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The issue is, following the first commitment period of Kyoto Protocol ending in 2012 what kind of a new treaty should supersede the Kyoto in order to reach a more collaborative, effective and politically acceptable solution to the climate change problem.


The Kyoto Protocol requires developed countries to reduce their GHG emissions below levels specified for each of them in the Treaty (UNFCCC). These targets must be met within a five-year time frame between 2008 and 2012, and add up to a total cut in GHG emissions of at least 5% against the baseline of 1990. Developing countries assumed no commitments for the first period of the protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol is generally seen as an important first step towards a truly global emission reduction regime that will stabilize GHG concentrations at a level which will avoid dangerous climate change. As a result of the Protocol, governments have already put, and are continuing to put legislation and policies in place to meet their commitments; a carbon market has been created; and more and more businesses are making the investment decisions needed for a climate-friendly future. In one respect, the Protocol resembles the Vienna Protocol which was a step before Montreal Protocol. But, in our case, the situation is much more complicated.

Since it will affect virtually all major sectors of the economy, the Kyoto Protocol is considered to be the most far-reaching agreement on environment and sustainable development ever adopted. However, it is not enough that a treaty is effective in dealing a complicated worldwide problem; it must also be politically acceptable. Most of the world’s countries eventually agreed to the Protocol, but some nations, including the United States and Australia, chose not to ratify it. Following ratification by Russia, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005.

The problem is, simply, in the presence of so diverse...