Kyoto Protocol

Topic: Climate Change: Causes, Evidence and the Global Response · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 11 "World Climate and Climate Change"

Meaning

The Kyoto Protocol is a treaty under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). It was adopted at COP3 in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 and came into force on 16 February 2005. It was the first climate treaty to set legally binding targets for cutting emissions, but only for the industrialised countries listed in its Annex B. Those countries had to cut their emissions by an average of about 5% below 1990 levels during 2008–2012.

It matters because it was the first time rich countries were legally required to cut greenhouse gases. Its weaknesses also explain why the world later moved to the very different Paris Agreement (2015).

Explanation

Why it was needed: from framework to binding numbers

• The UNFCCC (1992) set aims but no numbers.
• The UNFCCC is a "framework" treaty, meaning a general treaty that sets aims and principles but no binding targets.
• Its Article 2 aims to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations, which means stopping the amount of these gases in the air from rising. Greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, trap heat and warm the Earth.

• Article 2 gives no limit in degrees or in ppm (parts per million, a measure of how much gas is in the air).

• Kyoto added binding numbers.

• It was adopted at COP3, Kyoto (Japan), December 1997. COP means Conference of the Parties, the yearly meeting of all countries that have joined the treaty.
• It needed enough countries to ratify it (formally approve it) before it could take effect. This took 8 years, until 16 February 2005.
• NCERT says the protocol set targets for 35 industrialised countries and was ratified by 141 nations. These are the 2005 figures, from when it came into force.

How it worked: targets and the firewall

• Who had targets: only the countries in Annex B of the Protocol. Annex B is almost the same list as UNFCCC Annex I (industrialised countries plus "economies in transition", the former Soviet-bloc countries moving to market economies).
• First commitment period: an average cut of about 5% below 1990 levels during 2008–2012.

• 1990 is the base year, the year whose emissions are used to measure each country's cut.

• Model: top-down, binding and differentiated.

• Top-down: the treaty itself wrote the targets.
• Binding: meeting them was a legal duty.

• Differentiated: only rich countries had targets. Developing (non-Annex I) countries such as India and China had no binding targets.

• The fairness principle behind it: CBDR-RC (UNFCCC Article 3).

• CBDR-RC stands for common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
• Developed countries industrialised first, so they put most of the historical GHGs into the air.
• They are also richer and have better technology.
• So they had to cut first. Kyoto applied this as a strict firewall: rich countries were bound and poor countries were not.

The market mechanisms ("flexibility mechanisms")

These let a country meet its target more cheaply by cutting emissions wherever it costs least.

Mechanism	How it works	Who trades with whom
Emissions trading	A country that cuts more than its target sells its spare allowances to a country that has not met its target	Annex B ↔ Annex B
Joint Implementation (JI)	An Annex B country pays for an emission-cutting project in another Annex B country and earns credits	Annex B ↔ Annex B (often transition economies)
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)	An Annex B country or company pays for a clean project in a developing country and earns Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), which are carbon credits	Annex B ↔ non-Annex I

• CDM, step by step:
• A firm builds a wind farm in India instead of a coal plant, so it emits less than it otherwise would.
• The tonnes saved are checked and issued as CERs (1 CER = 1 tonne of CO₂-equivalent).
• A buyer in a rich country uses the CERs to meet its Kyoto target. India gets investment and clean technology.

Weaknesses and the second period

• The USA never ratified it, even though it was then the largest emitter.
• Canada withdrew in 2011.
• China and India had no targets, while their emissions grew fast.

• As a result, the countries that were actually bound covered a shrinking share of world emissions.

• The Doha Amendment, which set the second commitment period:

• It was adopted on 8 December 2012 at Doha, Qatar, by decision 1/CMP.8 [2]. CMP is the COP meeting for countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
• The period ran from 2013 to 2020.
• It needed acceptance by three-fourths of Kyoto Parties, which meant 144 instruments of acceptance [2].
• It came into force on 31 December 2020, the very last day of the period it covered [2]. By 15 June 2022, 148 Parties had accepted it [2].

Where it occurs

• Kyoto, Japan: where the Protocol was adopted at COP3 in December 1997.
• Annex B countries: the industrialised countries and transition economies that had binding targets. Russia is an example of a transition economy in Annex I.
• India: a non-Annex I country with no binding target. India was among the largest CDM hosts in the world, with projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency, fuel switching, industrial processes and waste.
• Doha, Qatar: where the second commitment period (2013–2020) was adopted in 2012 [2].
• USA: never ratified the Protocol. Canada: withdrew in 2011.
• Who runs it: the Protocol works under the UNFCCC, whose secretariat (permanent office) is in Bonn, Germany. Kyoto Parties meet each year as the CMP.

Don't confuse with

• UNFCCC (1992, in force 1994): this is the parent framework treaty, and it has no binding numbers. Kyoto is a protocol under it that added binding targets for Annex B countries.
• Paris Agreement (2015): under Paris, every country sets its own target, called an NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution). It is bottom-up, and meeting the numbers is not legally binding. Under Kyoto, the targets were written into the treaty, were binding, and applied only to Annex B countries.
• Annex B vs Annex I: Annex B is the list of countries with targets in the Kyoto Protocol. Annex I is the group of industrialised countries in the UNFCCC. The two lists are almost the same but come from different treaties.
• CDM vs Joint Implementation: CDM links a rich country and a developing country (credits called CERs). JI links two rich (Annex B) countries.

Prelims Hooks

• Kyoto Protocol: adopted at COP3, Kyoto, December 1997. In force from 16 February 2005.
• First commitment period: about 5% below 1990 levels during 2008–2012. Only Annex B countries were bound. India had no binding target.
• NCERT figures: targets for 35 industrialised countries and 141 ratifications (2005 figures).
• Mechanism match: CDM = rich ↔ developing (CERs, 1 CER = 1 tonne CO₂-equivalent). JI = rich ↔ rich. Emissions trading = allowances traded among Annex B countries.
• Doha Amendment: adopted at Doha in 2012. Second period 2013–2020. Needed 144 acceptances. In force on 31 December 2020 [2].
• Trap: the USA signed but never ratified Kyoto. Canada did ratify, but withdrew in 2011.

Mains Points

• Why Kyoto fell short (GS-III):
• The biggest emitter (USA) stayed out, Canada left, and fast-growing emitters had no targets.
• Ratification was slow. The Doha Amendment came into force only on 31 December 2020, the day its period ended [2].

• These weaknesses pushed the world away from Kyoto's top-down binding model to the bottom-up NDCs of the Paris Agreement.

• India and CBDR-RC:

• Kyoto's firewall reflected India's main negotiating position: rich countries caused most historical emissions, and India's emissions per person are low.
• India argues for equity (fair shares of the remaining "carbon space", meaning how much more CO₂ the world can still emit) and for climate justice.

• The problem is that the 1992 split between Annex I and non-Annex I countries is now out of date, because large developing countries have become big emitters.

• CDM and development:

• CDM brought investment into renewable energy and energy efficiency in India, which was among the largest hosts.
• It showed that market tools can link climate action with development. This idea carried over into the carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Related concepts

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Common but differentiated responsibilities

Read more

• The international regime: UNFCCC, CBDR, Kyoto and the IPCC