Was the Kyoto Protocol successful?
1-Introduction
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement whose purpose is to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in an effort to attenuate global warming. The treaty extends the 1992 United Nation Framework Convention On Climate Change (UNFCC). The protocol was adopted in 1992 but only came into place in February 2005. It was designed as a response to the continuous growing international concerns regarding human activities interference with climate. In fact, reducing the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. International cooperation is necessary to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because …show more content…
On the other hand, a lot of countries failed to respect their own binding targets. For example, New Zealand, Canada and Austria are countries who did not respect their promises. But overall, ‘’ there are more successes than failures and the sum of emissions from nations with Kyoto targets have fallen significantly’’ (Clark, 2012). From another perspective, the goal to reduce to world’s emissions was not as successful as expected, since the rest of the world (developing countries with no constraints) has seen a sharp increase in GHGs emissions. This annihilates the efforts of countries that ratified the treaty in an effort to have a global impact: ‘’the cuts by industrialized nations have done little to combat the global problem. Worldwide emissions have surged by 50% since 1990, driven by economic growth in China and other parts of Asia, South America and Africa.’’ (Schiermeier, 2012). The only major accomplishment of the treaty lies in the increase of awareness that the world needs to reduce carbon emissions in order to fight climate change : ‘’ The Protocol is helping the world work together to protect our planet, much like the world banded together to remedy the Ozone Hole calamity. It shows that many countries are serious about environmental …show more content…
First, the cumulative GHGs cuts were achieved. However many countries did not meet their own target. Secondly the non participation in carbon emission cuts of the countries in development caused the US to not ratify the treaty, which considerably decreased the potential global emission cuts. Also, the decline in carbon producing industries in Eastern Europe caused some countries to meet their target with no efforts, which defies the purpose of the international agreement. But most importantly, the Kyoto Protocol had some success due to the fact that it was a good model for future agreements and that it raised global awareness regarding climate
1-Introduction
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement whose purpose is to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in an effort to attenuate global warming. The treaty extends the 1992 United Nation Framework Convention On Climate Change (UNFCC). The protocol was adopted in 1992 but only came into place in February 2005. It was designed as a response to the continuous growing international concerns regarding human activities interference with climate. In fact, reducing the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. International cooperation is necessary to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because …show more content…
On the other hand, a lot of countries failed to respect their own binding targets. For example, New Zealand, Canada and Austria are countries who did not respect their promises. But overall, ‘’ there are more successes than failures and the sum of emissions from nations with Kyoto targets have fallen significantly’’ (Clark, 2012). From another perspective, the goal to reduce to world’s emissions was not as successful as expected, since the rest of the world (developing countries with no constraints) has seen a sharp increase in GHGs emissions. This annihilates the efforts of countries that ratified the treaty in an effort to have a global impact: ‘’the cuts by industrialized nations have done little to combat the global problem. Worldwide emissions have surged by 50% since 1990, driven by economic growth in China and other parts of Asia, South America and Africa.’’ (Schiermeier, 2012). The only major accomplishment of the treaty lies in the increase of awareness that the world needs to reduce carbon emissions in order to fight climate change : ‘’ The Protocol is helping the world work together to protect our planet, much like the world banded together to remedy the Ozone Hole calamity. It shows that many countries are serious about environmental …show more content…
First, the cumulative GHGs cuts were achieved. However many countries did not meet their own target. Secondly the non participation in carbon emission cuts of the countries in development caused the US to not ratify the treaty, which considerably decreased the potential global emission cuts. Also, the decline in carbon producing industries in Eastern Europe caused some countries to meet their target with no efforts, which defies the purpose of the international agreement. But most importantly, the Kyoto Protocol had some success due to the fact that it was a good model for future agreements and that it raised global awareness regarding climate