Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol
Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol is a critical component of the international agreement aimed at combating climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Adopted in 1997 and entering into force in 2005, Annex B outlines specific nations that committed to reducing their GHG emissions between 2008 and 2012. The participating countries, including many developed nations, were assigned varying reduction targets based on their historical emissions and economic capacities. This annex facilitated a flexible emissions credit trading system, allowing countries that fell short of their targets to purchase credits from those that exceeded their goals, thereby encouraging collaboration and investment in cleaner energy projects, especially in developing nations.
The significance of Annex B lies in its innovative approach to addressing global warming, where compliance and emissions reductions could be achieved through market mechanisms. However, the effectiveness of this system has been debated among scientists and economists, particularly after the United States chose not to ratify the Protocol. Concerns remain about the adequacy of the proposed reductions and the overall impact on climate change. As Annex B expired in 2012, it raised questions about the future of international climate agreements and the necessary measures to effectively mitigate global warming. This context invites a broader exploration of international climate policy and the ongoing challenges in achieving significant emission reductions.
Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol
- DATE: Adopted December 11, 1997; entered into force February 16, 2005; amended November 2006; superseded by the Paris Agreement in 2016
The Kyoto Protocol’s second annex allowed countries to collaborate on emissions-reducing projects and to trade and purchase emissions credits. This system gave wealthier nations incentives to reduce emissions and encouraged them to work with developing nations to reduce theirs.
PARTICIPATING NATIONS: 1997: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States; 2006: Belarus
Background
The to the Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose goal is to reduce the emissions of that lead to global warming, was adopted in December 1997, after nearly thirty months of international negotiations. The text of the protocol included twenty-eight articles; Annex A, listing the six GHGs covered by the treaty and sources of gas emissions; and Annex B, listing countries participating in the emissions credit trading agreement.
Several of the specific requirements of were crafted by and adopted under pressure from the United States. The emissions credit trading system closely follows the system adopted in the United States under the 1970 Clean Air Act Extension, and emissions from American military marine and aviation operations are not subject to regulation. The United States, however, has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
Summary of Provisions
The Kyoto Protocol regulated the emissions of six specific GHGs. Parties to Annex B agreed to reduce their emissions of these gases between 2008 and 2012. Countries agreed to different reduction amounts, based on factors including the types and quantities of energy they produced and their relative levels of pollution. European Union countries, for example, were required to reduce their emissions to 8 percent less than 1990 levels, and the United States had a reduction target of 7 percent below those levels. Iceland agreed to increase its emissions by no more than 10 percent over 1990 levels. While each country had a different target, the target for the Annex B nations as a whole was 5 percent below 1990 emission levels.
Annex B created a system under which countries that could not immediately meet their emissions goals could purchase permits or credits from other Annex B nations that did not need them. For example, if a country exceeded its target methane emissions, it could purchase methane emission permits from a country that had exceeded its reduction goal; the total amount of methane emitted globally would remain the same. Further, a country could earn credits by financing or otherwise supporting a project in another country. Through another provision called the clean development mechanism, an Annex B party could earn credits by helping develop clean energy projects in developing nations not party to Annex B. These provisions created flexibility, as each country could determine whether it was more cost effective to meet its targets through reducing emissions or through purchasing credits.
Countries participating in Annex B must monitor and report their GHG emissions or be banned from project-based credit trading. If it is learned after the fact that a country has failed to comply with these terms, that country will be stripped of any earned credits.
Significance for Climate Change
Scientists and economists began to question the potential effectiveness of Annex B immediately after its adoption. They wondered, for example, whether the United States would ever be able to meet its target without tremendous economic cost and whether there would be enough credits available for purchase to make the emissions credit trading system work. In fact, the United States did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol and is not participating in international emissions credit trading, thereby reducing any effectiveness the agreement might have had. No country has passed national legislation that requires it to comply with the terms of Annex B.
Scientists including Tom M. L. Wigley, a senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Gyeong Lyeob Cho of the Korea Energy Economic Institute generated computer models to predict how effective the provisions of Annex B would be in reducing global warming. Examining scenarios under which the Annex B countries continued to reduce their emissions after 2012, when Annex B expired, they concluded that small increases in reductions after 2012 would have minimal impact on overall warming. Much greater reductions than those called for under Annex B would be necessary to affect climate change, according to these models.
Bibliography
Douma, Wybe, and L. Massai. The Kyoto Protocol and Beyond: Legal and Policy Challenges of Climate Change. West Nyack, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
"Marking the Kyoto Protocol's 25th Anniversary." United Nations, 11 Dec. 2022, www.un.org/en/climatechange/marking-kyoto-protocol%E2%80%99s-25th-anniversary. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.
McKibbin, Warwick J., and Peter J. Wilcoxen. Climate Change Policy After Kyoto: A Blueprint for a Realistic Approach. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2002.
Wigley, Tom M. L. “The Climate Change Commitment.” Science 307 (2005): 1766-1769.