Kyoto protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on 11 December 1997. Owing to a complex ratification process,

it entered into force on 16 February 2005. Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change by committing developed countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse
gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. In our opinion, the protocol
strengthen the UNFCCC by adopting it because in 1994, when UNFCCC took effect, there was less
scientific evidence of climate change than there is now.
No wonder that it was widely hailed as the most significant environmental treaty ever
negotiated because they committed most of their signatories to have mandatory emission-reduction
targets, however, its success was far from assured. Every countries signed to the protocol has different
factors in terms of emitting greenhouse gasses so it’s only right that those reduction targets are varied
depending on the unique circumstances of each country. But reports issued in the first two years after
the treaty took effect indicated that most participants would fail to meet their emission targets.
One of the problems and mistakes we noticed about the Kyoto Protocol was their other
signatories consisting mostly of developing countries where not required to restrict their emissions. The
protocol should’ve anticipated that those developing countries will soon be developed and could also
cause problems regarding climate change.
The protocol also failed to encompass the world’s largest and fastest growing economies. China
and USA never agreed to the Kyoto Protocol because it could cause potential damage to their
economies. It’s obvious that these two countries emit large amounts of greenhouse gasses so excluding
them will just make the protocol’s goal unworkable. In fact, because USA and China failed to sign up,
Canada renounces the Kyoto Protocol; not having these large developed countries could also make
other countries realized that they’re doing the Protocol just for nothing.
Other critics claimed that the emission reductions called for in the protocol were too modest to
make a detectable difference in global temperatures, even if fully achieved with U.S. participation.
Nevertheless, the protocol provided several means for countries to reach their targets. One approach
was to make use of natural processes, called “sinks,” that remove greenhouse gases from the
atmosphere. The planting of trees, which take up carbon dioxide from the air, it was a simple yet
effective and natural way. Another approach was the international program called the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM), an example would be an investment in a clean-burning natural
gas power plant to replace a proposed coal-fired plant, that’s great because one way to lessen the
greenhouse gasses while still providing the same benefits in power plants is coming up to cleaner
alternative process and technology.