Kyoto Protocol (Implementation)
Introduction
The Kyoto Protocol[2] is a protocol "Protocol (International Law)") of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and an international agreement that aims to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases (GHG).[3] This document committed signatory industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions, and the Convention for its part has encouraged countries to do so. Structured based on the principles of the Convention, the protocol establishes binding emissions reduction targets for 37 countries and the European Union (EU), implicitly recognizing that, in 1997, they were mainly responsible for the high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere.[4].
The protocol was adopted on December 11, 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, but did not enter into force until February 16, 2005. As of November 2009, 187 States had ratified it.[5] The protocol agreed to a reduction of at least 5% of emissions of these gases in 2008-2012 compared to 1990 emissions. However, the commitment period of the Protocol was extended until 2020.[6].
As part of the UNFCCC—signed in 1992 within what was known as the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro—the protocol came to give binding force to what it could not do at that time. However, only Parties to the Convention that are also Parties to the Protocol (i.e., ratify it) are bound by the commitments of the Protocol.[4] The commitment was generally considered a first step towards a global regime for reducing and stabilizing GHG emissions, and provided the underlying architecture for any international agreement on climate change to be signed in the future.[4].
The Protocol has encouraged several governments to establish laws and policies to fulfill their commitments, encouraged companies to take the environment into account when making decisions about their investments, and has also led to the creation of carbon credits.[7].
The GHGs—which cause global warming—are carbon dioxide (CO), methane (CH), nitrous oxide "nitrogen oxide (I)") (NO), and the other three are types of fluorinated industrial gases: hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF).[8].
History
Contenido
El 11 de diciembre de 1997 los países industrializados se comprometieron en Kioto a un conjunto de medidas para reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI). Los gobiernos signatarios de dichos países pactaron una reducción, a ser alcanzada entre 2008 y 2012, de al menos un 5 % en promedio de las emisiones de los gases de GEI, tomando como referencia los niveles de 1990. Se estableció que el compromiso sería de obligatorio cumplimiento cuando lo ratificasen los países industrializados responsables de, al menos, un 55 % de las emisiones de CO.[9].