The Kyoto Protocol

Discuss the role that the original Kyoto Protocol, and related important events such as climate change conferences, have had in addressing climate change.

Throughout history, the climate of the earth has been changing and it is a process that has been occurring in a loop from the day earth came into existence and will continue to do so forever (Change, 2016). The climate has been a deciding factor for the all the atmospheric and environmental change that has been occurring in the earth. People have become aware of the implications that can take place when the climate change takes place. The various human activities add maximum to the change in climate and atmospheric pattern are burning of fossil fuels, pollution through gases such as carbon monoxide or the usage of Chlorofluorocarbon gases and the over exploitation of the natural resources (Urry, 2015). The amount of pollution present in the atmosphere is alarming and has had considerable impact on the environment and the various factors related to it. Due to the rise of such concerns, the people have become more aware these days and the authorities have come together for framing out certain ways through which a better environment can be achieved. The focus of this report will be such climate change conferences and the various protocols and agreements that took place. The credibility and the success of such conventions shall be discussed in details in the report and the amount of positive affect they have had on the environment will be discussed. The contribution such steps make towards the sustainable development of the environment will be evaluated in further sections.

Kyoto Protocol

For all the countries in the Framework convention on Climate change, it took them a span of a year to realize that there was a need of an agreement that had strict demands for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In 1994, the convention was brought to effect and by 1995 the need for a protocol was identified by the member nations. The Kyoto Protocol was unanimously adopted in Kyoto, in the year 1997 and it became active on 16 February 2005. The main objective of the protocol was to cut down the emission of Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere by setting fixed targets of the reduction rate (Iwata & Okada, 2014). For a specific period the emission rate is targeted with a reduction of about 8-10 percent for the countries, the minimum target is a reduction of at least 5 percent in the overall emission rate in the country (Grunewald & Martinez-Zarzoso, 2016). The protocol puts added responsibility on the developing countries that have high emission rate of GHGs in the environment, the countries are asked to work towards common good of the earth’s atmosphere by maintaining a check on the pollution levels. The effect of the warmth, which is radiated by the sun on the greenhouse, gases such as carbon dioxide and likewise leads to the trapping of heat in the earth’s atmosphere. With the increase in the presence of such gases in the atmosphere, more heat will be trapped in the earth and eventually lead to the heating up of the earth’s climate (Mukherjee & Lal, 2013). Though the greenhouse gases are necessary in the earth’s atmosphere, the same in larger amounts will lead to global warming (Sheffield, 2014). The Kyoto protocol or the Kyoto accord has been brought to action in order to reduce such emissions from the humans into the atmosphere so that the environment is not heated up beyond control.

The Paris Agreement

Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement or the Paris Accord was created with the purpose to strengthen the response against climate change on a global scale. The agreement aimed at creating a network between the government bodies from countries around the globe in order to reduce the emission levels significantly. Nicaragua and Syria were the two countries that rejected signing the agreement. All the countries that are involved in the agreement have undertaken the objective of limiting the global temperature rise to less 2 degree Celsius. They all are working towards achieving a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in the temperature (Falkner, 2016). Though the number may sound insignificant but it is to be understood that even a 1 degree rise in the global temperature may have serious impact on the environment and add up massively to the process of global warming and climate change. All the countries are working towards developing industrial process and technology that are aligned to the requirements of the climate change. The innovation and creativity are being used up to etch out ways and new ideas to make sure that the emissions are kept in check and at the same time maintaining the growth and economical progress of the nation. There are a total of 196 countries that have signed the agreement and each of the countries are asked to constantly keep working to reduce the emissions of the harmful gases in the environment (Savaresi, 2016). Paris agreement is a huge step towards the issue of climate change and it has successfully brought together the most number of nations in the process. It adds to the fact that global climate change is indeed an issue that calls for the maximum attention in the global scenario.

Benefits of the Paris Accord

With 196 countries signing the agreement, the Paris Agreement is one of the most successful agreements signed for the purpose of climate change and it has yielded many benefits for the countries that are part of it. The agreement has made it possible for leading industrial countries to innovate and gain advantage in terms of the production process and the reduction of carbon emission. The countries have significantly tried to make sure that the emissions are regulated and in this pursuit, they have come up with certain technologies that have lead to their greater recognition in the global sphere. Such developments are accompanied with financial rewards that further boost the economy of the nation (Dimitrov, 2016). The agreement makes sure that the temperature is regulated and as it is a global framework, the countries work for the cause because failure in the reduction will lead to a country’s pollution level being marked out in the global sphere. Such markings and data will have a negative impact on the image of a country in the global sphere and lead to degradation in the economic and industrial prowess of the country. The countries seeking for a common cause will lead to the success of the cause as greater participation can be achieved from the various countries which are also part of the COP21. The agreement has a very transparent nature for the citizens to know about the working progress regarding the climate change issue. The transparency is maintained by meetings held every 5 years, these meetings lay out the report of the targets that have been achieved in the last 5 years and showcases the progress along with new initiatives that are to be taken up for the next 5 years (Deprez, Colombier & Spencer, 2015). This element of transparency is a benefit that has allowed for the success of the agreement on the global front.

Flexible Mechanisms of Kyoto Protocol

Flexible Mechanisms

The Kyoto Protocol has incorporated in itself, three mechanisms that target to lend support to the developed nations in the process of reducing the emission. The flexible mechanism are also known as the Kyoto mechanisms enable the developed nations to meet the targeted emission rate as per their commitments abroad.

            The three flexible mechanisms are-

• Emissions trading is known as the most well-known instruments of the flexible mechanism. In this mechanism, when a country achieves a lower emission rate than the one target specified by the protocol, the country has the right to sell the remaining percentage of the emission rate in the global market (Almer & Winkler, 2017). Such shares can be then bought by countries that have overstepped the emission rate and they can buy the license and use to to maintain the emission balance in the global sphere.
• Joint Implementation are the projects that are taken up by two countries in order to reduce the emission rates. One of the countries can fund a project in another country and can take the units of reduction in its own account after the project is implemented. Such projects help in reducing the targets of emission in countries that are not economically sound but need support in reducing the emission rates. The financial help from the other country allows the project to take place and hence get a benefit it terms of the emission rate which is achieved in the host country (Swingland, 2013).
• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) works comparably to joint implementation. The fundamental contrast, nonetheless, is that CDM ventures are completed in a creating nation that has no decrease commitment. The emission savings that are accomplished through a CDM venture are guaranteed and these certified emission reductions (CERs) can be credited to the developed nation’s record. Developed nations get access to these CERs either by straightforwardly taking an interest in a CDM venture or by acquiring them. The objective of the CDM is not just – as with the initial two instruments – to make emission decrease more practical. It addition, it serves to help developing nations, for instance through innovation exchange, to accomplish sustainable development (Erickson, Lazarus & Spalding-Fecher, 2014).

Success of Flexible mechanism

The developing countries do not always have access to enough financial resources to undertake emission reduction activities. In such a situation, the flexible mechanism suggested by the Kyoto Protocol comes to the rescue of those countries and successfully fuel them enough to attain the required target of emission reduction. Such process benefits the host country as well as the investor country because both achieve reduction in their emission rates. The investor country may have their own targets to achieve through such investments and associations but it serves as a lifeline for the developing countries in achieving the desired percentage of emission. CDM alone has lead to reduction of carbon emission by as much as 2.9 billion tones approximately by merger projects and the amount is expected to rise in the coming days (Ghezloun, 2013). The emission trading has had the same kind of impact and it is believed that the carbon market has made a huge 30 billion USD in the year 2006 from such trades and the amount will rise higher in the upcoming years (Calel & Dechezlepretre, 2016). The money made through such deals has been used for the developmental activities in the various countries and hence allowing the pursuance of sustainable development as a process which is beneficial in all aspects.

Success of Protocol Solutions

There are around 300 treaties that are drawn up for the environment conservation and it is found that out of those only a fraction of them work and rest falter due to some or the other reason. It has to be kept in mind that for treaties and protocols such as these there is an increasing need for the countries to unite and stand up for the cause of climate conservation and sustainable development. The solutions of Kyoto protocol have significantly failed in the first phase of its implementation as the results are not even near to the expected target. The rate that has been reduced from the rates of 1990 is just a mere 1% and the expected reduction was 10 times more than the achieved rate. The rise in the emissions in the same period has been found at nearly 7% and it is alarming because despite such measures being taken, the results have not been much favorable. In recent developments, after Donald Trump took over as the President of the United States of America, the U.S has pulled out from the Paris agreement as it feels that is will limit the nation in its growth and deter the developments that are expected (Tollefson, 2017). For such protocols and treaties to work it is mandatory for all the countries to work in unison with each other or else the entire program fails and leads to crisis on the environmental front.

Challenges and Failures of Environmental Protocols

Fairness of the Protocol Solutions

The idea of fairness is essential as environmental protocols are mostly about the burden sharing between the various countries who are engaged in the protocols. While dealing with environmental issues, it is exceedingly important for the countries to arrive at a fair distribution of the burden so that none of involved countries feel any discrimination in practice. The Annex 1 of the UNFCCC lists the countries that are developed and they are provided with the maximum responsibility to cut down their emission rate as a part of their past emission rates that were higher and enabled them to produce more and gain wealth (Hermwille et al., 2017). The countries in Annex 1 are imbibed with the responsibility of cutting down the emission and assisting the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and countries in Africa, to reduce their emission rates by providing financial assistance to them as a part of the JI and CDM (Change, 2018). This division strategy has maintained the idea of fairness in the protocols and hence allows for the countries to grow as well as respond to the needs of the environment and reduce the emission rates significantly. The fairness remains in the idea that the LDC and SIDS will need more resources and scope to develop and for that their emission rates cannot be as low as those of the countries which are already developed. The burden is shared in a way that the pressure does not restrict the growth of any nation and also adds to the positives towards the sustainable development (Kober, van der Zwaan & Rösler, 2014).

Conclusion

To conclude, the various environmental pacts, treaties and protocols only point towards the actual aim that it the collective duty of all the nations to work towards preserving the environment. The involvement of all the major nations and also the developing countries show that the world is becoming conscious about this growing need and the knowledge about environment is being deemed as essential. The major issues are being targeted by the various protocols and they are to some extent making an impact and reducing the harmful emissions in the atmosphere. People have become aware of the outcomes that can result from environment degradation and hence they have also started to behave responsibly towards the environment. Various plants and animals species are becoming extinct as the environment has started changing rapidly and they cannot withstand such change. Human beings are referred to as beings with highest IQ and hence the responsibility lies with them to make sure that the environment is a better place to live. Even the slightest change in the environment can lead to the biggest of adversities for the ones dwelling in it and therefore every being must act responsibly. 

Fairness in Burden Sharing for Environmental Issues

References

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