Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty -- the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) -- to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. During the last few years, most nations have approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. Notably exceptions are the US and Australia. The UNFCCC secretariat, located in Bonn, Germany, supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the Conference of Participants (COP), the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau. The annual COP is the major annual meeting for climate bureaucrats from around the world.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol shares the Convention’s objective, principles and institutions, but significantly strengthens the Convention by committing “developed” countries, so called Annex I Parties, to individual, legally-binding targets to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. 168 countries and one regional economic integration organization (the EEC) have ratified the Protocol to date. Of these, 35 countries and the EEC are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below levels specified for each of them in the treaty. The individual targets for Annex I Parties are listed in the Kyoto Protocol’s Annex B. These add up to a total cut in greenhouse-gas emissions of at least 5% from 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008-2012, with the target for the individual countries varying from -8% (EU), -7% (USA), 0% (Russia and Ukraine) to +8% (Australia) and +10% (Iceland). With the base line being 1990, just as the old Soviet block collapsed, their economies shrunk and/or the statistics better reflected reality, these countries ended up having plenty of spare carbon credits, or hot air. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005.

Source: UNFCCC, TreeFarms