DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SABBAVARAM, VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE :

“KYOTO PROTOCOL AND ITS EFFECTS ’’

NAME OF THE SUBJECT

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

NAME OF THE FACULTY

ASS. PROF. K. SUDHA MA’AM

NAME OF THE CANDIDATE: M. SWETCHCHA

ROLL NO : 2019LLB089
SEMESTER : X TH SEMESTER

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher, Ass. Prof. K. SUDHA
Ma’am , who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic
“KYOTO PROTOCOL AND ITS EFFECTS .”, which helped me in doing a lot of research
and I came to know about so many new things and I am really thankful to my professor. I am
doing this project not only for marks but also to increase my knowledge. I have tried my best to
collect information about the project in various possible ways to depict the clear picture about
the given project topic.

- M. Swetchcha

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. COVER PAGE .............................................................................1

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.............................................................2

3. ABSTRACT.....................................................................................4

4. SYNOPSIS.........................................................................................5

5. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................6

6. KYOTO PROTOCOL: AN OVERVIEW.....................................................8

7. GUIDELINES FOR PRACTICAL CLIMATE POLICY DESIGN…………….10

8. DEVELOPING COUNTRY PARTICIPATION IN GLOBAL CLIMATE

POLICY...............................12

9. CONCLUSION........................................................................................14

10. BIBLOGRAPHY..........................................................................................15

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 ABSTRACT

TOPIC NAME: KYOTO PROTOCOL AND ITS EFFECTS

INTRODUCTION :

Adopted in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol is an important international agreement aimed at combating
climate change by limiting greenhouse gas emissions. This article provides an overview of the
Kyoto Protocol, examining its main elements, mechanisms and objectives. It examines the
division of countries into annex I and non-annex parties, each with its own obligations to reduce
emissions. In addition, flexibility mechanisms such as emissions trading, the Clean Development
Mechanism and the Joint Implementation have been introduced to facilitate compliance. In
addition, this article analyzes the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol to curb climate change,
taking into account, among other things, emission reduction targets, implementation challenges
and the role of international cooperation. The protocol has been criticized for its importance,
despite its limited scope and implementation mechanisms. However, it laid the groundwork for
subsequent climate agreements and raised global awareness of the urgent need for joint action to
combat climate change. This article concludes with a discussion of the legacy of the Kyoto
Protocol and its continuing impact on today's climate policy frameworks.

The Kyoto Protocol influenced global climate policy and encouraged action to combat climate
change at national and international levels. However, its effectiveness has been heavily
scrutinized, with criticism of its limited scope, lack of enforcement mechanisms and exclusion of
major emitters such as the United States. However, the Kyoto Protocol paved the way for
subsequent climate changes. Agreements, including the 2015 Paris Agreement, which called for
wider participation and more ambitious emission reduction targets. It has also promoted
international cooperation and raised awareness of the urgency of climate action. This summary

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concludes by emphasizing the continued importance of the Kyoto Protocol as a basis for global
climate governance, despite its limitations.

SYNOPSIS

REASERCH QUESTIONS: What the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on various aspects such as
global greenhouse gas emissions, climate change mitigation efforts, economic implications for
participating countries, and the effectiveness of international cooperation in addressing climate
change ?

LITERATURE REVIEW: The analysis of the selected topic is based on online and offline
sources viz., articles, books, websites and case studies.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

The objective of the study is

1. Assess the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol in reducing global greenhouse gas
emissions.
2. Analyze the economic impact of implementing the Kyoto Protocol in both developed and
developing countries.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

This study Analysis of the key provisions and targets set forth by the Kyoto Protocol.

REASERCH METHODOLOGY:

The study is based on doctrinal method of research and it is descriptive and explanatory study.

SECONDRAY SOURCES:

The researcher has taken information from secondary sources like web resources from online
articles and journals from manupatra, business standards and economic times.

TYPE OF REASERCH:

This research is descriptive, analytical and explanatory study.

International concern about the environmental effects of the uncontrolled use of coal, oil and gas
in the world increased in the second half of the 20th century. The damage caused by acid rain to
plants, animals and buildings, as well as the effects of poor air quality and smog on human
health, have led to many national, regional and international agreements aimed at dealing with
these problems by reducing emissions of these gases cause them 1980. In the mid-1990s,
another problem caused by fossil fuels became known - climate change, also known as global
warming or the greenhouse effect. The warming gases (i.e. greenhouse gases) released by
burning fossil fuels increase in the atmosphere, causing global temperature and sea level rise.
The most important greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2). The concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere is already 30 percent higher today than before the industrial
revolution.

Climate change caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases has become one of the most
important environmental problems of the international community. Greenhouse gases primarily
fossil fuel-based carbon dioxide emissions accumulate the atmosphere as a result of human
activity, and continued increases in greenhouse gas concentrations are expected to raise Earth's
average temperature and cause other climate changes. International concern about climate
change led to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which contains legally binding emission targets for
industrialized countries to be reached between 2008 and 2012 (the so-called Kyoto commitment
period). Proponents of the protocol celebrated it as a success in international climate policy
because it promised under its original provisions significant commercial emissions reductions
for the developed world, and it created a broad international mechanism to expand and to
deepen climate protection efforts in the future. Opponents of the protocol dismissed it as "a
deeply flawed treaty that will prove to be both economically inefficient and politically
impractical.1

1
McKibbin, W.J. and P.J. Wilcoxen (2002), ‘The Role of Economics in Climate Change Policy’, Journal of
Economic Perspectives 16(2), 107-129.

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Fighting global warming is a global temporary problem. Public goods are goods for which the
cost of the service to another individual is zero and for which it is impossible (or expensive) to
prevent individuals from enjoying it. These characteristics of non-rivalry and non-excludability
apply to climate protection. The growing scientific need scientific consensus on the causes and
consequences of climate change has led to the development of policies aimed at dealing with the
problem at both national and international levels. In late 1988, two United Nations agencies, the
United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization, established
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It brought together scientific experts
from around the world to assess the science of climate change, its impacts and the strategies
needed to respond to it.

The IPCC's first report, known as the First Assessment Report, was adopted in August 1990,
despite strong pressure from oil-producing countries and industry to block its publication. Some
of its main conclusions are."We are certain anthropogenic emissions will significantly increase
the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These increases will increase the
greenhouse effect, resulting in further average warming of the Earth's surface we predict. The
rise in Earth's average temperature over the next century greater than in the last 10,000 years."
In addition, the report stated that carbon dioxide emissions would need to be immediately cut by
60-80 percent to stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at current levels .An
international agreement on climate change was agreed in record time. The strength of the IPCC
conclusions led to a broad consensus among countries that the only way to effectively deal with
climate change is an international agreement or convention. In November 1990, the UN General
Assembly decided to establish a negotiation process and adopt an international climate
agreement to be signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

Almost all countries of the world participated in the negotiations, as well as observers from
commercial and environmental organizations. Although many countries wanted the treaty to
include legally binding limits on greenhouse gases, the United States refused to accept it, arguing
that there was still scientific uncertainty about the need for action and citing the unacceptable
economic consequences of reducing energy consumption.

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KYOTO PROTOCOL: AN OVER VIEW

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement related to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, which binds the parties to the agreement by setting
internationally binding emission reduction targets. Recognizing that developed countries are
primarily responsible for the current large emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Following more than 150 years of industrial action, the Protocol places a greater burden on
developed countries based on the principle of "common but differentiated responsibility .The
Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan on December 11, 1997 and entered into strength 16
February 2005. Detailed implementing rules for the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in
Marrakech, Morocco in 2001 and are known as the "Marrakech Accords". Its first commitment
period began in 2008 and ended in 2012.

The Doha Amendment :

On December 8, 2012, the "Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol" was adopted in Doha,
Qatar. The change includes:2

• New commitments for Annex I parties to the Kyoto Protocol that have agreed to commit to the
second commitment period from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2020.

• Parties to the revised Greenhouse Gas (GHG) list will report in the second commitment period
and

• Amendments to several articles of the Kyoto Protocol that specifically addressed issues related
to the first commitment period and needed to be updated for the second commitment period.
Issues pertaining to the first commitment period and which needed to be updated for the second
commitment period.

2
Making those first steps count: An Introduction to the Kyot Protocol available at
http://unfccc.int/essential_background/kyoto_protocol/items/6034.php last accessed on 20/102013

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On December 21, 2012, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, acting as depositary,
communicated the amendment to all parties to the Kyoto Protocol in accordance with Articles 20
and 21 of the Protocol. During the first commitment period, 37 industrialized countries and the
European Community pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to an average of five percent
from 1990 levels. In the second commitment period, the parties committed to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by at least 18 percent compared to 1990 levels over the eight years from 2013 to
2020. However, the composition of the parties of the second duty period is different from the
first.

The Kyoto Mechanism

According to the protocol, countries must achieve their goals mainly through national resources.
But the protocol also provides them with additional tools to achieve their goals through three
market-based mechanisms. The Kyoto mechanisms are:3

• International Emissions Trading

• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

• Joint Implementation ( JI) .

The mechanisms help promote green investment and help parties achieve their emissions targets
in a cost-effective manner.

Monitoring emission targets:

According to the protocol, the actual emissions of the countries must be controlled and accurate
records of the executed transactions must be kept. The registration systems control and record
the transactions of the parties according to the mechanisms. The UN Climate Change Secretariat
in Bonn, Germany maintains an international protocol to ensure compliance with the Protocol's
rules. Parties report through annual emissions statements and national reports under the Protocol
at regular intervals. .The judicial system ensures that parties full fill their obligations and helps
them full fill their obligations when they have problems.

3
Kyoto Protocol available at http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php last accessed on 30/9/2013

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  GUIDELINES FOR PRACTICAL CLIMATE POLICY DESIGN

There is widespread agreement that climate change is a significant potential threat that requires
reductions in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from current and expected future
conventional activities. However, significant uncertainty in estimating the costs and benefits of
reducing greenhouse gases makes the "correct" or "optimal" level one of the most difficult and
controversial questions in the economics of climate change. 4Given the public benefits and
inherent incentives of a global climate, greenhouse gas reductions cannot be achieved without
international cooperation codified in long-term international policies. Reaching such an
agreement is likely only if the international parties consider the distribution of costs and benefits
to be fair. In other words, equity "serves in a positive role as a unifying principle that promotes
international agreement on greenhouse gas warming." Efficiency and justice are therefore two
interrelated basic principles that must be taken into account when planning climate policy.

The ultimate goal of the Kyoto Protocol is the same as its founding treaty, the UNFCCC. This is
stated in Article 2 of the Convention, which states that greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere must be stabilized at a level that "prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference
with the climate system" and that this level must be reached "over a sufficient period of time". to
allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production would not
be at risk and enable sustainable economic development."But what is actually necessary to
achieve the ultimate goal. 5Clearly, according to Article 2 of the Convention on Food Production
and Economic Development, the parties must agree on ecological limits or goals that protect
ecosystems and then agree on emission reductions to achieve them. . Species and ecosystems are
highly sensitive to rising temperatures and sea level rise, both in terms of the magnitude of such
changes and the speed at which they occur. The sensitivities of many species and ecosystems to
temperature and sea level rise are known and have been used by scientists to calculate their
ecological limits. With their help, scientists managed to set global ecological goals, beyond

4
Morrisette, P. and A. Plantinga (1991), ‘The Global Warming Issue: Viewpoints of Different Countries’,
Resources, 103, 2-6.

5
Rose, A., B. Stevens, J. Edmonds, and M. Wise (1998), ‘International equity and differentiation in global warming
policy’, Environmental & Resource Economics, 12, 25–51

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which species and ecosystems cannot naturally adapt, and which would lead to serious
consequences.

The Kyoto Protocol: Perspectives

Opponents of the Kyoto Protocol see its failure as a natural consequence of a deficient
architecture in terms of environmental performance. All in all, they conclude that "the Kyoto
Protocol is an impractical policy focused on achieving an unrealistic and inappropriate goal". A
non-exhaustive list of the main arguments against the Kyoto structure follows the Kyoto
Protocol, which does not prevent free travel and non-compliance. 6The Kyoto Protocol lacks both
efficiency criteria [territorial and temporal equalization of reduction costs] because it ignores a
significant part of emissions (therefore does not meet the regional criteria) and does not plan
beyond the first period (therefore does not count). 7Consider the time dimension). "In the Kyoto
Protocol, the allocation of transfers is arbitrary and furthermore, since developing countries are
excluded, they are completely ignored in transfers".

International emissions trading [as the main policy instrument of the Kyoto Protocol] could be
very inefficient given the uncertainty surrounding the marginal costs of reducing greenhouse
gases, and would likely lead to large transfers of wealth between countries and "No government
has an incentive to. The Kyoto Protocol can only work if it involves complex and expensive
international monitoring and enforcement. In Durban, an ad hoc Working Group of the Durban
Enhanced Action Forum (ADP) was established to prepare a protocol, other instrument or agreed
outcome that would have legal force under the Convention and would be applicable to all parties.
The ADP must complete its work as soon as possible, but no later than 2015, so that this
protocol, legal document or agreed outcome can be legally binding at the 21st session of the
Conference of the Parties and enter into force and effect starting in 2020.

6
Nordhaus, W.D., and J.G. Boyer (1999, ‘Requiem for Kyoto: An Economic Analysis’, Energy Journal, Special
Issue p.125 find that the Protocol does not “bear any relation to an economically oriented strategy that would
balance the costs and benefits of GHG reductions
7
McKibbin, W.J. and P.J. Wilcoxen (2002), ‘The Role of Economics in Climate Change Policy’, Journal of
Economic Perspectives 16(2), p.127

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DEVELOPING COUNTRY PARTICIPATION IN GLOBAL CLIMATE POLICY

Equity issues have featured prominently in past and present climate negotiations, and the need to
differentiate responsibilities between countries was recognized early on in global environmental
negotiations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of
1992 enshrined in it the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" and the idea
that industrialized countries should lead by example. All major countries, including the United
States, have ratified the convention, but there is no global consensus on who should do how
much to combat the causes and consequences of climate change, and who should pay for it. One
of the crucial questions was whether and when developing countries would adopt emissions
targets. The Berlin Mandate of 1995, approved by all major parties, stipulated that developed
countries should set "quantifiable targets for limiting and reducing emissions" but that
developing countries should not make new commitments. This was the basis of the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol.

However, by rejecting the Kyoto Protocol led by President Bush, the US government pointed out
that large developing countries such as China and India are not committed. In a 2001 letter to US
senators, citing the Byrd- Hagel Senate Resolution of 1997, President Bush wrote that the United
States should not sign an agreement containing new greenhouse gas commitments unless
developing countries make such commitments within the same commitment period:As you know
, I oppose the Kyoto Protocol because it would exempt 80 percent of the world from compliance,
including major population centres like China and India, and would seriously damage the
American economy. 8The 95-0 Senate vote shows a clear consensus that the Kyoto Protocol is an
unfair and ineffective way to deal with global climate change. Energy-intensive industries in
developed countries lobbied against the Kyoto Protocol because their competitors in developing
countries would not have to limit their emissions and would have the opportunity to gain a
competitive advantage. The economic costs of meeting emission targets have also been used as
arguments against the Kyoto Protocol, and the uncertainty of these costs has been used to
highlight high cost estimates. The uncompromising attitude of the Bush administration has

8
Text of a Letter from the President to Senators Hagel, Helms, Craig, and Roberts”, White House press release, 13
March 2001

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strengthened the public position of many people developing countries against emissions duties
until richer countries take action. This was confirmed at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in New Delhi in October 2002,
where the European Union explained that it expects developing countries to participate in the
debate on how to control their emissions in the future Developing countries responded strongly
and consistently that they did not even discuss future commitments. However, some developing
country governments may want to at least discuss commitments, in part to re-engage the US.
Raúl Estrada Oyuela, chairman of the 1997 Kyoto meeting and key agenda-setter at the 2005
UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP10), was recently quoted as saying that there was a
"definite desire" among delegates to discuss future commitments to “create an opportunity for
the United States to re enter the system.

The refusal so far to discuss targets in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
negotiations may be strategic or game-thinking, but it may also reflect confusion about how to
proceed. Global climate negotiations have significantly increased the analytical capacity for
climate policy in both developed and developing countries, but many poorer countries still lag
behind. Probably few developing countries have even considered alternatives for future
emissions targets. As India's Centre for Science and Environment complains. It has also been
argued that the concerns of developing countries have been left aside in the negotiations in recent
years, because attention has been focused on implementing the short-term goals of Kyoto in a
way that minimizes the costs of industrialized countries. Once the last remaining implementing
provisions of the Kyoto Protocol are agreed, attention can return to big issues like global equity
and vulnerability to climate change, with the interests of developing countries even more
important. In the debate on climate policy attention is focused on China and India as the largest
emitters of developing countries.

Together with Brazil, they tend to lead the agenda of the G-77 (except for China), which forms
the main negotiating group of developing countries. However, interests within the group differ
considerably. The biggest risks of sea level rise have joined the Association of Small Islands
(AOSIS), which calls for strong commitments on greenhouse gas and help to adapt to climate
change. At the other end of the spectrum is OPEC, whose members seek to protect their interests

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as oil and gas exporters. In particular, Saudi Arabia may block the UN climate negotiation
process.

CONCLUSION
Overall, it appears that alternative proposals to the basic structure of the Kyoto Protocol may not
perform better in terms of key criteria for global climate policy, such as environmental
efficiency, effectiveness, equity or enforcement. Since the basic architecture of Kyoto offers
considerable flexibility, it seems reasonable to consider ways to turn their actual implementation
into a more effective and efficient structure. After all, the Kyoto process achieved with
considerable effort a broader voluntary international agreement that for the first time follows a
strongly market-oriented approach. Perhaps the strongest point is the fact that the Kyoto Protocol
is now the only game in town. More than a decade of global climate negotiations. Despite its
shortcomings, the protocol is likely to gain momentum as institutional arrangements are put in
place and emissions trading develops, especially if European support remains strong. A pan-
European emissions trading scheme will be launched, covering most of Europe's major carbon
dioxide emitters. Although domestic industry commitments are weak compared to Kyoto
commitments, this is likely to be the largest ETS ever implemented. The scheme could be
expanded to include Canada, Japan and other countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol and
form the core of the future global greenhouse gas market.

First, the gradual integration of developing countries is inevitable. The proportion of emissions
from developing countries is high and growing. In the medium term, climate protection cannot
succeed without the important participation of developing countries. Granting emissions rights to
lock developing countries into a coalition to reduce emissions inevitably leads to controversial
equity debates. To moderate these debates, the short-term goal of expanding participation should
not be so much cost sharing among advanced industrialized countries, but rather lowering the
total deductible bill.

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The agreement, negotiated by more than 100 countries over a decade, obliges the 38 largest
industrialized countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990
levels by 2012. President Bush has stated that it is not in the United States' interest to comply
with the agreement ."The US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol is extremely disappointing.
US action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is essential to international efforts to prevent
dangerous threats. . However, the agreement is useful and will move the world in the right
direction, “said Kert Davies, Director of the US Global Warming Campaign at Greenpeace.
"President Bush is wrong when he says that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will hurt the
American economy. Bush is ignoring the economic benefits of US leadership in 21st century
energy technology," Davies continued. Global opposition to the US position is growing, with the
European Union, Japan, Brazil, Russia and New Zealand making strong statements indicating
their will move without. The United States “Conscious countries must move forward with the
global warming agreement with or without the United States. It is clear that the Bush
administration is now negatively affecting the international agreement, and they are getting that
message from governments and people around the world," said John Passacantando, executive
director of Greenpeace.

BIBLOGRAPHY :

. https://unfccc.int/

. https://www.legalserviceindia.com/

. https://www.investopedia.com/

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