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Kyoto Protocol
Practical Law Glossary Item 2-508-0665 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
Kyoto Protocol
A treaty developed in 1997 by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that sets legally binding and enforceable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards on member countries. As part of the protocol, industrialized countries agreed to a 5% reduction in their GHG emissions from the 1990 levels by 2012, based on the average calculation of emissions during the first commitment period from 2008 to 2012. To assist countries in their efforts to reduce GHG emissions, the Kyoto Protocol installed the following mechanisms:
- Emissions trading, where a country can sell or trade excess emissions units to a country that is over its limit.
- Clean development mechanism, where an industrialized country can earn certified emission reduction credits by implementing an emissions reduction project in a developing country.
- Joint implementation, where a country can receive emission reduction units by investing in an emissions reduction project in another country.
In 2012, the "Doha Amendment" to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted which established a second commitment period (2013-20). The amendment entered into force on December 31, 2020. For more information, see Practice Note, UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.