Kyoto Protocol

Jeanne M. Logsdon & Phoenix Forsythe

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by establishing reduction targets for participating nations. It is an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and was signed in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997. The Protocol is based on the belief that increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are a major cause of global warming, a position supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is modeled in many respects on the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement that focuses on the reduction of ozone-depleting substances to restore the planet's ozone layer, which is widely regarded as a success. By contrast, the Kyoto Protocol was off to a slower start in achieving significant progress in meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets. The Kyoto Protocol went into effect in February 2005, 90 days after the Russian Federation signed the agreement, thus reaching the ...

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