User:SEWilco/Kyoto Protocol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kyoto Protocol or Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international treaty on climate change. It is actually an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Countries which ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases, or engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of these gases.
The objective is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" [1].
The IPCC has predicted an average global rise in temperature of 1.4°C to 5.8°C between 1990 and 2100.[2] Some current estimates indicate that even if successfully and completely implemented, the Kyoto Protocol will reduce that increase by somewhere between 0.02°C and 0.28°C by the year 2050 (source: Nature, October 2003). Because of this, many critics and environmentalists question the value of the Kyoto Protocol, should subsequent measures fail to produce deeper cuts in the future.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Major_greenhouse_gas_trends.png/640px-Major_greenhouse_gas_trends.png)
Proponents also note that Kyoto is a first step [3], as requirements to meet the UNFCCC will be modified until the objective is met, as required by UNFCCC Article 4.2(d).[4]