What is the 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 consensus that (a) global warming is occurring and (b) it is extremely likely that human-made CO₂ emissions have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997 and entered into force on February 16, 2005. There are currently 192 parties to the Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to "a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" (Art. 2). The Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it 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 second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol began on 1 January 2013 and will end in 2020. 38 developed countries, including the EU and its 28 member states, are participating. This second period is covered by the Doha amendment, under which participating countries have committed to reducing emissions by at least 18% below 1990 levels. The EU has committed to reducing emissions in this period to 20% below 1990 levels.

Some achievements of the Kyoto Protocol:

1.Created room for innovation

2.Cautioned people about environmental problems thereby making them considerate of their future generations

3.Mitigated threat to mankind's future

Some drawbacks of the Kyoto Protocol:

1.It only requires the developed countries to take action

2.Low participation of countries

3.It is applicable to only 14% of the word's emissions

4.Poor implementation

 

India's reaction to the Kyoto Protocol:

India signed and ratified the Protocol in August 2002. Since India is exempted from the framework of the treaty, it is expected to gain from the protocol in terms of transfer of technology and related foreign investments. At the G8 meeting in June 2005, former Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh pointed out that the per-capita emission rates of the developing countries are a tiny fraction of those in the developed world.

Policies in India related to greenhouse gas emissions have included:

1.the 11th Five Year Plan, which contains mandatory and voluntary measures to increase efficiency in power generation and distribution

2. increased use of nuclear power and renewable energy

3.a target to increase energy efficiency by 20% by 2016

4.expanded electricity supply to villages

5.policies designed to increase tree and forest cover

6.building codes designed to reduce energy consumption

Source: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/climate-change/international-agreements-climate-action/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol_and_government_action