The agreement is a protocol to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted at the
Earth Summit in
Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which did not set any legally binding limitations on emissions or enforcement mechanisms. Only Parties to the UNFCCC can become Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. National emission targets specified in the Kyoto Protocol exclude international aviation and shipping. Kyoto Parties can use
land use,
land use change, and
forestry (LULUCF) in meeting their targets. LULUCF activities are also called "sink" activities. Changes in sinks and land use can have an effect on the climate, and indeed the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on
Land use, land-use change, and forestry estimates that since 1750 a third of global warming has been caused by land use change. Particular criteria apply to the definition of forestry under the Kyoto Protocol.
Forest management,
cropland management,
grazing land management, and
revegetation are all eligible LULUCF activities under the Protocol. Annex I Parties use of forest management in meeting their targets is capped. The six GHG are translated into
CO2 equivalents in determining reductions in emissions. These reduction targets are in addition to the industrial gases,
chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are dealt with under the 1987
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Under the Protocol, only the Annex I Parties have committed themselves to national or joint reduction targets (formally called "quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives" (QELRO) – Article 4.1). Parties to the Kyoto Protocol not listed in Annex I of the convention (the non-Annex I Parties) are mostly low-income developing countries, Some Parties have emissions limitations reduce below the base year level, some have limitations at the base year level (no permitted increase above the base year level), while others have limitations above the base year level. Emission limits do not include emissions by international aviation and shipping. Although Belarus and Turkey are listed in the convention's Annex I, they do not have emissions targets as they were not Annex I Parties when the Protocol was adopted. For most state parties, 1990 is the base year for the national GHG inventory and the calculation of the assigned amount. However, five state parties have an alternative base year: The initial aim was for industrialized countries to stabilize their emissions at 1990 levels by 2000. • developed nations had contributed most to the then-current concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere (see
Greenhouse gas emissions). • developing country emissions per-capita (i.e., average emissions per head of population) were still relatively low. • and that the share of global emissions from developing countries would grow to meet their development needs. During negotiations, the G-77 represented 133 developing countries. China was not a member of the group but an associate. It has since become a member. The Berlin mandate was recognized in the Kyoto Protocol in that developing countries were not subject to emission reduction commitments in the first Kyoto commitment period. In the final agreement, the Clean Development Mechanism was designed to limit emissions in developing countries, but in such a way that developing countries do not bear the costs for limiting emissions. For specific emission reduction commitments of Annex I Parties, see the section of the article on
2012 emission targets and "flexible mechanisms". The European Union as a whole has, in accordance with this treaty, committed itself to a reduction of 8%. However, many member states (such as Greece, Spain, Ireland and Sweden) have not committed themselves to any reduction while France has committed itself not to expand its emissions (0% reduction). There were multiple emissions cuts
proposed by UNFCCC parties during negotiations. The G77 and China were in favour of strong uniform emission cuts across the developed world. The US originally proposed for the second round of negotiations on Kyoto commitments to follow the negotiations of the first. In the end, negotiations on the second period were set to open no later than 2005. The final targets negotiated in the Protocol are the result of last minute political compromises. The numbers given to each Party by Chairman Estrada were based on targets already pledged by Parties, information received on latest negotiating positions, and the goal of achieving the strongest possible environmental outcome. The final targets are weaker than those proposed by some Parties, e.g., the
Alliance of Small Island States and the G-77 and China, but stronger than the targets proposed by others, e.g., Canada and the United States.
Relation to temperature targets At the
16th Conference of the Parties held in 2010, Parties to the UNFCCC agreed that future global warming should be limited
below 2°C relative to the pre-industrial temperature level. One of the stabilization levels discussed in relation to this temperature target is to hold atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at 450
parts per million (ppm) - eq. Stabilization at 450 ppm could be associated with a 26 to 78% risk of exceeding the 2 °C target. Scenarios assessed by Gupta
et al. (2007) suggest that Annex I emissions would need to be 25% to 40% below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80% to 95% below 1990 levels by 2050. The only Annex I Parties to have made voluntary pledges in line with this are Japan (25% below 1990 levels by 2020) and Norway (30–40% below 1990 levels by 2020). Gupta
et al. (2007) which has been established by the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
Implementation provisions The protocol left several issues open to be decided later by the sixth Conference of Parties
COP6 of the UNFCCC, which attempted to resolve these issues at its meeting in
the Hague in late 2000, but it was unable to reach an agreement due to disputes between the European Union (who favoured a tougher implementation) and the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia (who wanted the agreement to be less demanding and more flexible). In 2001, a continuation of the previous meeting (COP6-bis) was held in
Bonn, where the required decisions were adopted. After some concessions, the supporters of the protocol (led by the
European Union) managed to secure the agreement of Japan and
Russia by allowing more use of
carbon dioxide sinks.
COP7 was held from 29 October 2001 through 9 November 2001 in
Marrakesh to establish the final details of the protocol. The first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP1) was held in
Montreal from 28 November to 9 December 2005, along with the 11th conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP11). See
United Nations Climate Change Conference. During COP13 in Bali, 36 developed
Contact Group countries (plus the EU as a party in the
European Union) agreed to a 10% emissions increase for
Iceland; but, since the EU's member states each have individual obligations, much larger increases (up to 27%) are allowed for some of the less developed EU countries (see below ). Reduction limitations expired in 2013.
Mechanism of compliance The protocol defines a mechanism of "compliance" as a "monitoring compliance with the commitments and penalties for
non-compliance." According to Grubb (2003), the explicit consequences of non-compliance of the treaty are weak compared to domestic law.
Enforcing emission cuts If the enforcement branch determines that an Annex I country is not in compliance with its emissions limitation, then that country is required to make up the difference during the second commitment period plus an additional 30%. In addition, that country will be suspended from making transfers under an emissions trading program. ==Ratification process==