The Kyoto protocol was the first agreement between nations to mandate country-by-country reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. The framework pledges to stabilize greenhouse-gas concentrations "at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".
To put teeth into that pledge, a new treaty was needed, one with binding targets for greenhouse-gas reductions. That treaty was finalized in Kyoto, Japan, in , after years of negotiations , and it went into force in Countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol were assigned maximum carbon emission levels for specific periods and participated in carbon credit trading.
If a country emitted more than its assigned limit, then it would receive a lower emissions limit in the following period.
Green- Annex B parties with binding targets in the second period; purple- Annex B parties with binding targets in the first period but not the second; blue- Non-Annex B parties without binding targets; yellow- Annex B parties with binding targets in the first period but which withdrew from the Protocol; orange- Signatories to the Protocol that have not ratified; red- Other UN member states and observers that are not party to the Protocol Source: Wikipedia.
Recognising that developed countries are principally responsible for the current levels of GHG emissions as a result of more than years of unmitigated industrial activity, the Protocol placed a heavier burden on them.
The Protocol separated countries into two groups: Annex I contained developed nations, and Non-Annex I contained developing countries. Emission limits were placed on Annex I countries only. Non-Annex I countries could invest in projects to lower emissions in their countries. For these projects, developing countries earned carbon credits that they could trade or sell to developed countries, allowing the developing nations a higher level of maximum carbon emissions for that period.
This effectively allowed developed countries to continue emitting GHGs. The Protocol established a monitoring, review and verification system, as well as a compliance system to ensure transparency and hold parties accountable. The Protocol established market mechanisms based on the trade of emissions permits. They planned to meet or exceed their targets under the agreement by But others continued to fall short.
The United States and China—two of the world's biggest emitters—produced enough greenhouse gases to mitigate any of the progress made by nations who met their targets.
In December , after the first commitment period of the Protocol ended, parties to the Kyoto Protocol met in Doha, Qatar, to adopt an amendment to the original Kyoto agreement. This so-called Doha Amendment added new emission-reduction targets for the second commitment period, —, for participating countries.
The Doha Amendment had a short life. The Paris Climate Agreement is a landmark environmental pact that was adopted by nearly every nation in to address climate change and its negative effects. The agreement includes commitments from all major GHG-emitting countries to cut their climate-altering pollution and to strengthen those commitments over time. A major directive of the deal calls for reducing global GHG emissions so as to limit the earth's temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels while taking steps to limit the increase to 1.
In , then-President Trump announced that the U. But the former president didn't begin the formal withdrawal process until Nov. On January 20, , his first day in office, President Biden began the process of rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, which officially took effect on Feb.
In , the dialogue is still alive but has turned into a complex quagmire involving politics, money, lack of leadership, lack of consensus, and bureaucracy.
Today, despite myriad plans and some actions, solutions to the problems of GHG emissions and global warming have not been implemented. Almost all scientists who study the atmosphere now believe that global warming is primarily the result of human action. Logically then, what humans have caused by their behavior should be able to be remedied by humans changing their behavior. It is frustrating to many that cohesive action to deal with the human-made global climate crisis has yet to happen.
It is critical that we remain convinced that we can, in fact, resolve these issues so crucial to our survival. We humans have already solved huge problems in numerous fields via technical innovation that led to radically new solutions.
United Nations Climate Change. Accessed Apr. United Nations Treaty Collection. Department of State. Archived Content. Use these resources in your classroom to help your students understand and take action on climate change. An atmosphere is the layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body. These gases are found in layers troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere defined by unique features such as temperature and pressure.
The atmosphere protects life on earth by shielding it from incoming ultraviolet UV radiation, keeping the planet warm through insulation, and preventing extremes between day and night temperatures.
The sun heats layers of the atmosphere causing it to convect driving air movement and weather patterns around the world. Teach your students about the Earth's atmosphere with the resources in this collection. Carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas that drives global climate change, continues to rise every month. Find out the dangerous role it and other gases play.
Global warming is often described as the most recent example of climate change. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.
Skip to content. Shanghai Towers Above the Smog China is one of the biggest producers—and biggest victims—of air pollution. Photograph by Nigel Swinn, My Shot. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Background Info Vocabulary.
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