Kyoto Protocol

This article is about the international treaty. For the rock band, see Kyoto Protocol (band).
Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC
  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
Signed11 December 1997[1]
LocationKyoto, Japan
Effective16 February 2005[1]
ConditionRatification by at least 55 states to the Convention
Expiration31 December 2012 (first commitment period)[2]
31 December 2020 (second commitment period)[3]
Signatories84[1] (1998–1999 signing period)
Parties192[4][5] (the European Union, Cook Islands, Niue, and all UN member states except Andorra, Canada, South Sudan, and the United States as of 2022)
DepositarySecretary-General of the United Nations
LanguagesArabic, Mandarin, English, French, Russian, and Spanish
Full text
Kyoto Protocol at Wikisource
Kyoto Protocol Extension (2012–2020)
Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol
Acceptance of the Doha Amendment
  States that ratified
  Kyoto protocol parties that did not ratify
  Non-parties to the Kyoto Protocol
TypeAmendment to international agreement
Drafted8 December 2012
LocationDoha, Qatar
Effective31 December 2020[6]
ConditionRatification by 144 state parties required
Expiration31 December 2020[7]
Ratifiers147[6]
Full text
Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol at Wikisource

Kyoto International Conference Center

The Kyoto Protocol (Japanese: 京都議定書, Hepburn: Kyōto Giteisho) was an international treaty which extended 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 global warming is occurring and that human-made CO2 emissions are driving it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There were 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012)[5] to the Protocol in 2020.

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 applied to the seven greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).[8] Nitrogen trifluoride was added for the second compliance period during the Doha Round.[9]

The Protocol was based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it acknowledged that individual countries have different capabilities in combating climate change, owing to economic development, and therefore placed 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 reduced 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.[10] Even though the 36 developed countries reduced their emissions, the global emissions increased by 32% from 1990 to 2010.[11]

A second commitment period was agreed to in 2012 to extend the agreement to 2020, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, in which 37 countries had binding targets: Australia, the European Union (and its then 28 member states, now 27), Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine stated that they may withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets.[12] Japan, New Zealand, and Russia had participated in Kyoto's first-round but did not take on new targets in the second commitment period. Other developed countries without second-round targets were Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and the United States (which did not ratify). If they were to remain as a part of the protocol, Canada would be hit with a $14 billion fine, which would be devastating to their economy, hence the reluctant decision to exit.[13] As of October 2020, 147[6][14] states had accepted the Doha Amendment. It entered into force on 31 December 2020, following its acceptance by the mandated minimum of at least 144 states, although the second commitment period ended on the same day. Of the 37 parties with binding commitments, 34 had ratified.

Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ended 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.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference parties was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Kyoto Protocol on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" (PDF). United Nations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2004.
  3. ^ "What is the Kyoto Protocol?". UNFCCC. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Status of Ratification". unfccc.int. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b "7 .a Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change". UN Treaty Database. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  6. ^ a b c "7 .c Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol". UN Treaty Database. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Nigeria, Jamaica bring closure to the Kyoto Protocol era, in last-minute dash". Climate Change News. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Overview of greenhouse gases - Defra, UK". Naei.beis.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Doha amendment to the Kyoto Protocol" (PDF). Unfcc.int. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  10. ^ Shishlov, Igor; Morel, Romain; Bellassen, Valentin (2016). "Compliance of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in the first commitment period" (PDF). Climate Policy. 16 (6): 768–782. Bibcode:2016CliPo..16..768S. doi:10.1080/14693062.2016.1164658. ISSN 1469-3062. S2CID 156120010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  11. ^ "The Emissions Gap Report 2012" (PDF). United Nations Environment Programme. 2012. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  12. ^ Figueres, C. (15 December 2012), "Environmental issues: Time to abandon blame-games and become proactive - Economic Times", The Economic Times / Indiatimes.com, Times Internet, archived from the original on 23 January 2023, retrieved 18 December 2012
  13. ^ "Canada pulls out of Kyoto Protocol". CBC News. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  14. ^ "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change". United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2016.