Kyoto Protocol | Environment for UPSC 2024 (Pre & Mains) PDF Download

 Page 1


 
 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
ORGANISATIONS 
Page 2


 
 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
ORGANISATIONS 
UNFCCC 
The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. 
Today, it has near-universal membership.  
The 197 countries that have ratified the 
Convention are called Parties to the Convention. 
 
The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three 
adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992.  
Its sister Rio Conventions are the UN Convention 
on Biological Diversity and the Convention to 
Combat Desertification.  
 
Page 3


 
 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
ORGANISATIONS 
UNFCCC 
The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. 
Today, it has near-universal membership.  
The 197 countries that have ratified the 
Convention are called Parties to the Convention. 
 
The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three 
adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992.  
Its sister Rio Conventions are the UN Convention 
on Biological Diversity and the Convention to 
Combat Desertification.  
 
It acts as a framework for international 
cooperation to combat climate change by 
limiting average global temperature increases 
and the resulting climate change, and coping 
with impacts that were, by then, inevitable. 
Page 4


 
 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
ORGANISATIONS 
UNFCCC 
The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. 
Today, it has near-universal membership.  
The 197 countries that have ratified the 
Convention are called Parties to the Convention. 
 
The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three 
adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992.  
Its sister Rio Conventions are the UN Convention 
on Biological Diversity and the Convention to 
Combat Desertification.  
 
It acts as a framework for international 
cooperation to combat climate change by 
limiting average global temperature increases 
and the resulting climate change, and coping 
with impacts that were, by then, inevitable. 
KYOTO PROTOCOL – COP 3 
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 
December 1997.  
Due to a complex ratification process, it entered into force 
on 16 February 2005. 
The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol 
were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, 
and are referred to as the "Marrakesh Accords.“ 
 Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 
2012.  
In short, the Kyoto Protocol is what “operationalizes” the 
Convention.  
It commits industrialized countries to stabilize greenhouse 
gas emissions based on the principles of the Convention.  
The Convention itself only encourages countries to do so. 
 
 
Page 5


 
 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
ORGANISATIONS 
UNFCCC 
The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. 
Today, it has near-universal membership.  
The 197 countries that have ratified the 
Convention are called Parties to the Convention. 
 
The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three 
adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992.  
Its sister Rio Conventions are the UN Convention 
on Biological Diversity and the Convention to 
Combat Desertification.  
 
It acts as a framework for international 
cooperation to combat climate change by 
limiting average global temperature increases 
and the resulting climate change, and coping 
with impacts that were, by then, inevitable. 
KYOTO PROTOCOL – COP 3 
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 
December 1997.  
Due to a complex ratification process, it entered into force 
on 16 February 2005. 
The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol 
were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, 
and are referred to as the "Marrakesh Accords.“ 
 Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 
2012.  
In short, the Kyoto Protocol is what “operationalizes” the 
Convention.  
It commits industrialized countries to stabilize greenhouse 
gas emissions based on the principles of the Convention.  
The Convention itself only encourages countries to do so. 
 
 
KP, as it is referred to in short, sets binding emission 
reduction targets for 37 industrialized countries and 
the European community in its first commitment 
period.  
KP was structured on the principles of the Convention.  
It only binds developed countries because it recognizes 
that they are largely responsible for the current high 
levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere, which are 
the result of more than 150 years of industrial 
activity.  
KP places a heavier burden on developed nations under 
its central principle: that of “common but 
differentiated responsibility” 
In Doha, Qatar, on 8 December 2012, the Doha 
Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted.  
This launched a second commitment period, starting on 
1 January 2013 until 2020.