6 Kyoto Protocol

Subject(s):

Specialized treaty frameworks — Climate change — Environmental disputes

This chapter discusses the Kyoto Protocol in depth. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol supplements the framework laid out in the FCCC, by establishing internationally-negotiated, legally binding, quantitative emission targets for Annex I parties. Though the Kyoto Protocol was finalized and adopted in December 1997, many of its key provisions were skeletal in character and required further elaboration. It is also one of the most complex and ambitious environmental agreements ever negotiated, and has proven itself to be deeply controversial. The chapter first explores four overarching issues, cutting across the three instruments in the UN climate regime — the FCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. It then provides a detailed analysis of the key provisions of the Kyoto Protocol.