KYOTO PROTOCOL

1. Context

Recently, the European Union (EU) has put forward a proposal, called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The US, Canada, and Japan are planning similar measures. This involves imposing tariffs on imports from other countries that are seen to be using carbon-intensive methods of production. It is argued that the stringent environmental regulation in the EU makes the production of polluting industries move to countries with relatively lax regulation. These sectors will contract in countries where carbon is priced higher, causing a “carbon leakage”.

2. What is Kyoto Protocol?

The Kyoto Protocol was an international agreement that aimed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the presence of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere.
The essential tenet of the Kyoto Protocol was that industrialized nations needed to lessen the amount of their CO2 emissions.
The protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, when greenhouse gases were rapidly threatening our climate, life on the earth, and the planet.
Other agreements like the Doha Amendment and Paris Climate Agreement address global warming.
Ongoing talks in 2021 with complex issues of politics, money, and lack of consensus.
U.S. withdrew from the agreement, citing unfair mandates and economic impact.
Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 replaced the Kyoto Protocol.
Paris Agreement includes commitments from major GHG-emitting countries to reduce pollution.

3. Understanding Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol mandated that industrialized nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the threat of global warming was growing rapidly.
The Protocol was linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was adopted in Kyoto, Japan on Dec. 11, 1997, and became international law on Feb. 16, 2005.
Countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol were assigned maximum carbon emission levels for specific periods and participated in carbon credit trading.
If a country emitted more than its assigned limit, then it would be penalized by receiving a lower emissions limit in the following period.

4. Major Tenets

Developed, industrialized countries made a promise under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce their annual hydrocarbon emissions by an average of 5.2% by the year 2012.
This number would represent about 29% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions.
Targets depended on the individual country. As a result, each nation had a different target to meet by that year.
Members of the European Union (EU) pledged to cut emissions by 8%, while the U.S. and Canada promised to reduce their emissions by 7% and 6%, respectively, by 2012.

5. Responsibilities of Developed Vs. Developing Nations

The Kyoto Protocol recognized that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity.
As such, the protocol placed a heavier burden on developed nations than on less-developed nations.
The Kyoto Protocol mandated that 37 industrialized nations plus the EU cut their GHG emissions.
Developing nations were asked to comply voluntarily, and more than 100 developing countries, including China and India, were exempted from the Kyoto Agreement altogether.

6. Particular function for Developing Countries

The protocol separated countries into two groups: Annex I contained developed nations, and Non-Annex I referred to developing countries.
The protocol placed emission limitations on Annex I countries only. Non-Annex I nations participated by investing in projects designed to lower emissions in their countries.
For these projects, developing countries earned carbon credits, which they could trade or sell to developed countries, allowing the developed nations a higher level of maximum carbon emissions for that period.
In effect, this function helped the developed countries to continue emitting GHG vigorously.
The United States, which had ratified the original Kyoto Agreement dropped out of the protocol in 2001.
The U.S. believed that the agreement was unfair because it called only for industrialized nations to limit emissions reductions, and it felt that doing so would hurt the U.S. economy.

7. Kyoto Mechanism

The Kyoto Protocol established three different mechanisms to enable countries additional ways to meet their emission-limitation target. The three mechanisms are:

The International Emissions Trading mechanism: Countries that have excess emission units permitted to them but not used can engage in carbon trading and sell these units to countries over their target.
The Clean Development Mechanism: Countries with emission-reducing or limiting commitments may implement emission-reducing projects in developing countries to earn certified emission-reduction credits.
The Joint Implementation mechanism: Countries with emission-reducing or limiting commitments to earn emission-reducing units from a project in another party.

8. The Doha Amendment Extended Kyoto Protocol to 2020

In December 2012, after the Protocol's first commitment period ended, parties to the Kyoto Protocol met in Doha, Qatar, to adopt an amendment to the original Kyoto Agreement.
This so-called Doha Amendment added new emission-reduction targets for the second commitment period, 2012-2020, for participating countries.
The Doha Amendment had a short life. In 2015, at the sustainable development summit held in Paris, all UNFCCC participants signed yet another Pact, the Paris Climate Agreement, which effectively replaced the Kyoto Protocol.

9. The Paris Climate Agreement

The Paris Climate Agreement is a landmark environmental pact that was adopted by nearly every nation in 2015 to address climate change and its negative effects.
The agreement includes commitments from all major GHG-emitting countries to cut their climate-altering pollution and to strengthen those commitments over time.
A major directive of the deal calls for reducing global GHG emissions to limit the earth's temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees (Preferring a 1.5-degree increase ) Celsius above preindustrial levels.
The Paris Agreement also provides a way for developed nations to assist developing nations in their efforts to adopt climate control, and it creates a framework for monitoring and reporting a country's climate goals transparently.

For Prelims: Kyoto Protocol, Paris Climate Agreement, Doha Amendment, European Union (EU), Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, Carbon credit Trading, UNFCCC (United Nations framework convention on climate change),

and Clean Development mechanism.

For Mains: 1. What were the main goals and objectives of the Kyoto Protocol? Explain Why did the United States withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, and what were the reasons cited? (250 words).

Previous year Question

Consider the following pairs: (UPSC 2016)

Terms have sometimes been seen in the news Their origin

1. Annex-I Countries Cartagena Protocol

2. Certified Emissions Reductions Nagoya Protocol

3. Clean Development Mechanism Kyoto Protocol

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

A. 1 and 2 only

B. 2 and 3 only

C. 3 only

D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer C

Source: Investopedia

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