The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.
Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities."
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. In Doha, Qatar, on 8 December 2012, the "Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol" was adopted. The commitment period extended from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020.
During the first commitment period, 37 industrialized countries and the European Community committed to reduce GHG emissions to an average of five percent against 1990 levels. During the second commitment period, Parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels in the eight-year period from 2013 to 2020; however, the composition of Parties in the second commitment period is different from the first.
- Sustainable development through technology transfer and investment.
- Help countries with Kyoto commitments to meet their targets by reducing emissions or removing carbon from the atmosphere in other countries in a cost-effective way.
- Encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts
The Kyoto mechanisms
Under the Protocol, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Protocol also offers them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms.
The Kyoto mechanisms are:
International Emissions Trading
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
Joint implementation (JI)
The mechanisms help to stimulate green investment and help Parties meet their emission targets in a cost-effective way.
The Mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol are Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation.
JI and CDM are the two project-based mechanisms which feed the carbon market. JI enables industrialized countries to carry out joint implementation projects with other developed countries, while the CDM involves investment in sustainable development projects that reduce emissions in developing countries.
The carbon market is a key tool for reducing emissions worldwide. It was worth 30 billion USD in 2006 and is growing.
International Emissions Trading
Greenhouse gas emissions – a new commodity
Parties with commitments under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Parties) have accepted targets for limiting or reducing emissions. These targets are expressed as levels of allowed emissions, or “assigned amounts,” over the 2008-2012 commitment period. The allowed emissions are divided into “assigned amount units” (AAUs).
Emissions trading, as set out in Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows countries that have emission units to spare - emissions permitted them but not "used" - to sell this excess capacity to countries that are over their targets.
Thus, a new commodity was created in the form of emission reductions or removals. Since carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, people speak simply of trading in carbon. Carbon is now tracked and traded like any other commodity. This is known as the "carbon market."
Other trading units in the carbon market
More than actual emissions units can be traded and sold under the Kyoto Protocol’s emissions trading scheme.
The other units which may be transferred under the scheme, each equal to one tonne of CO2, may be in the form of:
A removal unit (RMU) on the basis of land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities such as reforestation.
An emission reduction unit (ERU) generated by a joint implementation project. A certified emission reduction (CER) generated from a clean development mechanism project activity. Transfers and acquisitions of these units are tracked and recorded through the registry systems under the Kyoto Protocol. An international transaction log ensures secure transfer of emission reduction units between countries.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.
The mechanism is seen by many as a trailblazer. It is the first global, environmental investment and credit scheme of its kind, providing a standardized emissions offset instrument, CERs.
A CDM project activity might involve, for example, a rural electrification project using solar panels or the installation of more energy-efficient boilers.
The mechanism stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction or limitation targets.
Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry
Background
Forests, through growth of trees and an increase in soil carbon, contain a large part of the carbon stored on land. Forests present a significant global carbon stock. Global forest vegetation stores 283 Gt of carbon in its biomass, 38 Gt in dead wood and 317 Gt in soils (top 30 cm) and litter. The total carbon content of forest ecosystems has been estimated at 638 Gt for 2005, which is more than the amount of carbon in the entire atmosphere. This standing carbon is combined with a gross terrestrial uptake of carbon, which was estimated at 2.4 Gt a year, a good deal of which is sequestration by forests. Approximately half of the total carbon in forest ecosystems is found in forest biomass and dead wood.
Other terrestrial systems also play an important role. Most of the carbon stocks of croplands and grasslands are found in the below-ground plant organic matter and soil.
Human activities, through land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities, affect changes in carbon stocks between the carbon pools of the terrestrial ecosystem and between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere.
Management and/or conversion of land uses (e.g. forests, croplands and grazing lands) affects sources and sinks of CO2, CH4 and N2O. According to the IPCC WGIII (2007), during the decade of the 1990s, deforestation in the tropics and forest re-growth in temperate and boreal zones remained the major factors contributing to emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHG) respectively. The IPCC WG1 (2007) reported that estimated CO2 emissions associated with land-use change, averaged over the 1990s, were 0.5 to 2.7 GtC yr–1, with a central estimate of 1.6 GtCyr-1.
The role of LULUCF activities in the mitigation of climate change has long been recognized. Mitigation achieved through activities in the LULUCF sector, either by increasing the removals of GHGs from the atmosphere or by reducing emissions by sources, can be relatively cost-effective.
Agriculture & Forestry
General mitigation options could include forest-related activities such as reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, enhancing the sequestration rate in new or existing forests, and using wood fuels and wood products as substitutes for fossil fuels and more energy-intensive materials. A variety of options for mitigation of GHG emissions also exists in other land systems. The most prominent example is agriculture, where options include improved crop and grazing land management (e.g., improved agronomic practices, nutrient use, tillage and residue management), restoration of organic soils that are drained for crop production, and restoration of degraded lands.
However, the main drawback of LULUCF activities is their potential reversibility and non-permanence of carbon stocks as a result of human activities, (with the release of GHG into the atmosphere), disturbances (e.g. forest fires or disease), or environmental change, including climate change.
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