Whom the Kyoto Protocol impacts

The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 191 countries and entered into force in 2005. It requires developed country Parties to take on binding emission reduction or limitation targets. The targets take the form of an absolute emissions cap for each country for the 2008 to 2012 period (the first commitment period), and in aggregate equate to 5.2 per cent below 1990 baseline levels.

While the Kyoto Protocol was an important first step in addressing the challenge of climate change, emissions cuts by developed countries alone will not be sufficient to reduce global emissions. The international community has recognised that a much more ambitious global response to climate change is needed.

Following the December 2010 United Nations (UN) climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, 90 countries accounting for over 80 per cent of global emissions have recorded pledges to limit their greenhouse gas emissions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This is an important step toward a stronger, more effective response to climate change with the involvement of all major emitters—both developed and developing.

At UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa in 2011, countries agreed to commence negotiations to establish a new climate change agreement that will cover all countries from 2020. In the transition to the new agreement, some developed countries have agreed to take on emission reduction targets under a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. These commitments are expected to be finalised through international negotiations in 2012.