84 countries have signed the Kyoto Protocol and almost all members of the United Nations have become parties to it. The most notable exception was the United States. President Bill Clinton signed the treaty on behalf of his country, but did not send it to Congress for ratification because he understood it would not pass. His successor, George W. Bush, opposed the deal, saying the U.S. economy would be harmed if it committed to reducing, when so many other countries were exempt. Many countries exceeded their emissions targets during the first phase of the protocol – Canada, Australia and New Zealand were the largest. Others, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, have achieved their goals. Many Eastern European countries have significantly surpassed their own, almost certainly due to the decline in production due to the disintegration of the Eastern bloc.

The agreement is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and did not establish legally binding emission limits or enforcement mechanisms. Only Parties to the UNFCCC may become Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. The U.S. pulled out of the deal in 2001, calling the treaty unfair because it only required developed countries to reduce their emissions and believed it would hurt the U.S. economy. On December 11, 1997, delegates from more than 150 countries signed the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. In particular, it was a question of the balance between low emissions and the high vulnerability of developing countries to climate change compared to the high emissions of developed countries. Another criticism of the Kyoto Protocol and other international conventions is the right of indigenous peoples to participate. Quoted here in the Declaration of the First International Indigenous Forum on Climate Change, it says: „Despite the recognition of our role in preventing global warming, our right to participate in national and international discussions that directly affect peoples and territories is once again denied when it comes to signing international conventions such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Change. Climate.

[122] In addition, the Declaration later states that the Protocol defines three „flexibility mechanisms“ that can be used by Annex I Parties to meet their emission control obligations. [41]:402 The flexibility mechanisms are the International Emissions Trading System (EET), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI). The EIT allows Annex I Parties to „trade“ their emissions (assigned quantity units, AAUs or „allowances“ for short). [42] (1997) International Agreement on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The first kyoto emission limit period can be seen as a first step towards the atmospheric stabilization of greenhouse gases. [23] In this sense, the Kyoto commitments of the first period can influence the future levels of atmospheric stabilization that can be achieved. [65] 1992 – The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development is held in Rio de Janeiro. This results, inter alia, in the Framework Convention on Climate Change („UNFCCC“ or „UNFCCC“). After a series of conferences entangled in disagreements, delegates at COP21, held in Paris, France, in 2015, signed a global but non-binding agreement to limit the rise in global average temperature to a maximum of 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels while trying to keep that rise to 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels. This historic agreement, signed by the 196 signatories to the UNFCCC, effectively replaced the Kyoto Protocol.

He also ordered a five-year review of progress and the development of a $100 billion fund by 2020 to be replenished annually to help developing countries adopt non-greenhouse gas technologies. I am very pleased that the United States has reached a truly historic agreement with other nations around the world to take unprecedented action to address the global problem of climate change. The agreement is ecologically sound and economically sound. It reflects our generation`s commitment to act in the interests of future generations. President Clinton, remarks on the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and exchange with journalists in New York, 10 December 1997 The Protocol left open several issues that will later be decided by the Sixth Cop6 Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, which sought to resolve these issues at its meeting in The Hague at the end of 2000. However, due to disputes between the European Union (which advocated stricter implementation) and the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia (who wanted to make the agreement less ambitious and more flexible), he was unable to reach an agreement. The Protocol divided countries into two groups: Annex I contained developed countries and developing countries not included in Annex I. The Protocol sets emission limits only for Annex I countries. Non-Annex I States have participated by investing in projects to reduce emissions in their countries.

However, the kyoto Protocol`s goals are being challenged by climate change deniers who condemn the strong scientific evidence of human influence on climate change. A prominent scientist believes that these climate change deniers are „arguably“ violating Rousseau`s idea of the social contract, which is an implicit agreement between members of a society to coordinate efforts in the name of general social benefit. The climate change denial movement hinders efforts to reach agreements on climate change as a collective global society. [139] CDM and JI are called „project-based mechanisms“ because they generate emission reductions from projects. The difference between the EIT and project-based mechanisms is that the EIT is based on setting a quantitative emission limit, while the CDM and IOC are based on the idea of „producing“ emission reductions. [43] The CDM aims to promote the production of emission reductions in non-Annex I Parties, while JI encourages the production of emission reductions in Annex I Parties. In 2001, a follow-up to the previous meeting (COP6-bis) took place in Bonn[88], where the necessary decisions were taken. After some concessions, the proponents of the protocol (led by the European Union) managed to get the approval of Japan and Russia by allowing greater use of carbon sinks.

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