What Is the Kyoto Protocol?

The Kyoto Protocol was an international agreement that aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the presence of green house gases in the atmosphere. The essential tenet of the Kyoto Protocol was that industrialized nations needed to lessen the amount of their CO2 emissions. The protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, when greenhouse gases rapidly threatened the climate, life on the earth, and the planet.

It was effectively replaced by the Paris Agreement, which went into effect in 2016.

Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms

The Kyoto Protocol established three different mechanisms to enable countries additional ways to meet their emission-limitation target. The three mechanisms are:

• The International Emissions Trading Mechanism: Countries that have excess emission units permitted to them but not used can engage in carbon trading and sell these units to countries over their target.
  
• The Clean Development Mechanism: Countries with emission-reducing or limiting commitments may implement emission-reducing projects in developing countries to earn certified emission-reduction credits.
• The Joint Implementation Mechanism: Countries with emission-reducing or limiting commitments to earn emission-reducing units from a project in another party.

What Was the Primary Purpose of the Kyoto Protocol?

The Kyoto Protocol was an agreement among developed nations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gases in an effort to minimize the impacts of climate change.

It is an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Kyoto Protocol applies to 6 greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. It is an extension of the 1992 UNFCCC.

Kyoto Protocol Timeline

Below are some relevant dates relating to the development, implementation, and revisions to the Kyoto Protocol:

• Dec. 11, 1997: The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the Conference of the Parties in Kyoto, Japan.
• Nov. 14, 1998: As a result of a two-week meeting that concluded on the 14th, 170 governments adopted a two-year plan titled the Buenos Aires Plan of Action to reduce the risk of global climate change.
  
• March 16, 1998: The Kyoto Protocol becomes open for signatures.
• March 15, 1999: One year after being open for signatures, the Kyoto Protocol had received 84 signatures
• Feb. 16, 2005: The Kyoto Protocol goes into force.
  
• Dec. 8, 2012: The Doha Amendment was adopted for a second commitment period.
• March 25, 2013: Afghanistan becomes the 192nd signatory of the Kyoto Protocol. As of August 2023, there remained 192 signatories.
  
• Dec. 12, 2015: The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties at COP21 in Paris, largely superseding the Kyoto Protocol.
• Nov. 4, 2016: The Paris Agreement went into effect.
  
• Dec. 31, 2020: After obtaining acceptance by 147 parties and meeting the minimum threshold of acceptance requirement, the Doha Amendment was officially adopted.
• When did the Kyoto Protocol start and end

The Protocol's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. The second commitment period began on 1 January 2013 and will end in 2020. There are now 197 Parties to the Convention and 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

Which treaty replaced Kyoto Protocol?

The Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 replaced the Kyoto Protocol and includes commitments from all major GHG-emitting countries to reduce their climate-altering pollution.