Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol

Introduction

Climate change is one of the most serious challenges the world faces today. Its effects are not limited to one nation or particular region of the globe; rather, they will affect humanity and ecosystems worldwide. Concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases, believed to trap heat in the atmosphere in a planetary “greenhouse” of sorts, have risen sharply, as have global temperatures. Scientists predict that the average world temperature will rise enough this century to significantly affect both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Sea levels along the coasts of the United States could rise by as much as 2 feet, which would certainly cause mass displacement in coastal areas. Agricultural output may decrease because of varied growing seasons, unpredictable precipitation patterns, and quicker evaporation, which reduces soil moisture necessary for growth. Finally, extreme weather events, like hurricanes and severe droughts, are likely to become much more common and severe.

What is the source of these rising temperatures? Scientists and historians say that clear-cutting forests, irresponsible farming methods, poor waste management, and, most of all, the burning of coal, oil, gas, and other carbon-based fuels have substantially increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Fortunately, through global partnership, there is much we can do to stop or even reverse these disconcerting trends. The international community has embraced the Kyoto Protocol, which went into effect on February 16, 2005, as an important first step in protecting our children and grandchildren from the undesirable effects of major climate change. The United States, however, in a departure from its tradition of global leadership, did not ratify the Protocol.

Kyoto Facts

The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as part of a larger UN effort to promote sustainable development around the globe. The treaty was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 and opened for signature in March of 1998. By the date on which it took effect in February of 2005, over 140 nations had ratified the treaty, including Russia, a major emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Only two countries that had initially signed the treaty did not ratify: the United States and Australia.

The Treaty sets a number of environmental goals, the most significant of which are targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries agree to reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases to an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2012.

Emissions Trading: A Market-Based Approach to Fighting Climate Change

To reach these targets, the participating countries agreed to set up a program for emissions trading. Emissions trading is considered one of the most, if not the most, cost-effective manners of reducing any type of contaminant emission, be it a greenhouse gas, air pollutant, or water pollutant. Under the Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gas emissions are categorized into “units” (of usually one ton each) and treated as entities to be bought, sold, and stored in a global greenhouse gas market.

The scheme allows each country to choose how to most cost-effectively reduce its emissions. The “soft cap” of 5.2% below 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions makes the program work: a country may not exceed its emissions limit unless it purchases extra units from another country that does not use all of its credits. That gives other countries an incentive to reduce their pollution well below their assigned caps, so that they can have credits to sell.

Still Confused?

Here are examples of two countries with different financial scenarios. Let’s say that Country A can reduce greenhouse gas emissions relatively cheaply. For Country A, it makes the most economic sense to purchase and install machinery that will reduce its emissions beyond its required levels and sell its extra credits to another country. Country B, however, may find these purchases and installation more expensive than purchasing surplus credits from another country. It may make the most sense, financially, for this country to exceed its allotted emissions levels and purchase emissions credits from another country that has not used all of its credits. All of this must be done without exceeding the cap for total emissions levels.

The Clean Development Mechanism, "Bubbling," and Sinks

The Kyoto Protocol also allows for industrialized countries to earn additional emissions credits by helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. This method of gaining credits and minimizing climate change under an emissions trading scheme has been named the Clean Development Mechanism. The Mechanism is designed to help less-developed-countries contribute to the mission of the Treaty, while providing incentives to industrialized countries to facilitate such projects.

In addition, any group of developed countries may create a “bubble” to meet the total emissions requirements of the group. Using such an approach, countries are allowed to redistribute emissions credits as long as the total of their levels is preserved. “Bubbling” was designed for smaller countries, many of which are in Europe, that already rely on each other for assistance and trade.

Finally, the Kyoto Protocol assigns value to carbon sinks, places that extract and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Forests, soil, and oceans are all major carbon sinks. Kyoto allows member nations with large areas of forest (or other vegetation) to deduct the estimated value of the forest-stored carbon from their assigned emissions levels. By giving them an incentive to preserve these forests as sinks, the Protocol gives countries with sinks more flexibility with which to achieve their targets.

The U.S. Should Ratify the Kyoto Protocol

The United States signed onto the Treaty under the Clinton administration, but the Bush Administration has refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification. The U.S. emits more greenhouse gases than any other country – nearly a quarter of the world’s total – even though it represents only 4% of the world’s population. While other industrialized nations are taking action, the Bush Administration continues to ignore the scientific consensus that human activity is causing changes in the global climate that will have serious impacts on people’s lives for years to come.

The Kyoto Treaty is the first step in a global effort to address climate change seriously. The United States, traditionally at the forefront of innovation and bold action, needs to join its peers in protecting the world against the risk of climate change.

An official website, maintained by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), offers the text of the Kyoto Protocol in six different languages, various documents included in the treaty, a listing of the ratifying nations, and a calendar of the treaty.

Updated July 12, 2005