KYOTO PROTOCOL

The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensusthat (part one) global
warming is occurring and (part two) it is extremely likely that human-
made CO2 emissions have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted
in Kyoto, Japan on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There are
currently 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012)[4]to the
Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to reduce the onset of global
warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to "a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" (Article 2). The
Kyoto Protocol applies to the six greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: Carbon dioxide (CO2),
Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). [6]

The Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it

acknowledges that individual countries have different capabilities in combating climate
change, owing to economic development, and ergo puts the obligation to reduce current
emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible for the
current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The Protocol's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. A second
commitment period was agreed on in 2012, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto
Protocol, in which 37 countries have binding targets: Australia, the European Union (and its
28 member
states), Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from the Kyoto
Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets.[7] Japan, New
Zealand and Russia have participated in Kyoto's first-round but have not taken on new targets
in the second commitment period. Other developed countries without second-round targets
are Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and the United States (which
has not ratified). As of July 2016, 66[8] states have accepted the Doha Amendment, while
entry into force requires the acceptances of 144 states. Of the 37 countries with binding
commitments, 7 have ratified.

Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change
Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ends in 2020. This
resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement, which is a separate instrument under
the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto Protocol.

The main goal of the Kyoto Protocol is to control emissions of the main anthropogenic
(human-emitted) greenhouse gases (GHGs) in ways that reflect underlying national
differences in GHG emissions, wealth, and capacity to make the reductions.[20] The treaty
follows the main principles agreed in the original 1992 UN Framework
Convention.[20] According to the treaty, in 2012, Annex I Parties who have ratified the treaty
must have fulfilled their obligations of greenhouse gas emissions limitations established for
the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period (2008–2012). These emissions limitation
commitments are listed in Annex B of the Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol's first round commitments are the first detailed step taken within the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change.[21] The Protocol establishes a structure of rolling
emission reduction commitment periods. It set a timetable starting in 2006 for negotiations to
establish emission reduction commitments for a second commitment period.[22] The first
period emission reduction commitments expired on 31 December 2012.

The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations
in the atmosphere at a level that would stop dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system."[23] Even if Annex I Parties succeed in meeting their first-round
commitments, much greater emission reductions will be required in future to stabilize
atmospheric GHG concentrations.[22][24]

For each of the different anthropogenic GHGs, different levels of emissions reductions would
be required to meet the objective of stabilizing atmospheric concentrations (see United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change#Stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations).[25] Carbon dioxide (CO
[26]
2) is the most important anthropogenic GHG. Stabilizing the concentration of CO
2 in the atmosphere would ultimately require the effective elimination of anthropogenic CO
[25]
2 emissions.

Some of the principal concepts of the Kyoto Protocol are:

 Binding commitments for the Annex I Parties. The main feature of the Protocol[27] is
that it established legally binding commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases for Annex I Parties. The commitments were based on the Berlin Mandate,
which was a part of UNFCCC negotiations leading up to the Protocol.[28][29]:290

 Implementation. In order to meet the objectives of the Protocol, Annex I Parties are
required to prepare policies and measures for the reduction of greenhouse gases in
their respective countries. In addition, they are required to increase the absorption of
these gases and utilize all mechanisms available, such as joint implementation, the
clean development mechanism and emissions trading, in order to be rewarded with
credits that would allow more greenhouse gas emissions at home.

 Minimizing Impacts on Developing Countries by establishing an adaptation fund for

climate change.

 Accounting, Reporting and Review in order to ensure the integrity of the Protocol.

 Compliance. Establishing a Compliance Committee to enforce compliance with the

commitments under the Protocol.
PARIS AGGREMENT
is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation,
and finance, starting in the year 2020. The agreement's language was negotiated by
representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the
UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December
2015.[4][5] As of November 2018, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and
184 have become party to it.[1] The Paris Agreement's long-term goal is to keep the increase
in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to limit the
increase to 1.5 °C, since this would substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate
change.

Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the
contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming.[6] No mechanism forces[7] a
country to set a specific target by a specific date,[8] but each target should go beyond
previously set targets. In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention
to withdraw his country from the agreement. Under the agreement, the earliest effective date
of withdrawal for the U.S. is November 2020, shortly before the end of President Trump's
current term. In practice, changes in United States policy that are contrary to the Paris
Agreement have already been put in place.[9]

In July 2017 French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot announced a plan to ban all petrol
and diesel vehicles in France by 2040 as part of the Paris Agreement. Hulot also stated that
France would no longer use coal to produce electricity after 2022 and that up to €4 billion
will be invested in boosting energy efficiency.[10] To reach the agreement's emission
targets, Norway will ban the sale of petrol- and diesel-powered cars by
2025;[11] the Netherlands will do the same by 2030.[12] Electric trains running on the Dutch
national rail network are already entirely powered by wind energy.[13] The House of
Representatives of the Netherlands passed a bill in June 2018 mandating that by 2050 the
Netherlands will cut its 1990 greenhouse-gas emissions level by 95%—exceeding the Paris
Agreement goals.[14]

The aim of the agreement is described in its Article 2, "enhancing the implementation" of the
UNFCCC through:[15]

(a) Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-
industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-
industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of
climate change;

(b) Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate
resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten
food production;
(c) Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions
and climate-resilient development.

Countries furthermore aim to reach "global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as
possible". The agreement has been described as an incentive for and driver of fossil fuel
divestment.[16][17]

The Paris deal is the world's first comprehensive climate agreement.[18]

Nationally determined contributions

Global carbon dioxide emissions by jurisdiction.

Contributions each individual country should make to achieve the worldwide goal are
determined by all countries individually and are called nationally determined contributions
(NDCs).[6] Article 3 requires them to be "ambitious", "represent a progression over time"
and set "with the view to achieving the purpose of this Agreement". The contributions should
be reported every five years and are to be registered by the UNFCCC Secretariat.[19] Each
further ambition should be more ambitious than the previous one, known as the principle of
'progression'.[20] Countries can cooperate and pool their nationally determined contributions.
The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions pledged during the 2015 Climate Change
Conference serve—unless provided otherwise—as the initial Nationally determined
contribution.

The level of NDCs set by each country[8] will set that country's targets. However the
'contributions' themselves are not binding as a matter of international law, as they lack the
specificity, normative character, or obligatory language necessary to create binding
norms.[21] Furthermore, there will be no mechanism to force[7] a country to set a target in
their NDC by a specific date and no enforcement if a set target in an NDC is not met.[8][22]
There will be only a "name and shame" system[23] or as János Pásztor, the U.N. assistant
secretary-general on climate change, told CBS News (US), a "name and encourage" plan.[24]
As the agreement provides no consequences if countries do not meet their commitments,
consensus of this kind is fragile. A trickle of nations exiting the agreement may trigger the
withdrawal of more governments, bringing about a total collapse of the agreement.[25]

The NDC Partnership was launched at COP22 in Marrakesh to enhance cooperation so that
countries have access to the technical knowledge and financial support they need to achieve
large-scale climate and sustainable development targets. The NDC Partnership is guided by a
Steering Committee composed of developed and developing nations and international
institutions, and facilitated by a Support Unit hosted by World Resources Institute and based
in Washington, DC and Bonn, Germany. The NDC Partnership is co-chaired by the
governments of Germany and Morocco and includes 71 member countries,13 institutional
partners and two associate members.

Effects on global temperature

The negotiators of the agreement, however, stated that the NDCs and the 2 °C reduction
target were insufficient; instead, a 1.5 °C target is required, noting "with concern that the
estimated aggregate greenhouse gas emission levels in 2025 and 2030 resulting from the
intended nationally determined contributions do not fall within least-cost 2 °C scenarios but
rather lead to a projected level of 55 gigatonnes in 2030", and recognizing furthermore "that
much greater emission reduction efforts will be required in order to hold the increase in the
global average temperature to below 2 °C by reducing emissions to 40 gigatonnes or to 1.5
°C."[26]

Though not the sustained temperatures over the long term that the Agreement addresses, in
the first half of 2016 average temperatures were about 1.3 °C (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) above
the average in 1880, when global record-keeping began.[27]

When the agreement achieved enough signatures to cross the threshold on 5 October 2016,
US President Barack Obama claimed that "Even if we meet every target ... we will only get to
part of where we need to go." He also said that "this agreement will help delay or avoid some
of the worst consequences of climate change. It will help other nations ratchet down their
emissions over time, and set bolder targets as technology advances, all under a strong system
of transparency that allows each nation to evaluate the progress of all other nations."[28][29]

Global stocktake

Map of cumulative per capita anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 emissions by country.

Cumulative emissions include land use change, and are measured between the years 1950 and
2000.The global stocktake will kick off with a "facilitative dialogue" in 2018. At this
convening, parties will evaluate how their NDCs stack up to the nearer-term goal of peaking
global emissions and the long-term goal of achieving net zero emissions by the second half of
this century.[30]

The implementation of the agreement by all member countries together will be evaluated
every 5 years, with the first evaluation in 2023. The outcome is to be used as input for new
nationally determined contributions of member states.[31] The stocktake will not be of
contributions/achievements of individual countries but a collective analysis of what has been
achieved and what more needs to be done.

The stocktake works as part of the Paris Agreement's effort to create a "ratcheting up" of
ambition in emissions cuts. Because analysts have agreed that the current NDCs will not limit
rising temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, the global stocktake reconvenes parties to assess
how their new NDCs must evolve so that they continually reflect a country's "highest
possible ambition".[30]

While ratcheting up the ambition of NDCs is a major aim of the global stocktake, it assesses
efforts beyond mitigation. The 5 year reviews will also evaluate adaptation, climate finance
provisions, and technology development and transfer.[30]

Structure
The Paris Agreement has a 'bottom up' structure in contrast to most international
environmental law treaties, which are 'top down', characterised by standards and targets set
internationally, for states to implement.[32] Unlike its predecessor, the Kyoto Protocol,
which sets commitment targets that have legal force, the Paris Agreement, with its emphasis
on consensus-building, allows for voluntary and nationally determined targets.[33] The
specific climate goals are thus politically encouraged, rather than legally bound. Only the
processes governing the reporting and review of these goals are mandated under international
law. This structure is especially notable for the United States—because there are no legal
mitigation or finance targets, the agreement is considered an "executive agreement rather than
a treaty". Because the UNFCCC treaty of 1992 received the consent of the Senate, this new
agreement does not require further legislation from Congress for it to take effect.[33]

Another key difference between the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol is their scopes.
While the Kyoto Protocol differentiated between Annex-1 and non-Annex-1 countries, this
bifurcation is blurred in the Paris Agreement, as all parties will be required to submit
emissions reductions plans.[34] While the Paris Agreement still emphasizes the principle of
"Common but Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities"—the
acknowledgement that different nations have different capacities and duties to climate
action—it does not provide a specific division between developed and developing
nations.[34] It therefore appears that negotiators will have to continue to deal with this issue
in future negotiation rounds, even though the discussion on differentiation may take on a new
dynamic.[35]