The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. It has been ratified by 174 States. The supreme authority of the Protocol is the Meeting of the Parties (CMP).

The Protocol provides that the Parties included in Annex I, individually or jointly, ensure that their aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases listed in Annex A do not exceed their assigned amounts, calculated pursuant to their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments inscribed in Annex B and in accordance with the provisions of this Article, with a view to reducing their overall emissions of such gases by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012.

Following the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, the Kyoto Protocol did not impose any legally binding reduction commitments on developing countries. Annex A to the Protocol defines the greenhouse gases, which include: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

The levels of reduction commitments for the individual Parties included in Annex B were declared by the negotiators of the Parties at the Conference in Kyoto. The EU-15 of 1997 declared their joint emission reduction by 8%, Poland and Hungary undertook to cut their emissions by 6%, Russia and Ukraine committed to stabilising their emissions at the level of the base year, the United States promised to reduce them by 7%, while Australia declared their increase by 8%. The European Union made an internal division of the reduction commitments, under which e.g. Denmark and Germany undertook to reduce their emissions by 21%, whereas Portugal has the right to increase its emissions by 27%, Greece by 25% and Spain by 15%. However, the United States – the largest emitter of these gases (about 35% of the global emissions) – has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. This means that the effectiveness of this agreement has been diminished and a bad example has been set for other countries.

The Protocol allows for trading in assigned amount units and for the fulfilment of commitments by using the certified emission reductions generated by the implementation of projects in developing countries under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as well as emission reduction units acquired from the Joint Implementation (JI) projects carried out jointly by Annex I countries. The Protocol obliges the Parties listed in Annex II to the Convention to ensure new, additional resources for the fulfilment of the commitments by developing countries as listed in Article 4 (1) of the Convention.