A seemingly constant source of international squabbles, the Kyoto Treaty is often name checked in the press whenever the environment is mentioned, yet what exactly is it?

And more importantly how will affect us? For this feature we will take a look at the origins and purpose of the Kyoto Treaty and what, if any, effect it has had upon the world…

What Is The Kyoto Treaty?

The Kyoto Treaty is based upon the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement drafted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to bring about a decrease of greenhouse emissions produced by the industrialised nations around the planet by 5%. The basis of the draft treaty was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997. Alas the original agreement had to be redrawn after US President George W Bush’s March 2001 claim that the United States would never agree to the terms of the agreement and therefore not sign it. Ironically the US is the world’s biggest polluter, producing over 35% of the planet’s emissions in 1990!
Forcing the treaty to be taken back to the drawing board and an edited draft was finalised at the UNFCCC talks in Bonn, Germany in 2002, it is this draft of the treaty that will begin enforcement sometime this year.
The final draft of the treaty essentially states that all countries that have entered into this agreement have made a signed commitment to reduce their carbon dioxide (C02) emissions and other greenhouse gases (GHG). Each country is given a size related number of emission permits, based upon their agreed emission limit, if emissions exceed that level the country in question will have to enter into emissions trading with other countries and purchase one of their emission permits. This basically means that any country that fails to reduce its GHG output will be essentially charged for polluting and those that exceed their requirements will be potentially financially rewarded. Such finance can be then used to fund technical development in poor countries to avoid increased greenhouse emission in their growing industries.
The final draft of the agreement saw the inclusion of “tree sinks” as a new way to offset a countries emissions by planting/maintaining heavily forested areas.

Who Is Involved?

The Kyoto Protocol currently covers more than 170 countries globally, with its members responsible for over 61% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Sadly as of December 2007, the US and Kazakhstan are the only signatory nations not to have agreed to the confines of the treaty, which in its current form expires in 2012.

This world map shows the signatory nations currently signed up with the Kyoto Treaty. Green areas shows all states parties, yellow areas shows states with ratification pending, and the red areas show those that signed but since declined membership.

What Are Its Objectives?

Based upon predictions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the average global temperature will rise to 5.8°C (10.4°F) by 2100 from the 1990 base measurement of 1.4°C (2.5°F) To prevent this the Kyoto Protocol outlines the following core objective… “Stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” Ultimately looking for a now 2% decrease of emissions from the 1990 base reading within the next 10 years.

Has It Had Any Effect?

Alas thus far the answer to the above question is a resounding “No!”, due to constant changes to the draft and the stream of problems arising from key polluting nations. The Kyoto Treaty should come into effect later this year and if the goals outlined within it are reached and the countries involved remain within the rules the results will, hopefully, be a huge benefit to us all…