in ways that minimize adverse effects on developing countries.

Article 3 contains the Protocol's central obligation. Annex I Parties commit to ensuring that their combined emissions of six greenhouse gases, measured in carbon dioxide equivalents, do not exceed their assigned amounts (each Party's allowed emissions total for the commitment period) during the first commitment period of 2008 to 2012, with a collective reduction target of at least 5 percent below 1990 levels. Each Party must demonstrate progress by 2005. Net changes from land-use change and forestry activities, limited to afforestation (planting trees on land not previously forested), reforestation, and deforestation since 1990, count toward commitments. Two groups of countries transitioning to market economies receive special treatment: Those whose base year was established under earlier COP decisions use that established base year, while a second group that has not yet submitted its first national communication may notify the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP/MOP) of its intent to use an alternative historical base year, subject to COP/MOP acceptance. Each Party's assigned amount equals the percentage listed in Annex B, the schedule of each Party's quantified emissions target, multiplied by its base-year emissions and then by five to cover the five-year period. Parties may use 1995 as the base year for three industrial gases: hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride. Surplus emissions below assigned amounts may be carried over to subsequent commitment periods, and future targets are to be established through amendments to Annex B.

Article 3 also introduces three flexibility mechanisms. Emission reduction units, tradable credits from qualifying projects in other Annex I countries, may be acquired under Article 6 or through emissions trading under Article 17 and are added to or subtracted from the respective Party's total. Certified emission reductions, credits generated by qualifying projects in developing countries through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) established under Article 12, are added to the acquiring Party's amount.

Article 4 permits Annex I Parties to fulfill their commitments jointly. Parties forming such an agreement are in compliance as long as their combined emissions stay within their combined assigned amounts. If the group fails, each Party bears responsibility for its own allocated level. When Parties act jointly within a regional economic integration organization, a regional bloc whose member states can act collectively under the Protocol, changes to membership after the Protocol's adoption do not affect existing commitments.

Article 5 requires each Annex I Party to establish a national system for estimating emissions and removals no later than one year before the first commitment period, using IPCC-accepted methodologies. Articles 7 and 8 establish the reporting and review framework: Each Annex I Party must incorporate supplementary compliance information into its annual greenhouse gas inventory and national communication, and expert review teams assess each Party's implementation, producing reports that the secretariat circulates for COP/MOP consideration.

Article 9 requires the COP/MOP to periodically review the Protocol in light of the best available scientific, technical, social, and economic information. Article 10 sets out commitments for all Parties without imposing new obligations on developing countries. Grounded in the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," it requires all Parties to improve emission inventories, develop mitigation and adaptation programs, cooperate in technology transfer, support scientific research, and promote education and public awareness.

Articles 11 and 12 address financial support and the CDM. Under Article 11, developed country Parties listed in Annex II of the Convention, those designated to provide financial support, must furnish new and additional resources to cover costs incurred by developing countries in implementing their commitments, channeled through the Convention's financial mechanism. Article 12 defines the CDM, which helps developing countries achieve sustainable development while generating certified emission reductions that Annex I Parties may apply toward their targets. An executive board supervises the mechanism, and designated entities certify reductions based on voluntary participation, measurable climate benefits, and additionality (the requirement that reductions must exceed what would have occurred without the project). A share of proceeds funds adaptation costs for climate-vulnerable developing countries. Certified reductions earned from the year 2000 onward may count toward the first commitment period, creating an early-action incentive.

Article 13 establishes governance. The COP serves as the COP/MOP, with non-Protocol Convention Parties permitted to observe but not vote. Articles 14 and 15 designate the Convention's existing secretariat and subsidiary bodies to serve the Protocol. Article 16 provides for the application of the Convention's multilateral consultative process. Article 17 allows Annex B Parties to participate in emissions trading supplemental to domestic actions. Article 18 directs the COP/MOP to establish non-compliance procedures; any procedures with binding consequences require a formal Protocol amendment.

The remaining articles cover procedural matters. Amendments require consensus or a three-fourths majority vote and enter into force 90 days after three fourths of Parties accept them. Amendments to Annex B require the written consent of the affected Party. Each Party holds one vote, except that regional economic integration organizations vote with a number equal to their member States that are Protocol Parties. The Secretary-General of the United Nations serves as the Depositary, the official who receives and maintains treaty instruments and notifications. Withdrawal is permitted after three years, with one year's notice. No reservations are allowed.

Annex A lists the six regulated greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride) and organizes emission sources into five sectors: energy, industrial processes, solvent and product use, agriculture, and waste. Annex B assigns each Annex I Party a specific target as a percentage of base-year emissions. Most European nations and the European Community receive 92 percent (an 8 percent reduction). The United States is set at 93 percent, and Canada and Japan at 94 percent. The Russian Federation, Ukraine, and New Zealand are assigned 100 percent, meaning stabilization at base-year levels. Norway is allowed 101 percent, Australia 108 percent, and Iceland 110 percent. Several economies in transition receive varying targets reflecting their circumstances.