Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC
Annex B parties with binding targets in the second period   Annex B parties with binding targets in the first period but not the second   Non-Annex B parties without binding targets   Annex B parties with binding targets in the first period but which withdrew from the Protocol   Signatories to the Protocol that have not ratified   Other UN member states and observers that are not party to the Protocol
Signed	11 December 1997[1]
Location	Kyoto, Japan
Effective	16 February 2005[1]
Condition	Ratification by at least 55 states to the Convention
Expiration	31 December 2012 (first commitment period)[2] 31 December 2020 (second commitment period)[3]
Signatories	84[1] (1998–1999 signing period)
Parties	192[4][5] (the European Union, Cook Islands, Niue, and all UN member states except Andorra, Canada, South Sudan, and the United States as of 2022)
Depositary	Secretary-General of the United Nations
Languages	Arabic, Mandarin, English, French, Russian, and Spanish
Full text
Kyoto Protocol at Wikisource

Kyoto Protocol Extension (2012–2020)

Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol
Acceptance of the Doha Amendment   States that ratified   Kyoto protocol parties that did not ratify   Non-parties to the Kyoto Protocol
Type	Amendment to international agreement
Drafted	8 December 2012
Location	Doha, Qatar
Effective	31 December 2020[6]
Condition	Ratification by 144 state parties required
Expiration	31 December 2020[7]
Ratifiers	147[6]
Full text
Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol at Wikisource

The Kyoto Protocol (Japanese: 京都議定書, Hepburn: Kyōto Giteisho) was an international treaty which extended 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 global warming is occurring and that human-made CO₂ emissions are driving it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There were 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012)^[5] to the Protocol in 2020.

The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to reduce the onset of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to "a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" (Article 2). The Kyoto Protocol applied to the seven greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆), nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃).^[8] Nitrogen trifluoride was added for the second compliance period during the Doha Round.^[9]

The Protocol was based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it acknowledged that individual countries have different capabilities in combating climate change, owing to economic development, and therefore placed 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 Protocol's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. All 36 countries that fully participated in the first commitment period complied with the Protocol. However, nine countries had to resort to the flexibility mechanisms by funding emission reductions in other countries because their national emissions were slightly greater than their targets. The financial crisis of 2007–08 reduced emissions. The greatest emission reductions were seen in the former Eastern Bloc countries because the dissolution of the Soviet Union reduced their emissions in the early 1990s.^[10] Even though the 36 developed countries reduced their emissions, the global emissions increased by 32% from 1990 to 2010.^[11]

A second commitment period was agreed to in 2012 to extend the agreement to 2020, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, in which 37 countries had binding targets: Australia, the European Union (and its then 28 member states, now 27), Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine stated that they may withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets.^[12] Japan, New Zealand, and Russia had participated in Kyoto's first-round but did not take on new targets in the second commitment period. Other developed countries without second-round targets were Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and the United States (which did not ratify). If they were to remain as a part of the protocol, Canada would be hit with a $14 billion fine, which would be devastating to their economy, hence the reluctant decision to exit.^[13] As of October 2020, 147^[6][14] states had accepted the Doha Amendment. It entered into force on 31 December 2020, following its acceptance by the mandated minimum of at least 144 states, although the second commitment period ended on the same day. Of the 37 parties with binding commitments, 34 had ratified.

Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ended in 2020. This resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement, which is a separate instrument under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto Protocol.