Kyoto Protocol (notes)
The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty produced at a conference, informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.
The treaty is intended to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the world’s climate.
The Kyoto Protocol legally obliges industrialised countries to reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases:
- carbon dioxide
- methane
- *nitrous oxide
- sulfur hexafluoride
- hydrofluorocarbons
- perfluorocarbons
(*Nitrous oxide is 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere)
The treaty also establishes general commitments for all countries that put their name on the agreement.
As of 2008, 183 parties (countries) have ratified the protocol, which was initially adopted for use on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and which entered into force on 16 February 2005.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries agreed to reduce their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% compared to the year 1990.
Examples of reductions agreed by individual countries include:
- European Union 8%
- United States 7%
- Japan 6%
- Russia 0%
The treaty permitted some countries to increase their greenhouse gas emissions: 8% for Australia and 10% for Iceland.
For more information about Kyoto Protocol click here.
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